me three
a 65 lb boat is well over half of what I weigh (115 lbs)
Well. Over. Half.
I hurt my left rotator muscle group in March (not by paddling, sigh). If I had a boat that weighed half or more of what I weighed I would be jeopardizing further damage to the shoulder loading and loading it, and even w. a cart that’s a lot more to pull.
Light composite boats cost more, for sure. But they are cheaper than shoulder surgery and a lot more fun than rehab '-)
If you quote me, get the whole story
– Last Updated: Aug-15-09 12:21 AM EST –
And get the correct numbers.
I was talking about a male paddler who belittled me for not being able to solo-load the 61-lb Squall onto a 4WD truck topper. At 6'3" or 6'4", this guy just did not see that I was too short to lift ANY kayak that high. If the kayak were 30 lbs, it would not have made the difference. I know because I used to own a 33-lb Twister that I could not lift onto a similar-height truck. I used a Yakima BoatLoader to solve that problem, as others have done for their sea kayaks.
The Squall's 61 lbs (not 59) was barely manageable for me to carry; I almost always used the kayak cart to haul it to and from the water. OTOH, the 57-lb Tempest (that weight INCLUDES the hatch covers, the skeg, the deck lines, etc.) is slightly easier, as is the fiberglass Explorer LV which feels like it weighs the same as the Tempest. Not easy, but doable.
Nobody is saying you are a wimp for not wanting to shoulder 55-60 lb kayaks. It's not necessary when a kayak cart can solve the problem. But it's also not necessary for someone to spend literally twice as much (or more) to save a few pounds.
It’s me!
the extremely small paddler who wrangled a Marlin last weekend! This is a great forum – thank you everyone for your advice.
I am most definitely not wed to the Marlin – it was just one of the two boats the outfitter rented to us, and it looked a little narrower than the Kodiak. In the store, I had eyed the Suka as something more my size, but that was not one of the boats offered to us to rent. I really like the suggestion of finding a paddling club and trying out other boats. I am going to research that next.
As for what types of paddling I envision doing, I think my goals are somewhat different from runskicycle. He likes to go as fast as possible in whatever environment he is in, whether on bikes or skis or legs or kayaks! I, on the other hand, am probably looking at something not quite so fast, but that is good for recreational paddling both in the ocean and on flat water lakes. I’d like to have enough hatch room to be able to go camping for at least a couple of nights, maybe longer (though really, that’s just a matter of more food…). Ideally I would have something that I could keep up with runskycycle in, but I understand some of the previous comments that a smaller paddler can be more efficient in a smaller boat.
Definitely something that I can lift up onto the car would be fabulous. You should have seen us in Alaska…I could NOT lift the double kayak we rented onto the car. It was raining, it was dark, the kayak weighed probably as much as me, and we were trying to hoist it up onto a rental car without damaging either the boat or the car. Not pretty.
I guess at this point my question is, how do I find a paddling club that will let me borrow kayaks to test out? I found several clubs (we are in the Bay Area, so there are a lot of options), but it seemed like mostly people do trips or trainings together.
Thanks again for all of this advice. It is nice to virtually meet you!
renting for small paddler
The trouble I have had with renting is that the outfitters generally don’t stock too many of the small kayaks to test out. That’s how I get stuck with boats twice my weight and three times my size! 
Do you have suggestions for how to find places that rent smaller kayaks? Thanks.
I ask beforehand
I call ahead and ask them specifically what kayaks for small people they have, and how short their paddles are (the latter may be even more of a problem than the boats are).
I also assume it’s a case of getting “close enough” and not “perfect” fit. So while I refuse to paddle a 24" beam, 15" deck kayak, something with 22" beam is OK. Of course, I’d prefer narrower and lower, but those are hard to get in rentals.
VCP hatches
I’ve seen far more problems with strapped hatches than properly sealed VCP hatches.
VCP hatches must be sealed properly, which means going around the rim and making sure the the outer lip is tucked in. It’s a pain in the fingers, but it works.
Strapped systems have problems due to basic geometry – as decks and hatch covers get flatter, you’re asking a horizontal strap to provide vertical pressure. They work best on deck with high arches and/or high-profile hatch covers.