I just looked up your boat. Yeah, that’s a nice WW boat. It really is. Reminds me of Dagger’s RPM, frankly. You’d want a skirt in that boat. This keeps it from filling up.
I took lessons (2 full days over a weekend) that were super helpful. Learned safety and how to roll.
If the WW kayak isn’t for you, have you thought of a sit-on-top? A lot of people fish from these, too. Rolling is no longer an issue in such a kayak.
It is indeed a fun hobby. Hope to see. you on the water some day.
Thanks everyone. I’m still greatly interested but for now, I have to get recovered from Christmas. I appreciate all the input.
The US does not have the club structure you see in Europe. Biggest single reason IMO that the BCU shot itself in the foot at least in the US by adding a canoe requirement for sea kayaking. That only works if everyone does not have to run out and buy a canoe to get by it. BCU took it away but not before the damage was done.
pepsimnobx, all of the advice given so far is top notch. Perhaps you can spend that recovery time after Christmas doing some research. Visit shops, look at craigslist for used kayaks and start doing comparisons. Talk to the paddlers you see out on the water, gather information, learn. Mostly, don’t get discouraged and give up. Good luck and see you on the water.
The BCU never had the same footing in the US long before the canoe requirement. The biggest reason I feel is the ACA. With the ACA having it’s own structure and with it also being the means for insurance for all events. The ACA has it’s own certification without being lead by a club system from across the way.
The paddlers I know that were following both certs just bought or borrowed a canoe for the requirement. {To do a class and learn and test}
Granted the ACA was always more widespread. I do think that there was a time where the BCU had a sea kayaking program which many - myself included - found a bit closer to how they wanted to grow their skills than the ACA. And it was strong in areas where I started my sea kayaking. For those who were not coaches the insurance part was not so important.
The canoe requirement had multiple fails IMO. One was that the consistency of what someone had to do was never really there. If someone happened to be under the purview of a coach who made it a tougher climb - and they existed - the benefits of bothering needed to be more attractive. Plus, it was introduced along with a shifting of all the levels. So the older 3 star ended up closer to 2, people suddenly were told that moving to a 4 star required documented time that had not been a requirement before etc. A lot of those of us who had been happy to shell out the bucks for training were significantly interrupted on that path.
Some stayed the course, and coaches of course had an income incentive to bother. Someone who had simply been following the STAR awards for personal achievement did not have that reason. I personally know people who were key in forming the US enunciation of the BCU, I forget the initials. Which unfortunately went forward having inherited issues from the major BCU change, in the face of a sea kayaking population which was already changing.
The canoe issue was just part of a package that the BCU tried at the wrong time in history, at least for the US. I don’t think it is trivial that one early result was a huge schism between the main BCU and their clubs in Scotland either. Scotland also enjoyed a club system, so the assumptions of the BCU system would work better there than in the US.
Good advice streamr, I bought three used boats for $450, $500 and $800 for family members. They needed upgrades like new bungee, a bulkheads and in one case the rudder deployment ropes, but some happy paddlers out there now.
ACA will cover on-water events, but they do not cover overnight camping if you read the fine print. Our Club’s insurer discontinued coverage for camping associated with kayak events and trips a couple of years ago. They still cover on-water and land based activities like classes , gear swaps, and picnics. We’re still looking for an affordable option.
ACA’s reporting requirements and additional fees are also a bit onerous if you run many events and don’t have a dedicated person to manage it.
Liability insurance to cover camping is bizarrely expensive. Insurance companies apparently look at camping, especially since the pandemic surge of outdoor activities, as being dominated by a million out of control crumb crushers or drunken wahoos tumbling off cliffs, drowning in lakes, falling into campfires, sitting in poison ivy, or being bitten by rabid racoons.
There was a reason it was free.