Expedition
It’s a fine boat. Quality, tough.
Now it is not cheap.
I have a Looksha Sport, and am about
the same weight as redneckhippie. My concern would be that, weighing what he does, and carrying a few days of food and gear, he will find the Looksha Sport sits too deep to get over a lot of Ozark gravel bars.
Do you have an “Ocean State Job Lots”…
store near you?
Just bought my 2nd 16’ Old Town Cayuga for $539
For your purpose…Tsunami125
would work well for your size. Lots of storage, manageable size for rivers, but reasonably fast on open water. Pungo140 also an all around good hauling boat.
Tsunami 125
I’m 6’3" 260 and this is one of the few boats this size that I fit in comfortably with a smaller cockpit. Had to move the seat back 2" for leg room. You should fit no problem. I found a new one for $650. Go to your local outfitter and try different boats. You can get ideas here but you have to try them out and see what your comfortable with. Good luck.
Love
my Easky 15…excellent speed and stability. I’m 6-2/215 and can paddle this yak and keep up with any of the “faster” boats on a trip…good cargo and tight hatches too. Paddle one if you get a chance.
answer: if im always in such a hurry
and cover 20 miles in a day, then i get more accomplished. You can turn around in an eddy and look upstream just as well in a fast boat as you can in a slow boat, but you cant make a slow boat go fast. When you paddle the same stretches of river a few times youve seen it. Then you wonder if you can do the same trip faster. Sometimes I cant get on the water till late in the day and I need to make good time to get back by dark. Sometimes its nice to lollygag in one of my favorite spots, knowing I can make the time up rather than paddling away all day in a slow boat.
Thanks everyone for the suggestions
Easkys
Several folks have mentioned the Venture Easky 15. I have an Easky 13 (it’s actually 13’ 7"); if you can find one of the 2nd generation versions of this boat, it’ll probably suit your needs. Maybe not as fast as the 15, but a bit more maneuverable in rivers. Lots of load capacity, too.
http://www.venturekayaks.com/index2.php#/kayaks/all/Easky%2013
Tsunami 14m(nm)
not mentioned yet
is the new Native Watercraft Inuit. it comes in 12.5, 13.5, 14.5 sizes and has the “Bad Ass Outfitting” from LiquidLogic.
Perception Carolina 14
I love my Perception Carolina 14. …easy to get into, very stable, enough room for a long weekend trip… I am actually going to be getting a Current Designs Storm GT (17’) in the next couple of weeks, but I plan on keeping the Carolina for streams/creeks and small rivers and winter paddling. (I normally paddle on the Missouri River and Lake Oahe.)
Fast or Stable?
There’s been a Prijon Beluga on the Washington DC Craigslist.org for some time now. At $400 asking that looks like a Pyranha Speeder alternative on the cheap. No bulkheads/stor ge I suspect, but these are easy to add if you want them…
But boats like these will be tippy and require attention/active paddling in anything but flat water. Not many in the 14ft range will be faster though…
Old Town Cayuga 146
Preferably one of the originals (2005/06) made of Polylink 3, which is stiffer (=faster) than the current cheap single-layer plastic Old Town is using. The Cayuga has a lot of storage space for multi-day camping.
14’ boats are not really fast, sorry. But some are faster than others. Look for a width of 24" or less. 25" will be noticeably slower.
I would not get one for his use.
– Last Updated: Mar-30-10 1:41 PM EST –
Just got my Speeder in December. I have a garage full of kayaks, incuding narrow seakayaks and many years of successful kayaking. No matter what you read in the specs, let me tell you, the Speeder is tippy. I would not want to run it for my everyday boat. It makes a good racer for those stepping up a notch from touring or seakayaks. It is pretty fast. I would not want to load this thing with gear and expect to get to my campground dry. It makes a great addition to your family of boats if you are in a sporting mood. I would not own it as my only boat unless I was mostly racing and occassionally needed some drinks in the back for a friendly cruise paddle. It doesn't go nearly so quickly upside down and I have spent much time that way now. 20+ years of no flipping, and I pretty much swim each time out with this thing.
As an aside, see my write up for the Red Mo Downriver Race here that I ran in class 2+ in the Speeder. I pooped my pants!
Second that.
Super stable. Pretty darn quick. Rugged, bombproof. Everything stays dry inside. Gobs of storage. Price it right. Best seat ever.
Had one outing in the Loosha Sport
Enough for me. It had a rudder. It definitely requires a rudder. I didn’t feel stable or confident. Better than some I have been in though. Pretty quick.
PRIJON YUKON EXPEDITION
WITH RUDDER best all around touring yak for any size including sea kayaking nothing touches it.
and i have a t170 prijons are the best!
WS Tsunami 140
Hands down. I love my 140 (we own a 120 too). I have a review here:
http://www.milespaddled.com/2008/04/wilderness-systems-tsunami-120-140.html