Good All Around Kayak

Hello,
I’m looking for a good all around kayak for my first purchase. I am looking to do rivers, lakes, and the ocean. I will hopefully go on a couple of overnight trips and maybe stretch it out to 2 to 3 days. I am currently living in Boston and want to get more into kayaking in the ocean. I used to live in Colorado and have paddled several times on the Colorado river. I have rented kayaks a few times here in the Boston area but I’m now ready to purchase my own. I have narrowed my search down to the Delta 12.10 and the Wilderness Systems Tsunami 125. I know 12 ft. kayaks aren’t great for the ocean, but I’m not planning on doing anything too crazy. Does anyone have experience with either of these kayaks or possibly another suggestion?

16’ or bigger sea kayak

New, used and budget is?. Dealer’s and brands near you are?

Delta 15.5 GT I would consider. What you plan and what the ocean gives you are two very different things.

I would like to stay around 1500 if possible for the kayak.

Think of used? You get way bigger bang for you buck. I got a two year old Solstice with accessories totally over 4200 for 1800. Hardly a scratch. Got other kayaks for 900 and less older 1999 and 2000. New deck lines looked like new. One was Libra XT 22’ tandem new over 5000.

Look on craigslist.

Nice biats on CL at 1800-600. They’ll take few bucks off too.

I recently bought and love a Point65 Whiskey 3l Tourer. It’s a great do everything boat good on rivers, lakes and ocean. Comes with a skeg and can fit a rudder. With the skeg up it’s very manuvreable.

Of the two kayaks you’re considering, the Delta 12.10 is better. It’s one of the few shorter kayaks that’s considered seaworthy. Make sure you understand thermoformed plastic. It’s not for whitewater and you would not want to hit rocks at speed on the ocean, lake, or river, e.g., be thrown against rocks while landing.

I’ve paddled the Delta 12.10 in sheltered ocean conditions but also in very rough lake water and found it very suitable and extremely stable.

For more speed you could consider the Delta 14, which is beyond your price range and hard to find used. Also watch for REI sales as REI is a Delta dealer.

Hello Punter, thanks for the recommendation. I’ll take a look at that kayak…

WaterBird, I have heard about thermoformed plastic being “stronger” but cracking open if hit by rocks. I do not plan on whitewater kayaking with it if I got one. I did enough of that in Colorado and while I like it, I am looking for something different. I will try to keep an eye out for the Delta 14 used, but one of my limitations is storage space so that’s why I’m thinking about at 12ft kayak.

Consider a Dagger Stratos 14.5 (S or L depending on your size). I own one and find it safe and capable for open water, but nimble and sturdy for rivers. The price, even new, is in your budget. Jackson Journey, if I’m not mistaken, fits in the same “in between” category but I’ve not paddled one.

Don’t expect it to be the best at anything, but it performs admirably under lots of different conditions.

I much prefer my 17’ 10" Impex Assateague for any serious distance.

You didn’t say anything about your height and weight. That’s pretty important and providing that information would be more helpful. Boats as short as you are considering are not typically considered optimal for sea coast use. There are ways around limited storage space and that is not the best priority for limiting the specifications for an appropriate kayak.

I am down to 2 kayaks, which are basically the same (one is the newer model of the other). Found that either of these does pretty much everything I want, from pretty challenging ocean conditions to flat waters to moving water (not not serious white water) rivers to a few night’s camping. They are the Dagger Alchemy and Dagger Stratos (the 14.5 foot version - not the newly announced 12.5 foot version).

Here’s a used Dagger Alchemy on Boston Craigslist in case you’re interested.

https://boston.craigslist.org/sob/boa/d/kayak-dagger-alchemy-140s/6655364908.html

I also have two boats for bigger waters that I’m happy with. The Dagger Alchemy (s) and a Tempest 165. Both are skegged. Check 'em out.

If you want to try a Tempest 165 or 170, PaddleBoston has one of each at their Newton location; you could rent for $18/hour. I’ve even tried two different kayaks there during one two-hour rental. They are supposed to have an even larger variety at their two Boston locations but I hate driving into town so I haven’t checked them out yet. If you are in town, you might want to check them out and rent a few to see what you like. Both the Newton and Waltham locations only have two or three true sea kayaks. They also sell their used boats.

-Ken

FYI, I’m SW of Boston, a novice just learning sea kayak and have done several rentals with PaddleBoston to practice and learn more about what I’d like in a kayak. I’m considering a season pass to PaddleBoston with the 15/day offsite option for next season rather than buying so I can get even more experience before I decide if I like the sport enough to dump a few grand into it.

If you’re small enough, a used Current Design Vision 130 might work for you

I’m 5’6 and 165 lbs and find the Vision 130 to be quite maneuverable, quite efficient and relatively easy to keep on track in wind and chop. I’ve never paddled it in truly rough conditions.

It doesn’t come with full perimeter lines, but it looks like they could be added.

https://www.cdkayak.com/Kayaks.aspx?id=26

I am 5’9 and around 150 lbs

Has plenty of lines on perimeter to hang on to.

@Col2Bos said:
Hello Punter, thanks for the recommendation. I’ll take a look at that kayak…

WaterBird, I have heard about thermoformed plastic being “stronger” but cracking open if hit by rocks. I do not plan on whitewater kayaking with it if I got one. I did enough of that in Colorado and while I like it, I am looking for something different. I will try to keep an eye out for the Delta 14 used, but one of my limitations is storage space so that’s why I’m thinking about at 12ft kayak.

You might contact the Delta dealer in Penacook, NH, and ask if he has any used Deltas: http://quickwatercanoe.com/
I think REI usually has a kayak sale at the end of the season. Their current price for the Delta 12.10 is $1480. Considering that you can pay up to $1200 for a rotomolded kayak, that’s not a bad price.

You can also compare Deltas to Eddyline (much less stable) and the Hurricane Sojourn (same stable hull shape as the Deltas, but a somewhat thinner bottom).