i found a great deal on craigslist on a kayak (a dagger crossfire) buying it to throw a cheap trolling motor on it to putt across the lake every now and then but also want something that wont be pure hell to paddle on slow moving water (st. croix) or lakes . Is it really going to be that horrible?
just slow and turny
Will be slow and turny. But if you aren’t racing or trying to paddle with others in faster boats, the speed won;t be much of an issue. On turny, if you learn to paddle ell (so your paddling is straight - harder than you think) then it will be fine.
One challenge with these crossover boats primary made for whitewater is that they expect you to be close to shore, so when you flip over and swim, they expect you can just swim to shore to drain it. Could be life threatening if this happens too far from shore to swim. Other boats (like touring kayaks or sit on tops) are made so that with some practice, you can get back on and going again while on the water.
Barge?
You think i could keep up with a pelican 80 and a viper 10.4? lol. Im not thinking about taking it out in the middle of any huge lakes, or go out alone but the flipping part is something to think about. thanks for the information, i had no idea.
Crossfire has snappy acceleration, but
limited cruising speed. I have two ww kayaks (Dagger Animas and Noah Magma) that are a little faster, but even in the Magma I wouldn’t want to keep up with rec or touring kayaks all day.
I think you should think through what you want to do.
good luck
– Last Updated: Sep-02-14 11:26 PM EST –
can't imagine trying to propel an old school WW boat like that with a trolling motor. No way you could mount it dead center for one thing and since the kayak has no keel the motor will just push it in a circle unless you constantly rudder the paddle, even doing that you'll look like the proverbial monkey trying to hump a football. And where, pray tell, would you stash the battery or fuel tank? Several levels of wrong here in your plan, IMHO. Would you try to play basketball wearing golf shoes? Didn't think so -- kayaks have their appropriate use too. No bargain if it won't work for what you want to do.
Save your shekels for an old squareback canoe if you plan to motor. Watch for one of those Mad River Adventure 14 plastic canoes -- they are common and cheap and have the snubbed stern for mounting a motor. Or watch for a decent touring kayak and you won''t need the motor, I've bought 15' fully rigged and hatched ones in good shape for as little as $300.
Little bathtub boats like your buddy's Pelican are a dime a dozen and would be preferable in this case. Though like the WW boats these lack flotation bulkheads and are a safety hazard in water over your head or flowing faster than you can walk.
Dagger Crossfire
The Crossfire is eleven feet long, not ten. It is not a so-called crossover type kayak. It was a full-on whitewater river runner/playboat of the early 1990s. I paddled one for a couple of years.
I agree that it makes no sense to try to mount a trolling motor. The Crossfire has a somewhat low volume stern and any motor attached behind the cockpit is going to sink it and cause very erratic handling.
As for speed, with its 11 foot length and less than 24" maximum beam, I would rather paddle it on any type of water, including flat water, than any pumpkin seed rec kayak in the 10-11 foot length range.
add a skeg
Pblanc does have a point about it being a potentially better paddling boat than “pumpkin seeds” (the stubby oval shaped bathtub boats that everybody from Walmart to feed stores sell as “kayaks”). Since the thing is so cheap you could try to make a skeg for it, out of treated wood, metal or heavy plastic, to screw into the stern hull to aid in tracking (rubber washers will seal the holes).
Also invest in a set of flotation bags – run you around $40 at a paddle shop or on eBay – to fill the bow and stern so it won’t swamp and sink in a capsize.
Not to be serious, but didn’t I see an
ad on pnet for a trolling motor setup on a kayak?
Well…
Went to go take a look at the yak, it was pretty scratched up and decided i didn’t want it…guy wanted it out of his garage so bad he lowered the price from 100 bucks to…25 dollars. lol, i couldn’t pass it up. I’ll see what i can do with it.
as long as it floats
you’ll have fun. If not, you’ll have a blast.
scraches aren;t an issue
Plastic boats scratch easy, but it takes an awful lot to actually scratch through. So the scratches shouldn’t be an issue.
Just stay safe in it (close enough to shore to swim it back, unless you figure out how to get back in after a capsize in open water) and you should have a decent boat to play around in.
Mission success
– Last Updated: Sep-05-14 5:54 PM EST –
Went paddling on a small lake with 18 mph winds and the good ol' crossfire did great, even while going down the middle of the lake. tracking wasn't the best but maintaining control wasn't that hard (it felt a lot like my buddys pelican pursuit 80, maybe even better). Gonna make a skag for it today and take her out again tomorrow.
thanks for the help guys