hi I am male 5’11" 205 lbs looking for a decent sea kayak I have been paddling in an old prijon 12-13 ft kayak for the last couple o years a river running boat taifun. I have really enjoyed this old poly boat. great on the river but slow in open water. one thing I like about it is it’s stability. I would really like to get into a stable sea kayak. I have a few used boats to check out a boreal designs inukshuk, a cd sorroco
a necky looksha 17 and a ws tempest 17. possibly a valley skerray rm I think. any feedback on any of these kayaks would be greatly appreciated. thanks.
Not sure what you want to do…
Now when I go seakayaking it is usually on a trip, for carrying gear and fitting a heavier paddler, I really like renting a Prijon Kodiak, very seaworthy and fast boat when loaded, if you want to just do day paddles and play around a smaller boat would probably be better.
Which boat and “stable”
– Last Updated: Jan-21-08 11:48 AM EST –
As above, it'd be easier to answer if you talked about where and what kind of trips you go on to paddle, and whether you have a any skills development work in mind. For example, of the boats you mention I'd recommend that one come off the list pretty quick if you are thinking about learning to roll etc.
Among the ones listed, the newer boats would give you an easier time with many of the skills (Sirrocco and Tempest). But there are still diff's between them depending on how much is about straight out paddling and how much about playing around in waves etc.
That said, I get very uncomfortable when someone wants a "stable" sea kayak. That makes it sound as though you are going out on an assumption that you won't capsize rather than with self-rescue skills to handle such an event. No matter what boat you get, you have to assume that this could happen and be ready for it.
This is especially true when you move to a longer boat. All the arguments about hull speed aside, a common result is to find out is that you can go further in a trip comfortably than in the shorter boat. We did. That means that before long you'll be a good bit further from home than you are thinking about right now, at more risk of being caught out in weather, which ups the ante of self-rescue skills.
Are you planning to do some skills work along with moving to this boat?
Consider building a new boat
from a kit. Pygmy and CLC are just the two biggest makers of sea kayak kits. You’ll get more boat for your money, and have a lot of fun building it.
Tempest and Skerray are good choices