time for a new boat... im 5'11 220lbs athletic.
this boat will be used almost exclusively for day trips on ozark rivers, class I and II. 15ish miles is the norm and 20+days are not uncommon. Recreational/fitness/touring/some camping is what ill be doing. Im looking for a boat that is in the 14' range, and something plastic because it will get beat up and drug over rocky stream beds.
I like to cover a lot of ground, so im looking for a faster boat. my previous boat was a 14' old town dirigo, and i put 2000 miles on that boat if I put one on it. I know the boat is only as fast as the motor but that boat was def the limiting factor, not me.
Pretty much any 14' boat should have enough room for 3-4 days of gear, I will be doing a lot of 3 day trips from this boat.
ill be shopping used probably, but im not opposed to a good deal on a new one. Im looking to keep it about $1000-$1300 (cheaper the better obviously)
Suggest me some boats yall, im all ears :)
ps
and if anyone has a boat for sale that fits this description let me know lol
Transitional kayak
The Current Designs Whistler would probably work well for you. It has a big enough cockpit for you plus front and rear hatches. I have the composite version (Pachena, discontinued) and I like it a lot. I suggest getting the rudder. It’s really just a shorty sea kayak that is very maneuverable. I hear it is a shortened version of the Solstice boats, but I don’t know if that’s true or not.
sweet
http://www.canoekayak.co.uk/categories/articleitem.asp?cate=9&topic=27&item=74
pyrahnna speeder… most appealing boat ive seen in a while. fast day tripper, and could do bigger water than class II if I get so inclined.
anyone have any input on the speeder, and how much room is there in there for gear?
as long as you’re on a river
check out Prijon Yukon expedition
boats…
Hi....i would venture a educated guess and say anything in width's of 24" or less will be the only boats that will give you the speed you desire. Only other option would be go with a composite boat for quickness. Not sure who makes 14' boats with width's 24" or less...U'll have to do some research on that. You may end up with a 15-16' boat to get something narrow enough for good speed. the widths for boats seem to run around 30" for "rec" boats, then drop to around 23-26" for some day-trippers/week-enders/tour boats w/ decent dual hatch storage space. then down to 21-19" for serious speed boats. The prijon's mentioned above have a good rep for a great abuse-taking boat.Last item, Where is your general area of residence? Maybe another poster can steer you to local boats/shops.
Try craigslist for used boats. Happy paddling.
PS: i'm posting this link only because it offers a chance to look at a lot of boats/specs in 1 web site.
http://www.oakorchardcanoe.com/
I’m nearly exactly your size
and I’m lusting after the Dagger Alchemy Large that I test paddled late last fall. New list price is within your target budget, and I’ve seen them discounted numerous places by a couple hundred bucks.
Necky Manitou 14 or their ruddered boat
Necky makes some nicer transitional boats. I also think the WS Pungo 14 is really a weirdly fast 14 footer but it required a deeper draft than is good for shallow rocky rivers.
I use a Wilderness Systems Tsunami 125
and it does the trick on Ozark streams. Plenty of room for storage with bow and stern dry hatches. You could look at the Tsunami 140- as I’m sure it would give you ample storage.
My longest trip was 3 nights and 4 days on the Buffalo-my biggest challenge was making enough room for the cold beer I like to enjoy on and off the river.
necky
Necky Manitou 14 is worth checking out. I have the 13 and it is fast for a small kayak and handles well on streams. The 14 is not as maneuverable but has front and rear hatches.
My first touring yak was a Prijon
Calabria.It is about 14.5 feet and 24 or 25" wide. I really enjoyed that boat. It did everything reasonably well.
Here’s a link.
http://www.wildnet.com/
The plastic is very solid and the boat is extrusion blow-molded.
Good luck.
My First Kayak
Was also a Prijon but the Touryak. Blow-molded plastic far superior to all other plastic boats in MHO.
lots to choose from
Dagger
Necky (runs a bit small)
Old town
Perception
Current designs
wildreness
to name a few all have good boats so you should have no trouble finding one to fit you and your paddling style.
Work with a local outfitter as they usually have a variety of kayaks on hand to try out.
Speeder is not a secure boat for
the uses you described. It’s a poor man’s plastic downriver racing boat. Not that stable, not very maneuverable. I kayak class 1-2-3 rivers, and I would not do it in a Speeder.
You might want to look at the Liquid Logic Remix XP10. It has the maneuverability to tackle serious whitewater, and is fast enough to keep up on group river cruises.
Question: If you are always in such a
hurry, covering 15-20+ miles in a day, are you missing something? Ozark streams are not canals, they invite easier paddling to enjoy details. One thing I enjoy about true whitewater boats is that, with their rocker, they can be spun at a thought, to catch the view upstream. I would not want to cruise Ozark streams in a genuinely fast boat (like a Pyranha Speeder), because really fast kayaks are a nuisance when you want to do anything besides hammering in a straight line.
I would take a serious look at
the Pyranha Fusion.
my "river boat" is a Tsunami 120, it's more rockered than my 140 but still has reasonable downriver speed, and has enough room for an extended weekend trip. at your size the 125 would suit you better
AlchemyL
I’ve got one and like it a lot. Haven’t hit 2,000 miles yet, but I’m working on it. Very manueverable, quite a bit of storage for a 14 foot boat, nice skeg, extremely comfortable outfitting, not too heavy for its size in plastic, fairly narrow like you’re looking for, etc. Test paddle one if you can.
fast day tripper
My suggestion is the venture easky 15.
Here’s why you’d like it:
It’s quite a fast kayak, compared to say, a tsunami or carolina or pungo and others of this ilk.
Plenty of dry storage.
I think it would fit your frame.
It’s not very expensive, brand new it’s close to your price range.
For those times you crave speed and want to cover the miles it would be right up your alley.
Here’s why you might not like it:
It might be too long. At 15’ it’s not an easy boat to catch eddies and thread through braids of shallow creeks. But it has a shallow arch hull with single hard chine so when on edge it turns rather smartly.
It’s not the bomb-proofiest plastic i’ve seen.
It’s a fun kayak to paddle. Check it out.
ditto
it covered the bases well
Necky Looksha Sport
14’ 6" with rudder, teal green poly. It’s a 2003? in pretty good shape. It worked for me for a couple years until I graduated to a QCC 700x.
Will sell for $400. I could probably deliver to St Louis at the last week of July, when I come down for the MR 340. Let me know if you are interested, I can email you pictures of it.