I am about your size
– Last Updated: Oct-05-05 4:48 PM EST –
and love my avocet. I generally paddle in the Monterey Bay. I have so far, used it only for day trips. I don't have any trouble keeping up with bigger folks in longer boats:)
Thats the one
The chines are a harder than you think.Very manuverable, it is a very playful boat. Not super fast but cruises quite well and really shines in rough water. Less volume than the Caribou which is 320 ltrs. Very easy to roll. If you are tripping you might not want the S which is 6% smaller. My wife can handle it so try one if someone will let you.
And now for something completely
different. If you are looking ahead to a boat you can grow with, try looking at a “Extra Fast Tourer” by West Side Boat Shop in Buffalo. It is made of kevlar and weighs around thirty pounds. It is hand made and costs about $2500. Not a ton of storage, stability comes with hours in boat, but it is well worth the effort. This company builds race kayaks too. Getting to test paddle one is the hard part, as they are made one at a time to order. Google West Side Boat Shop and/ or Doug Bushnell. I bought a tempest 17 before I ended up buying a Thunderbolt from West Side. I wish I had just bought the Thunderbolt right away.
Check out…
Eddyline’s Merlin LT, Equinox and Nighthawk 16. All are in the neighborhood of fifty pounds (most are less) and the thermoformed boats stack up pretty well in terms of performance with the composite and glass boats and are usually considerably less expensive. The LT and NH16 are also built with pretty snug cockpits for smaller paddlers.
EFT felt big to me…
…and I’m 200+ and used to a Q700. Can’t imagine how big it would feel to the original poster!
Yes, Definitely Those Two As Well…
on the list. I am actually passively keeping an eye open for a SparrowHawk. As much as I love my SOF, it don’t play it rocks. I like a hardshell boat to do that with. Sparrowhawk at 16.5’x20.5" may do the trick. It doesn’t have skeg or rudder, which may be a good thing if it doesn’t weathercock much.
I am also intrigued by Pat/Onno’s Mermaid. Thing looks somewhat baidarkish to me, a good thing, and probably a very fast point a to b type boat. Would love to try it if I ever get to San Diego again.
sing
Demo Boats
I have several Westside boats, along with miscellaneous sea kayaks and ICF K1s. I’m in Massachusetts and have a nice protected pond to demo boats. Most of my boats are lightweight and designed to be fast.
16.5 feet and 46lbs.
Look at the Hurricaine Aquasports Tracer. A long boat that is light weight and handles good. See the reviews here on p.net
My 2 cents worth…
I’m close to your size and I second the votes for Eddyline Nighthawk 16 (good for longer camping trips and still handles well, and the Impex Mystic which handles like a dream (see my review) but won’t carry as much cargo.
I also like the Pygmy Arctic Tern 14(if you or someone you know likes to build). It is responsive and light and also fits a smallish paddler well.
Good luck and try as many as you can.
Hurricane Rear Decks
These boats have some nice features, not the least of it their lightness, but there are a couple of women in our club with these where the higher rear decks presented a real re-entry challenge. I couldn’t get one back in even fully assisted without stirrups, because of an issue with one knee. Maybe a big guy could have pulled her higher up - she’s very game but isn’t skinny - but she paddles mostly with older women. Most of them are not as strong as I am. I don’t recall if they were able to complete a paddle float re-entry by adding a stirrup, but I know that it took several tries to figure out how to solve this one.
Am I missing something? It doesn’t seem to me that the original poster has really replied with more details on useage and paddling aptitudes. Makes it difficult.
female intermediate paddler which kayak?
Wow, I was not signed on for a couple of days and thrilled to see the replies. Re need for more info:
What I paddled up to now: don’t laugh- my first boat (bought by spouse who thought I might get claustrophobic in a regular kayak) bought a 10" recreational SOT. But I paddle with other women (generally leisurely pace unless we hit the wind, big waves and current) who have sea kayaks and manage to keep up. I feel like an imposter tho, and want to get something serious, able to do some of the weekend camp trips our clubs do in CT, and not feel embarassed! I want something I can grow into, not have to repurchase in 2 years to advance. Have not learned to roll- fear issues there pkus no equipment to practice. I do prefer LI sound to rivers and lakes, but do all 3. I paddle between 4-7 hrs with breaks, again leisurely paced. Not into cometitive stuff/racing, or rocks and rapids. Anyone heard of the Cappella 163 by P&H? I demoed last weekend and very comfy w/ superb construction.
