Out of it, you need to budget for roof rack ($$$), paddle ($$), PFD and other paddling clothing/"soft goods", plus compass and other electronics such as GPS and/or radio. Those could easily make around $500 dent in your budget!
However carefully the research, 90% people's first baot will not be their last. (e.g. I came from WW kayaking so I managed to skip the "beginer" boats alright. Still, I got the first boat wrong: too much volume for my weigth! ) So look at used boats seriously. It's a far better deal.
1) Used fiberglass boat: This is what I think the best route. You have a lot more option to choose from. And if you don't like it, you can turn around and sell it for what you paid for originally. Because fiberglass can be repair to the n'th time, don't be afraid to get a "heavily used" one. Nor is there any worry about having to "baby" the boat, if you start with a boat with lots of scratches. ;-)
2) Robomold: it's cheaper than fiberglass for the same condition. But there're far fewer choices of hull shape to choose from, especially in the used market.
3) A new plastic boat cost almost as much as a decent used fiberglass boat but won't re-sell for as much. Although if you choose carefully, you might recoup "some" of the money. Or, just keep it as a guest boat if you don't miss the money too much.
4) New fiberglass boat: I wouldn't recommend it for a first boat. You'll be too careful with it for fear of putting any scratch in. And you lose too much when (not if) you come to sell.
Now Now Maybe something got deleted but I don’t see anything about surfing. He wrote this:
“Most interested in long ocean day treks as a form of exercise and exploration.”
When getting sideways or upside down in a kayak I have found the GP to be a far superior tool for getting back upright. Never had the wind try to snatch it out of my hands like with the Euro. I wish someone had clued me in on the GP before I spent all that money on Euros.
Can’t say enough about… my Artisan. I’ve had it for about 4 years now and it was bought used. I take good care of it and it still looks great. It’s long, fast and an absolute pleasure to paddle. I never get tired of it. Seat is comfortable and I can sit in it all day. I’m 6’ and about 185 these days.
I think it’s got beautiful lines too. Here are some photo’s of mine.
No, something was ADDED on a later post by the OP:
“One thing I had not thought about was the surf and rocks. Tons of this around here”
He’s also a kitesurfer.
Spending half my time on WW, which means going sideways and upside down A LOT, I found it hard to believe that GP is any BETTER at getting back up than Euro. Otherwise, I should have been seeing a lot of GP user amoungst WW paddlers, which I haven’t seen ANY, yet.
Western Red Cedar… would probably be a bad choice for serious whitewater. But a carbon fiber GP would work fine. I have found the GP to be much, much easier to manuever in the water than the Euro and I have owned and extensively used both.
not beginer boats I’d first agree with the wise comment made first to this question. Start out with a used boat and gain some experience.
You’ve got several boats that my well be dangerous for a beginner in that list. You arn’t going to be happy in a 20" wide boat with no experience, you’ll be swimming all the time.
I think the reason you've never seen a GP used on whitewater is because the GP is either totally foreign or brand spankin' new to whitewater people. We do winter roll sessions at the local pool with sea kayaks and whitewater mixed. The whitewater guys would ask about the GP and a few would ask to use one. A guy loaned me his whitewater boat at the pool and I rolled his boat with the GP better than he could with his Euro.
All I'm really trying to get across is that the spoon shape of the Euro gives it a lot of drag when you're manuevering / sweeping for a roll. It takes a lot more muscle and time than when using a GP.
Off the top of my head I would think a GP designed for whitewater would be shorter and wider than one designed for sea kayaking... for dealing with shallow water.
Remember, tri bars on a bicycle was unheard of until Lemond showed up with them in France. And he won.
Oh yeah, surfing... we recently surfed wind waves for a couple of miles while rat-racing from Shackleford Banks to Harker's Island. I whipped up on my buddy in his QCC700. I was using a GP and he was using a Euro.
hampton beach south lots of miles of seemingly endless beach with dumping surf. Beaches are generally not kayaker friendly. Not a great place to try to land without some experience. Kind of monotonous. But if you travel an hour north you might find Portland and the islands of Casco Bay will wet your appetite for exploration. Just a little further north and you have hundreds of miles of sea kayaking opportunities full of spectacular scenery and wildlife.
Don’t sweat the fragility of a glass boat. They are nearly infinitely repairable, lighter than plastic, stiffer. You will scratch it up over time but that just means you love your boat enough to paddle it wherever the hell you want. You can find a ton of prescratched boats deals in this new economy of ours.
If you want some company on the water give me a shout. I am 45 minutes from the coast and always looking for an excuse to go paddling.
“Never”! It may be true that GP “could” work in WW, but to say it’s “beginer stuff” when you’ve “never” even done it yourself is a bit much.
More to the point, WW (or surfing for that matter) is NOT about getting back up AFTER you flip. It’s more about manuveuring in irrated water, to either avoid rocks or to catch eddies, or to get a long ride on the wave face WHILE STAYING UPRIGHT as much as possible. So your narrow focus on the rollability of GP doesn’t apply all that much. Though I’m not a class IV WW paddler, I can pretty much roll any WW boat with no problem. More over, many class IV boaters can roll WITHOUT paddle at all (hand roll). So your point about the ease of rolling using GP is very much moot.
I wouldn’t say GP is “beginer stuff” because I haven’t used it enough (only borrowed it from time to time on trips, and felt no “revealation” as far as I’m concern). But you don’t seem to hesitate to extropulate on things you have zero experience on. That gives me pauses on the validity of any of your opinion in general.
Update Wow…excellent info. Again, so glad to have found these forums and come across such an experienced crowd.
I ended up going to the Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake and managed to “sit” in quite a few boats. This helped out a lot, because after the show I began to get a sense on how the feel of the boat and where I am positioned is going to wiegh very strong on the performance.
Still, I won’t be buying anything until I get to demo. One interesting Kayak at the show I came across was a Riot Aura 18. It felt great and I’m going to see about trying to find one around here. I also say a few P&H boats, and the P&H reps were super cool about siting there answering my questions.
Updated list:
NDK Romany
Impex 4
Capella 168
Valley Avocet
Tempest 165
Chattam 16
Artesean Millenium
I’m 100% on the used track now, so it will be Sea Cliff, Maine Island or anything that pops up on Craigslist.
I’m also certain that I’m going to want to get out into the ocean and haul ass for hours in one direction. Major exercise, major distance and just pure peace. This makes me think the Aquanaut over the Avocet, but I’m still on the fence.
"haul ass for hours in one direction" You’ll know best after you’ve paddled a number of boats in the waters you want to explore.
No one boat excels at everything. That is the main rational reason many of us have multiple boats. (There are also irrational reasons many have many boats, but that is another thread.) A boat that is super easy to throw around, surf, rock garden, learn to roll, brace, etc… is often not going to be the best boat for covering long distances in one direction. A boat which is super efficient at covering miles is going to be harder to maneuver, etc…
Good sea kayaks are compromises. I used my Aquanaut for everything for a while. It is a good traveling boat which is confidence inspiring in conditions and not too stiff. I did my BCU 3* training and assessment in the Aquanaut. However, it is not a playful boat and after getting my Romany felt it all would have been much easier in the Romany.
I picked up my Romany to have a boat which is easier to throw around than my Aquanaut. The Romany is easier for me to surf, play in tide races, practice rolling & bracing, and use as a guest boat. However, for covering distances, the Romany can be real work. If paddling for hours with a pod who moves fast, I much prefer the Aquanaut as I feel I am working harder if in my Romany.
Then I bought my Nordkapp LV…
Your list includes all very good boats. Each with its own personality. Play in as many as you can.