Is this an example? Golden Gate, spring 2005, Dagger Blackwater 11.5 (with neoprene spray skirt and of course a PFD).
Reading this thread, I guess I had too much fun in that kayak. 
https://www.rei.com/product/721578/dagger-blackwater-115-kayak-with-skeg
No, not an example. Because a touring kayak would have 2 bulkheads, which is required for a wet exit recovery.
That boat has only 1 stern bulkhead. If you capsize it is impossible to perform an in water recovery. Single bulkhead or any boat that cannot recover from a swim has no business near the Golden gate Bridge. A capsize in that picture results in a craft assisted rescue and loss of boat at best, or death at worst.
Edit - if you have a bow airbag then it’s relatively ok. Without a front airbag it’s not an appropriate boat when further from shore than you could swim it in, factoring in water temp, currents, and wind direction.
I haven’t done as much in my Pelican Brume sit-inside but it’s been a decent re-starter boat. I got it on sale at REI for just over $300.
It has a rear X-bungee, so I can use a paddle float. With that and a rescue stirrup looped around the base of the seat, self-rescue is feasible. So open water paddling is well within my risk tolerance.
I also have a bilge pump, which aside from emergency use is needed to pump out all the water I take on via paddle drips and getting in and out of the boat, lol.
Of course, with no capability for a spray skirt, I don’t go out in windy conditions. I did get caught out once and it was a bit nerve-wracking to be in 1+ foot waves in that set-up. Especially since I had to paddle in a direction that had me taking the waves broadside. But I simply watched the oncoming waves closely and paddled steadily until I was out of the open water.
And yes, I wear a PFD 100% of the time. 
“No, not an example. Because a touring kayak would have 2 bulkheads, which is required for a wet exit recovery.”
I did capsize and wet exit on less rough water (rollers coming in) in Okinawa with that exact boat, and it didn’t sink or take on much water. But you probably meant it would sink in the pictured GG conditions.
In the Okinawa case (the only time I’ve ever capsized), I didn’t have the self-rescue gear since I was simply puttering around the reef. I just dog-paddled to the reef towing the boat, and stepped back in.
(Just saw your edit: no bow airbag, but I did have a good-sized dry bag up there.)
Yes ok to buy a rec kayak if you use it for what it’s intended for.
Lots of walking back there, lol.
If the hill you’re riding down is steep enough, you don’t need to pedal at all to hit “highway speeds.”
My personal record was 57 MPH on a road bike, descending from Tioga Pass to Lee Vining in the Sierras. (Like jyak, I don’t do that sort of stuff anymore!)
I’ll suggest you read posts here with your own bias toward rec boats. There are many here that paddle and enjoy them, including me.
Just caught the photo from the Blackwater. My and my husband’s first kayaks were similar, Daggers, with surprisingly decent performance but not two bulkheads.
Loved them until we got caught out by a squall line in a large ocean bay that came in two hours earlier than predicted. Made it to a shoreline by the skin of our teeth and had 3 hrs waiting it out on an island to assemble a list of what we should have had, boats gear etc.
The boats were great. Having them out in closely spaced squall-borne waves that came to the tops of our heads was, in terms of decision making, not at all great.
Horses for the courses.
I did a similar thing in my first Perception kayak, a 12’ Acadia. I was paddling the Waterway at Hilton Head and 2 storms collided over me. Sudden wind, unreal lightening , heavy blowing rain.
The lightening was snapping in the marsh all around me and the noise was deafening. I parked in the most dense marsh I could get to and prayed "Lord if you want me, you’ve got me ".
The storms moved away and I had half a boat full of water. I wasn’t far from the take out and when I got there, my wife and our 3 young children were waiting .
I hope I never see that look on her face again.
I became much more concerned about weather and paddling safety.
I was wearing a good PFD.
I’m curious if either of you were using a spray skirt?
That was another great thing about the Blackwater, I could and did use a neoprene spray skirt on it. (Same with the Dagger Zydeco I owned before it!!)
From the first time I got in a kayak, I always wore a PFD. By the time of the GG pic, with a satellite PLB squeezed into one of the pockets (they were chunky back then). Plus a marine VHF two-way radio clipped on it. That radio was interesting to monitor…always a lot happening on the water around the SF Bay area. Since I did my paddling primarily in the cooler months of the year, I also wore a “farmer Jane” wetsuit.
I’ve never worn a spray skirt. Most of my paddling has been done in SOT. I have had waves wash over me with no problem except a little excitement.
Were you speaking to about me and my husband’s experience?
Yes a skirt and yes to relatively decent clothing, pfds etc. Better weather radios went on the list while we sat on the island. Problem boils down to a boat without a front bulkhead had we capsized in waves that were to the top of our heads. Options would have boiled down to holding on and hoping to get blown to shore.
We were less aware of this then. We subsequently did rescue classes and l had the joy of trying to rescue boats like this on demo days. Young kids, it turns out, adore capsizing boats on purpose on a hot day once out of sight of their parents.
Bottom line, absolutely no good way to solve that on the water wo 2 bulkheads. There are ugly ways, but you spend too long in the water.
57 mph… Nice! You beat me by 5. If only the hill was longer. Of course it was on my carbon aero bike and not a tricycle.
You probably do believe I was on a tricycle, too.
Oh I was just having fun for the folks who want to use rec kayaks as sea kayaks with the analogy of tricycle vs aero bike over 50 mph.
