I kind of like the weight of the delta. Should i be concerned about durability?
@Avi said:
I kind of like the weight of the delta. Should i be concerned about durability?
Not at all. It’s an ABS boat. ABS is very durable (and if there is a mishap, it’s easily repaired). I have two. One, a 14-footer, was dropped onto a concrete floor at the pool (by “helpers”). It bounced. No damage.
Here’s a video of Eddyline’s rep showing how durable the material is. It might make you wince, but the boat was unharmed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=7&v=ZtLfVloJ0kE
Paddle all the boats you listed and choose the one that fits and paddles best.
Time to mention longer term goals. The Delta is the only one of the 3 with cockpit dimensions that could well support more advanced skills. Like really handling the boat and taking it on edge. Tsunami next in line, a bit big but you might be able to make it work. Carolina way too big a cockpit for good fit for that stuff.
Not sure that it is possible to try all three. I was hoping for some opinions from forum members
At some point you have to stop reading and do something.
I have been through several good boats that didn’t work for me but it took a few hours, or days, on the water to figure that out.
@string said:
At some point you have to stop reading and do something.
I have been through several good boats that didn’t work for me but it took a few hours, or days, on the water to figure that out.
What he said. ^^
We tried CL-- kept calling or arriving too late. Very, very, very little in the way of boat shopping in this end of the “Yoop” The nearest full service, non -big box outfitters, was about 90 miles away. We just decided to purchase based on reviews, what we felt were important features (dual bulkheads, litweight, and more), so we could hit the water.
So far no complaints and I suspect we picked well. Maybe 3-4 years from now may think about it differently.
Avi, the problem is that that only goal you have enunciated is going faster. As I said above there are differences in even those 3 boats in how suitable they are for skills that go with being in Sound.
You have gotten opinions. Marshall has offered excellent ideas and others have said they are. You just don’t seem to like those opinions.
Amen to Celia’s and String’s comments.
Few first kayak purchases are “perfect”. You won’t and can’t know what will exactly fit your body or your intended usage until you actually sit in and paddle a range of boats. Most of us involved in kayaking serious waters have gone through from a couple to a dozen or more different boats as we learned what features affected performance and fit and tweaked what we paddled as we grew into the sport. You evidently don’t want to make the effort to test a range of boats on the water (so you really can’t understand what we are explaining to you in real terms.) When we offer valid reasons why certain boat specs won’t meet your stated desires you keep going back to those same models.
It’s common to not get the optimal boat on your newbie purchase. But rejecting the wisdom and recommendations of multiple folks with lots of experience is going to make it even LESS probable that you will find something reasonably appropriate. Your fixation on a short boat remains at odds with your expectations for speed and safe performance in the waters you say you plan to explore. To put this in automotive terms, you want to take golf carts to cruise the Autobahn.
At this point it may be more important to just pull the trigger on one of them so you can start to learn first hand what its limitations may or may not be.
If some of us seem cranky in our attitude it’s because we run into this a lot with newcomers. Anxious obsession with finding the “ideal” first boat can paralyze a newbie. We can offer you all the advice in the world but until you FEEL the difference in performance due to kayak designs in real world conditions much of it is not going to sink in. You are fixated on short boats, so flip a coin and probably best to just buy one of them. Most people enjoy their first kayak – kayaking is fun and if you have little or nothing to compare it to your first one tends to be exhilarating. But don’t say we didn’t tell you so if it eventually falls short of your expectations, especially on speed and rough water tracking…
I don’t plan on doing any ww kayaking. I will likely do slow moving rivers 90% of my time and occasionally hit the sound on calm days. For several reasons iam not ready to go with a 14’ kayak but the delta 12.10 is 92% of a 14’ and it’s got the double hauls do what am i still missing? It should be faster then the aspire and safer. Otherwise why stop at 14, maybe get a 16 or larger. Buy i do appreciate all the inputs i recieved. I feel like understand the sport much more now. And i agree i need to start do it for a while and if i truly get into it I’ll figure out what changes i need to make and get a second one. I do think that one of the three i listed is a good half way compromise to explore this sport further. I think of the three i listed the delta offers the longest, cockpit that provides good control [which i won’t need 90%of the time, and light weight. My only two concerns with the delta is the small cockpit won’t be easy for me to enter and the durability
WW? Not sure where that came from.
The fit in the Delta will get better with seat time.
And your rookie (not the person below)is showing when you say 90% of the time you don’t need to control the boat.
I guess if the river you paddle is filled with rocks you may run into, the Delta could be damaged. But my guess is it would just bounce off unless you’re moving at warp speed. Checked the Delta site and they use the same repair material as Eddyline: Devcon. Six bucks at the local box store. Here’s info on repairs: https://eddyline.com/customer-service/care-repair/thermo-form-repair-carbonlite-repair (they call their ABS “carbonlite”).
On the other hand, learning boat control would help you avoid those rocks. Once you get into a well fitting kayak, take a few forward strokes, move your weight to your right or left cheek and see what the kayak does and what your legs do. Just keep your head centered.
The challenge of entering a 31 x 17 cockpit: Is it a matter of flexibility? If so, you can always improve that.
Yes, flexibility. Also entering from a dock will take some practice
@Avi said:
Yes, flexibility. Also entering from a dock will take some practice
Entering from a dock is pretty easy if you follow this…
One comment on the above video about entering from a dock.Works great if you have the luxury of occupying a tie down area. You can hold onto it as well as tying something off, but I keep a short tow line on the front of my boats so that is always available.
However, between having to get in or out around other boats or using docks with poorly spaced devices, I am often dealing with a bare dock. For that, I get balanced on the back deck of the boat behind the cockpit from the dock, it is a shorter reach, then plop into the cockpit…
I think I’ll have to sign up to a yoga class and gain some abilities to plop in to the seat
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I can get in pretty well from a dock like the video—but the getting out at a dock has proven a bit difficult. I just now go with wet foot method to exit the kayak.
Yooper, the get onto the back deck thing actually is more helpful getting out than in. It puts you a foot or so closer to the height of the deck, which can be surprisingly helpful.
That said, hanging out on the back deck does take a little practice. I seemed to have lost some of my balance climbing around the deck this spring. So when I was in Maine I made sure to sit all over the boat, mess around with the cowboy and launched and landed sitting on the back deck. Had a little 18 inch wave action to mess with here and there.
Not surprisingly, I did a lot of swimming the first couple of days. But then I got my whatever back and it was easy. Going to take the skinnier boat out this week to a pond and spend some time with that. Hotter than heck anyway, so that is a good way to cool off.
Celia---- thanks. Too bad I hadn’t seen this video on Saturday as I wouldn’t have taken a bath with the cellphone. Old fliphone so not a great $$ loss. I was using it for the camera. Some nice shots on the Tahquamenon River that may/maynot be retrievable . Guess we’ll have to go back.
@kfbrady said:
Entering from a dock is pretty easy if you follow this…
No doubt a good method, but I wonder at the boat in the video. It’s an odd shape with more volume to either side than what I think normal. I’m not sure he’d have gotten away with everything demonstrated in a more typically shaped kayak.
@Avi said:
I think I’ll have to sign up to a yoga class and gain some abilities to plop in to the seat
Go for it, Avi. You can do it and you’ll be healthier for it. Don’t wait to sign up for a class; you can start gentle stretching in your own space, Lots of good info in the learning sections of Pcom. Here’s one:
https://paddling.com/learn/stretching-for-paddling-longevity/