Thinking About Getting A Kayak

barbecuesauce wrote: »

las07s wrote: »

I was thinking about getting a kayak. I live directly across the street from a large lake and boat launch, but there are alligators in there. People actually use it as a hunting ground for gators when they are in season... would it be safe? I am also interested in sit-on vs. sit-in for a shallow lake as well.

People hunt for gators where they're allowed by the landowners, though. There are alligators in most good-sized retention ponds (and even some that aren't large).

Given the number of people who use waterways vs. the number who are attacked, it's pretty safe. Just don't take your dog, those get attacked quite frequently. I saw the other day where a woman fought off an alligator that went after her dog at a golf course.

I just looked it up on Wikipedia and it seems the last fatal alligator attack in FL happened to a guy who was breaking into cars outside of the Miccosukee casino in 2007: http://web.archive.org/web/20071116160533/http://news.aol.com/story/_a/aggressive-gator-kills-burglary-suspect/20071113224509990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

See? Don't be a petty criminal and you should be fine.

HAHAHA that seems to be a rock solid plan. I will endeavor to not be a petty criminal to avoid potential gator attacks.

Lol I actually learned how to kayak in a lake with gators. It was at a boy scout camp where they always went canoeing. As far as I know, there hasn't been any gator attacks in the 50+ years they've been using that lake.

I have a Jackson Cruise kayak that I of last year that I really like.

http://jacksonkayak.com/2013-cruise-high-res-dealer-gallery/

This is this year's model, although mine was last year's model. It has a large deck, so you have plenty of room to stretch your legs out. It also has a removable seat, so you can take it out and use it as a chair if you stop at an island or sandbar or something. No need to bring a camping chair with you. It also has two different positions that you can set it in. There's a high position that's good for fishing, and a low position that's better for paddling. It's really worth getting a good seat since you're going to be spending most of your time in the boat sitting in that seat. An uncomfortable seat is just going to make the entire experience miserable.

It also has a large cargo area in the back, which makes it good for if you ever want to take it in a river camping trip. You can get a ton of crap back there, not mention what you can fit into the hatch up front. The tall, wide deck also keeps you out of the water better than some other sit-on-top models, which makes it better for cold weather paddling. The wide deck also makes it really stable -- you have to make a pretty concerted effort to get the thing to tip over. Plus, even if you do go over, there's no cavity full of water to empty like there is with a sit-in model.

If you're unsure about what kind to get, look into some local river companies in your area. A lot of them have demo days where they take a bunch of their kayaks and canoes to a local river or lake and let customers test them out to see if they like them. Some companies will even take you out on a special demo float if you're interested in a particular model and there isn't a demo day comming up. Plus, the boats that are used during the demo days are often sold for a discounted price. My kayak was used during a demo day, so the company I bought mine from knocked $200 off the price. It had a few scratches on the skid plate from where people dragged it out of the water, but it was otherwise totally new. Local companies will also spend more time with you to fit you to the boat that's best suited for you. The guys I bought mine from spent over threes hours helping me find the boat that was right for me. Big box stores just won't do that.