rec boats usage
There was an article in California Kayaker Magazine on selecting a rec boat (can be read online for free at http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1sh59/CaliforniaKayakerMag/resources/22.htm.
Key quote from that article:
"Here’s the deal: recreational kayaks are for general recreation. They’re not meant for surfing Bolinas. They’re not meant for making the Inside Passage to Alaska. They’re designed for even the first time kayaker to sit flat on the water comfortably on relatively pleasant days. Rec boats are wide and stable. Most people don’t wear spray skirts. A lot of people bring their dog. As a result, the vast majority of these kayaks have the very bare minimum of emergency flotation, which makes it difficult at best to get the water out of a swamped boat. A flooded boat won’t sink, but it also won’t float high enough to get back in. Manufacturers build boats like this for three reasons: keep the price low, keep the weight down, and also because the chances are very small that you would ever tip the boat over (if you paddle in the conditions the boat was built for). "
It’s sad that the ACA doesn’t do more
Many beginning paddlers don't even know the
ACA exists , let alone trains paddlers in USA.
http://www.americancanoe.org/
If retailers merely gave potential customers
info from the ACA on where to get instruction
the number of water related deaths would drop.
The USA is surrounded on 3 sides by ocean, and
has countless creeks, streams, rivers and lakes.
Paddling is a LEARNED skill, just like golf.
Millions hack at it and think they know.
A lifetime is spent learning about nature.
Putting a tush in a cockpit doesn't make that
person a kayaker/canoeist anymore than putting
a tush in airplane makes that person a pilot.
hit and miss
REI is a step above the bog box stores, in that some of the employees there do really know their stuff. Many of them are outdoor enthusiasts.
But it can be hit or miss, as not all are up on the sport you are interested in. More likely to find consistent info for a local kayak shop (then again, not all of those are perfect either).
Read it there and agree.
The fault is not with the boat, but with the manufacturer for not including fore and aft flotation (to save money) and/or with the user for believing that it can be used in severe conditions without training no less!
I bought my glide for $325 on sale, cheap enough to determine if I wanted to pursue this sport. It got me back out on the water, and that’s what I needed to find that kayaking is a hobby worth pursuing and that I would keep it up.
It came with an aft float bag that’s well made, and many don’t. After reading and lessons, I realized I needed a fore float bag and found that it only cost $25 more for me to buy another one from Emotion that fit almost perfectly.
In the literature they don’t in any way claim that this is a seagoing vessel that I can see. It’s a better designed rec boat than most I’ve seen and evaluated, though. All their claims for this design and the quality of its manufacture are correct, IMO. And that’s the way I use it with pleasure.
Don’t know the boat, but…
I’ve paddled a boat like that with James when we were looking for an SOT double so that I could take him out. We tried a few boats and the retailer suggested, since the next boat we wanted to try was being used, that we take out an open cockpit boat. I was dubious, but decided to give it a shot into the 2-3 foot surf coming in.
It was bad. The surf was continuous (for those who know the SF Bay, Coyote Point had those typical rollers you get on moderately windy conditions). The first wave simply plowed over the boat and nearly filled the boat. The next wave was certain to flood it, so I did what I could to turn the boat and surf back in. Being, at this point, a sinking barge, the dang thing turned almost as well as the Exxon Valdez. I gave it up as a loss, bailed out with the kid, and hauled the kid and POS to shore.
So, I don’t recommend going out in potential surf in a boat that isn’t either closed cockpit or a SOT that is designed to self-drain.
Rick
I disagree
that water deaths would decrease appreciably if people knew about ACA courses or if people even took some of the courses. I learned to fly and for the most part the instruction was not good quality. I learned to scuba dive and the majority of what I got was poor instruction. I became a scuba instructor and what I found is that most people don’t want to spend the time or the money for quality training.
Reality seems to be that even with training or certification people will still do stupid things that lead to injury or death for someone.