PS Mark What boat do you have to sell?
Dinghy Shop Has Hurricane
That helps
LOL by the way - I guess you just found out that two days is a long time on this board.
If you can’t roll and you are going to be on big water, I’d strongly suggest you focus on something with a lower, flatter and easy to reach back deck. This will make a paddle float re-entry, or an assisted one, much easier to get on the first try so a single mishap doesn’t become a big deal. That leaves you with the Brit boats like the Capella you tried and some of the flatter decked North American ones like the Eddyline Merlin. If you are trying to keep up with others in sea kayaks you will likely want at least at 16 ft boat, 17 or so wouldn’t hurt.
There is also the matter of fit - as I recall this boat, if you liked the feel of the Capella 163 you aren’t a big person. What is your height and weight? Average sized women find themselves with a reduced set of options fora boat that fits you well enough to really be easy to handle compared to 180 pound guys. And a boat in which you have good contact with the hull will be easier to use to advance your skills. The low volume version of the NDK Explorer for example, has an extra small cockpit that is pkenty big for me at 5’4" and 135 pounds but still offers significantly better contact than anything else out there in that size boat.
The Capella is a neat boat - my short boat is a Vela. The Capella is I think about average for tracking - a characteristic to which you may want to pay strong attention if you are going to be out for those long time periods.
It sounds like you are getting good guidance, and/or have some good instincts re the boat. I would strongly encourage you to get into some private lessons and work thru the anxiety about being under the boat though. I had a ripping good case of that and it took me about two years of steady de-sensitizing to just get by that, but it was very much worth the time and effort. It made a huge diff in my ability to really relax and enjoy paddling more fully.
Female intermediate paddler-which kayak?
Celia, Many thanks! Very helpful hints esp since you are similarly sized. I am 130#, 5’5" tall. I actually tried the Capella 169 but the rep said i should have a boat that’s lower to the water- ie 163. Since I last posted and did a bunch more research, I have 6 picks:
Necky Chatham 16
Impex currituck (in 2004 was called pursuit)
WS tempest 165 pro
or maybe eddyline nighthawk.
Also thought the CD slipstream looked good, but not much cargo space for weekends. Do you (or others) have experience with these? Esp want to buy used.
Hear you re rolling-need to conquer!
My experience w/those boats
By the way, you said waaay back up at the top what size you were, and I even caught it. But by two days later I had forgotten. Sorry to ask you to repeat that. I am also over 50 (within days of 54), in case that isn’t already obvious from my poor recall.
As to the boats you mention, I’m only sure I’ve tried the the Nighthawk, the Slipstream, the Currituck and the Chatham. A very brief sit in the Capella but a T-storm came in so that kinda ended that demo moment - didn’t make it more than 3 ft from the dock. I haven’t yet tried a Tempest, not for lack of interest but it seems that every time I am someplace where I can try it someone else is sitting in it. But lots of people love theirs and it seems that WS resolved the early model year issues with imploding bulkheads.
The Slipstream is one of my two favorite boats in the CD line, but I agree that it is very compomised on storage. I also personally wouldn’t go with any boat for big water (loaded) tripping that didn’t already come with a plastic bulkhead, which is a special order upgrade in CD boats.
The Nighthawk is a pretty sweet feeling boat and handles big water well. But at your size, I think you’d find that back deck to be a little higher than ideal for things like off balance work, and it is much more of a go straight boat than play in waves boat. This may be what you need - you’d have to think about that balance.
The Chatham 16 is a great boat for handling in sloppy stuff. It moves forward Ok (not fast) and does quite well in conditions or in surf. I think it is the best all around boat of the three Chathams (16, 17 and 18). Size and fit would be my concern about the 16 - I don’t recall the fit too well but I think it was a little deep on me. You’d have to confirm whether you were closely enough in there to have good control over the boat. Have a good conversation about fit when you try it out. On the plus side, the Chathams come in plastic so that even if it is heavy it’ll tolerate the occassional drop on the ground better than a glass boat.
I just checked the size of the Currituck, which as I remembered correctly was on the bigger side for me. The good news is that it will track and keep up with a crowd with less effort than the Montauk. But you would eventually find yourself adding fitting. At a midship height of 13", at some point you’d find yourself wanting to do some not skinny padding to bring the thigh brace height down. Like maybe an inch and a half anyway. I don’t recall exactly where the back deck came to on me - you’d have to look at that.
