for five foot six inch tall 131 pound kayaker??
Unreasonable and out of the question?
Advice? Please. Thank you
jim
now in Nova Scotia
May be a candidate
for an Outer Island.
Build or buy.
Holmes
5’4", 125 lbs
and building an Outer Island which is modified to 17’ x 19+".
The designer, Jay Babina, assures me that this is a good size for me.
It is looking good and I can hardly wait.
Which 18’ sea kayak?
Some 18’ boats would be unreasonable for someome your size, some would not.
Scaled-down OI
I know several people who have scaled-down OI’s (90%), and they love them.
Most production 18 footers would be too big in the cockpit for someone of the size mentioned in the original post.
A Betsie Bay Aral or a WS Tempest 165 might be good fits, too.
Wayne
depends
is it 17’10" or 18’2"?
ok, I’m a smart ass. The bulk of production boats are for the 175lb paddler with 75lbs of gear. If it’s the “average” 18’ sea kayak it’s too big. If it’s the ‘average’ 18’x19" kayak it probably isn’t. The length in and of itself is somewhat irrelevent.
The market for 15’ waterline boats for under 150lb paddlers is pretty small. Have you checked out the latest Sea Kayaker magazine? There’s an ad for Skim Kayaks that looks neat although it may be pricey,don’t know.
What is it about 18’ that is necessary?
What kayak are you looking at?
Is it a light boat?
Ian
qboat from valley
that would be as important
I’d much rather have a 16’ 40lb kayak than a 18’ 60lb kayak.
Small people…Big boats
There are two women in our club who paddle Epic 18’s. They are not overly large women, probably about your size. They both are strong paddlers though. I’d be proud to paddle as fast as they do. My wife is 5’7" tall and weighs about one hundred and fifteen pounds, I did buy her the Epic 16 instead of the 18. She a fast in that boat. If she had weighed fifteen pounds or more and was what I thought to be a strong person, I would have gotten her the QCC 600 or Epic 18. Good luck and go get that long fast boat! Franklin
Only one variable
People get too hung up on length. It’s just one factor. All the others are equally important.
I happen to like longer boats, but I don’t rock garden or do tiny creeks. I’m 5’9 and my latest - an almost completed SOF - is 19’8". During it’s plastic wrap test it turned more easily than my 18 foot composite, and did not feel particularly long from the cockpit at all.
Added overall length is not that big a deal from the cockpit for most paddling. The other design factors will matter more and determine if there is any downside to more length.
Q-Boat appears to have plenty of rocker and long overhangs. Gives it a shorter relative waterline than many of similar length so should behave like a shorter boat anyway. In that boat, I think fit/feel would be the bigger factor.
Explorer LV
Many of the smaller women I paddle with tested a love volume LV Explorer in lots of conditions on teh Columbia River last year. I think at least three of them have now ordered an Explorer LV. You may want to find one and take it for a test ride.
Bob
I was looking around
and checking out boats that are available
i found a VCP Pintail and Nordkapp H20
and also the VCP Quarajaq, I really really like the Nordkapp but fear I may be too small for a boat like that
I like to play quite a bit in sunkers and rockhopping but also hope to have a boat that can handle some good currents (Bay of Fundy and Shubenacadie)
and yet with the ability for carrying expedition capacities
as you may recall the bahiya from p&h was also at the top of my list
I fear the pintail is not going to have the storage room I would like, the qboat may be too large as is the Nordkapp I fear. But i have never seen a nordkapp in reality and can’t help but wonder how the boat would perform with a paddler of 135 pounds and at five foot six inches tall? Maybe if i make a habit of carrying more safety gear in the boat lol?
Well, i’m in nova scotia now and don’t know anybody so i am diving deep into boat shopping.
C’mon all you paddling geniuses…help a lost fool out of the fog lol
jim
135lbs
with your weight the Pintail could easily take a heavy load of gear,just not high volume amounts.
A QCC600 would be a fast and efficient high volume boat for your weight.
Impex Force 4
18’ x 20.75" fast, likes to carve and good luck catching my wife in hers!
See you on the water,
Marshall
www.the-river-connection.com
Can someone compare
the VCP Pintail to the P&H Capella (three year old model at 16 feet six inches and 22 inch beam)
is the nordkapp h20 on the too large
side of the scale for a lil paddler like me?
jim
H2O
as a day boat …probably too big for you. As a load carrier for trips, No, not too big for you, but the deck might be too high
they are making a Nordkapp LV model this year 17 foot 6 inches, and they lowered the deck too
This is the Nordkapp you should be looking at not the standard H2O
Valley is putting the LV model out for smaller paddlers that want an expedition capible boat
Best Wishes
Roy
Maybe
Maybe the Chatham 18 would work. I didn’t like the Nordkapp LV but that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t. I’m bigger.
How’s life as a Bluenoser?
Life in another atlantic Province
its pretty good so far, I really adore the history of Nova Scotia, not as much as I do my home, Newfoundland, but its stilla rich history and the people are proud of it. It adds another element to paddling the coastlines.
Besides, whats the sense in being an Atlantic Canadian paddler and not paddling in all the provinces that make up the most romantic of all Canada’s coasts?
Sooner or later, I’ll have to visit those american atlantic states…and then the pacific ones and so on and so on and so on…
guess I’d better pick a boat soon ey LOL
Overall though, Nova Scotia is great, although my roommate has gone for the weekend and it is friday night and i know absolutely no one and dont know where to go and probably wouldnt’ be able to find my way home again lol. I have been down to see sections of the bore, i think i may try and bike to maitland tomorrow to see the bore, and see if I can find some presence of paddlers in the truro area
Jim Kelly
jamesfkelly1977@hotmail.com