Hole in the market

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.

absolutely
I’ll say it again: most small to average-size people I see on the water are in kayaks that are too big for them.

Yep
I had one for my daughters

Two Types
My girlfriend is 4’ 10" and 100 lbs and she fit like a glove in the Tsumani SP. The issue with that was nobody else but her would have fit into it, so I could never bring anyone else with me. We ended up buying two Perception Expression 14.5’s and she was just as comfortable in that as well. I fit very nicely also and I’m 5’ 8" 220lbs. Granted they are not really a start price but they did fit her.

Tchaika - notice about inseam length

– Last Updated: Mar-26-13 4:10 PM EST –

My wife has the Tchaika - it is a great boat, even better with a few small modifications!

Had to change the high back seat to a seat pad and back band so she could do rolls. Added retractable toggles, perimeter lines for safety...and get rid of those 2 cleats in front of the cockpit...

A note about inseam length - the wife is 5' and cannot reach the foot brace/pegs and have good thigh/knee contact with the boat. A quick fix that seems to be holding up is "bolting on" a small chunk of 2x4 to each of the pegs - giving about another 1.5" - a better fix would be moving the foot braces back about 3", but that would involved drilling the hull, filling holes, etc....

Tsunami SP

– Last Updated: Mar-26-13 6:01 PM EST –

I work for an outfitter that does tours for kids and families, and we have had great success putting small-framed people (i.e., mostly pre-teens and teens) in the Tsunami SP. Ahh but I see you already have a couple!

Some of the older kids (along with slim, smallish adults) with a little experience will paddle the poly Avocets and do well. I have seen a few of these for sale used recently in the $1000+/- range.

A good friend has a Tchaika...it is a nice boat but has only 1 bulkhead...I paddled it one of my first times out EVER and did just fine...and it felt like a "real" boat, not a plastic tub.

I happen to have an Alchemy S...in fact it's for sale ;-) but I think it most likely would be too big. It's not a tight-fitting boat but I have plenty of contact at 5'7" and 133 lbs.

boreal boats
I ran into similar issues last fall while searching for a boat. I’m 5’8", 115lbs. After a ton of research and some test paddling I went with the Boreal Design Baffin p1. It’s 16’6’ long and 21.5"wide. They also make the Epsilon in a p1, which I believe has similar dimensions. I was looking for a longer touring boat so didn’t look at the WS Tsunami SP, but with how petite she is it might be worth checking out.

kyak size
People carry things when they paddle like dogs, lunch, clothes, etc. The market for a small boats with no dunnage is to small to worry about.

Wrong
I have a smaller person’s sea kayak, sub 16 ft, and have spent a day here and there in ones for smaller paddlers than my boat.



I am leaving aside the the dog because there should never be a dog in a closed cockpit craft to start with, which is what this conversation has focused on.



My standard kit for a long day paddle is up to two spare changes of clothing including a spare dry or semi-dry suit, lunch plus snacks, two dry bags of medical stuff, two spare water bladders, spare gloves, head cover, emergency tarp plus bivy, a variety of rescue stuff including VHF, GPS, lights and more that I am forgetting. What I load up includes the basics to be stuck somewhere overnight, and I still have room to add the tent, poles, sleeping bag, a couple of pots for overnights on purpose.



There is absolutely no need for a small person to be put into a big boat for carrying gear unless you start to talk extended trips that only a small percentage of paddlers ever undertake, or you have impractical demands like big stoves or chairs that won’t break down.