Also, if you are thinking Impex it may be worth holding off for a month and trying to get into a Force 3. The boat is supposed to be at dealers by the end of October, and it is targeted for a smaller paddler than the Currituck while still going for traveling efficiency. And Impex makes a good quality boat.
BUT - if I had to make one pick, the absolute best boat I can recommend to you for your size and purpose is an NDK Explorer LV (low volume). It’s not just that I like my boat - it is the only full length touring kayak out there with a keyhole cockpit that is properly sized for us. And there is just nothing this boat won’t do decently well, including making off balance manuvers much easier to learn than most other boats. The boat is shamelessly forgiving, of which I take copious advantage.
It would be best to find an existing one though - ordering one new is time consuming and lately the containers with Brit boats have been getting pulled over by Customs a lot. (for no good reason, paperwork is fine) Also, that way the boat has been vetted for quality issues. And you’d probably want the Elite layup, which is much lighter than the old ones that people remember (with groans about their aching back).
If you can get to Great River Outfitters in Rhode Island, there is a good chance that they’d have one that you could demo.
necky, bbk valkryie
We’re similar sizes–I’m 5’ 5 1/2", 130 lbs. I have a necky elaho (16’, kevlar, rudder, about 48 lbs), which I have trouble rolling, and now a BBK Valkyrie (17/, wood/epoxie, 32 lbs), very easy to roll, much faster than the necky. Both boats are nice boats, but the necky elaho feels huge now, compared to the valkyrie. They cost exactly the same. The BBK has its issues, but it’s a wonderful boat to paddle, and the extremely light weight is great. I’m a backpacker, so my gear is compact, which means the BBK is fine for weekend or week long trips. Friends who have never paddled actually feel much more comfortable in the BBK than in the Necky, which has little primary stability. The chatham and elaho have some similarities, people say, but I’ve never paddled the chatham.
Anyway, the point of this message is to suggest that you try the BBK valkyrie if there’s one near you to demo. It’s lots of fun to paddle, very easy to roll, and so light that it’s never a hassle to car top.
female intermediate paddler needs advice
Celia, Yopu commented that “I also personally wouldn’t go with any boat for big water (loaded) tripping that didn’t already come with a plastic bulkhead”. Is this a speical lining insert to composite boats to solve a leakage issue? I am soo impressed at your knowledge about all the boats I mentioned. I will check out your boat for sure. I think I might even have seen one for sale used somewhere. RI is only a couple of hrs, so if they’ll let me demo this weekend, I’ll be there barring huge rainstorms.
Tiva mentioned another I haven’t heard about: bbk valkryie. I’ll look that up on the reviews site. Tiva, do you know who carries this line? Haven’t seen it listed among CT outfitters. J
Bulkheads, Valkyrie
– Last Updated: Oct-08-05 10:14 AM EST –
I ain't no expert - but I have been working a lot on my kayaking this last season and have had some first hand experience about how things work right for me in a boat. And we demo'd lotta boats over the last three years. We've traveled some to try out different boats as part of making the decisions about the ones we own.
All I meant with the bulkhead was that, for things like camping, I'd rather have a fiberglass bulkhead in a fiberglass boat than the plastic bulkheads that come standard on the CD fiberglass and kevlar boats. If you are going to be camping out of the boat there'll be weight and stuff packed up against the bulkhead, and I am superstitious enough to trust the heavier fiberglass bulkheads than ones made of plastic.
In a plastic boat that changes a little, because then you want a bulkhead that is able to move a little as the hull itself flexes. Most bulkheads that work well in plastic boats also require some annual maintenance to check for leaks and renew some of the gluing.
Tiva names the Valkyrie which I haven't been able to demo, but is on my list to try out sometime if I am near someone who carries them. I have seen other of the Betsy Bay Kayaks and they are nice boats. I seem to recall that West Side Kayaks, in Manhattan has them, so I would guess that if you called the Betsy Bay folks you might find others in your area who do. She also refers to some of what I was talking about, that as you try to advance your skills a boat that seemed to fit OK when you started may well be difficult later because you find the boat fit is really too big.
EFT not big for me
…and I am 5’1" and 120 lbs. I LOVE my EFT!
this explanation re bulkheads
– Last Updated: Oct-08-05 10:28 AM EST –
helped me understand it better:
http://www.qcckayaks.com/kayaks/bulkheads.asp
This is what QCC does but I am sure other manufacturers of higher end boats would probably construct theirs similar or better way. At least the explanation gave the pros and cons of the plastic vs. foam or composite for bulkhead use also, the construction and glueing methods used.