Current Designs Suka for very small
paddlers.
I’m 5’6 and 165 and this boat’s thigh braces squished my thighs. I could barely get in or out of that thing.
I fit quite nicely in the Necky Eliza composite and the CD Willow.
Try this…
Engelhart products…Episea.
Yes, Eddyline Samba
I haven’t paddled it myself (not petite), but I have the Samba’s big brother and love it—same hull shape. Is it out of your price range? Even if it’s out of your range try to demo one to get a sense of how beautifully a well-designed hull in thermoformed plastic paddles—like a dream. Try it with a light carbon paddle and you’ll be in heaven.
Starter or price?
.Some good suggestions have been made already.
Venture Kayaks Islay LV - will fit up through medium frame paddlers well. $1300
P&H Scorpio LV - at $1900, a three layer plastic shorter version of a Cetus LV
Your hole is at least getting shallower.
See you on the water,
Marshall
The River Connection, Inc.
Hyde Park, NY
www.the-river-connection.com
More like a pinhole
There is not enough volume for manufacturers to invest in a new mold ( ~20-30K USD ). As to the recommended boats - note that if someone is specifying paddler weight from 100lb to 220lb, they are involved in BS marketing. Also note that expedition class boats are meant to be paddled loaded.
Your options -
used composite boat, I would add Nigel Foster Rumour to the mix. Betsy Bay Idun is a niche boat, worth thinking about. Nigel Dennis Pilgrim, Valley Avocet LV might fit the bill, but I don’t know anyone if the sub 100lb group paddling one. My friends, she is ~100lb x 5ft, picked up a used Rumour from here on P.net for 650USD, so deals can be had.
build your own - typical choices are strip built, stitch and glue, skin on frame. There are plans available for purchase, you can come up with your own designs. If I were interested in getting a boat that actually fits me, I would contact someone like Nick Schade and ask him to scale one of his designs down. Also, take a look at this http://www.rollordrown.com/kayak/index.html - there are free plans, Duane would, probably, be happy to work with you. Skin on frame construction allows infinite custom designs, there are workshops that teach people how to build them, Brian Shultz of http://www.capefalconkayak.com/ is on the West Coast.
Tried the Venture LV
Last summer, way too big on my wife. As for the Scorpio LV we are picking one up in a few days for an occasional big camping boat for my wife and for friends to use.
Episea
Is the right size, just missing bulkheads and deck lines. I’ve looked at a few times, not sure how to get one in Canada. They don’t answer email when I tried last year.
Tchaika
– Last Updated: Mar-25-13 11:00 AM EST –
A used WS Tchaika would work if you can find one. My 5'0" wife loves hers. It does need a bow float bag because it only has a stern bulkhead. Adding a forward bulkhead wouldn't be hard if you were OK with just an inspection port instead of a full hatch.
Used Impex Mystic?
The other option is to build. The easiest options would probably be a stitch & glue kit or a Yost-style skin-on-frame.
That was a standard volume
The Venture Islay LV only hit US shores two weeks ago.
See you on the water,
Marshall
The River Connection, Inc.
Hyde Park, NY
www.the-river-connection.com
damn
the truth hurts.
Avocet LV
I believe Alison Sigethy paddles that when she is not full greenland, at least she was when I saw her at the last Downeast Symposium. Alison is tall but is a weed, and fond of tight fits. I spent a day in that boat myself, and would put it strongly on the list for a sub-120 lb paddler. At 130-135 I felt that this boat could actually take less than me and still get a good waterline. Cockpit fit/ thigh length always needs to be confirmed by an in-person sit-in of course. The only reason I didn’t go for the boat was that I already had one which I felt fit the bill as well. But if I didn’t have a smaller person’s boat that I had grown comfy with, I’d have been looking to buy the Avocet LV.
I hadn’t mentioned it because OPer is asking for a cheaper option. But I’d put this boat on the list if fiberglass was within the target price.
Thank you all for the suggestions
Last summer my wife and I drove a few thousand kilometers and rented: Pilgrim, Avocet LV, Ice Cap, Reval Mini, Tempest 165 and a Venture LV. We also tried to find a Rumour and a Mystic without success. In the end I built her a skin boat. I scaled down a Yost Sea Rider to fit. Her boat is 18 inches wide and 15’9 long. Building is a realistic option for the truly petite. I am debating investing the time into a scaled stripper (Siskiwit LV) or buying a Pilgrim.
My original post was lamenting the fact that you or I can drive down to the local dealer and buy a Tempest as a starter boat for $16-1800. For the truly petite they can either buy a big camping boat with more volume than they need or lay out a large amount of cash for a composite boat. Apparently there is not a market for an inexpensive plastic model and thats too bad.
If I ever find some of the models suggested above we’ll have to try them. I may also have to consider building my niece a Yost Sea Pup.
You’re right
It was a Easky LV, not an Islay at MEC in Victoria last summer. Sorry about that.
I am with you
Part of the problem is that people have been convinced that they need a kayak that can carry two weeks’ of expedition gear in order to do day paddles. I see medium to large capacity sea kayaks on the water (and on cartops leaving kayak shops) all summer long, but very few of them are carrying anything but the paddler.
Picollo resurrection?
I had a long talk with Steve Scherer (Flatpick) at Paddlesports in NJ this past weekend and I said to him at one point that I thought it a shame that the Picollo isn’t made anymore. I have one for my grand kids and looked long and hard to find it. Steve agreed as did his wife Cindy. I hope they pass that along to the powers that be at Wilderness Systems.
Tchaika
The old WS Tchaika could be a good option if you can find one. My 5’0" wife loves hers.
90 -110 pound Sea kayaker
OK I have to admit that I have never seen one, but I’ve seen a few small white water paddlers. I think they get bigger with age, so that once they are in their 40’s and beginnning to be interested in sea paddling they usually weigh more.
The Valley Gemini just came out in Poly. I also think the smaller WS Tsunami 120 might work well.
When you consider at least $30,000 for mold cost and additional cost for design and developement work, I cannot see how it would make sense to build ploy boats this small.
check these
Novus Composites (NC) builds some of the finest sea kayaks on the market. They are all American made and their 15’-8" models are very light, fast, stable and extremely comfortable. These are boats that one will never outgrow in any way. They are a lifetime boat and the price for brand new built to order is often competitive with poly boats. Take a look at nckayaks.com
It isn’t just the weight
Someone who is 90 to 110 pounds to start with is also highly likely to be small in height, leg length, torso and arm length. So hitting a good fit for thighs, or a good reach to the water, does not get better as someone ages up and gains weight. What makes a boat fit well moves a lot less with even 20 more pounds than with an extra inch or two in these length dimensions.
I would guess that you have seen plenty of relatively short-torsoed women seeming to barely clear a sea kayak, even if they are not skinny as well.