Hey guys. It's OK to buy a rec kayak

Waves are measured from trough to crest so 10" is from top to bottom.

I guess I have to eat my words. Salt :pleading_face: please

Ok retraction

600 employees in Canada but any I have seen are thin and light.

Great video!
I must have abused my children. No snakes on the floor or landing pads after they got their big kid beds.
Every scar that isn’t surgical, they earned playing

There it is. I used to rail about the suckers on padde boards. Then I came across a guy about three miles out just inside the turbulent zone before Carroll Island. And I said. "What the . . . " Another time I came upon a guy in a SOT rental out of Dundee on the Hammerman side, about 4 miles from home. We talked then set back. He paddled stroke to stroke with me. I should have invite him back out to try my 175 Tsunami to see how he did in a long boat.

On the water, you got to have the stamina and willpower to help yojrself. When my sister started, we got caught out on a calm day, and had to paddle back into a 15 mph NW headwind. She paddled about 10 minutes and stopped. She needs to rest. I explsined she paddled 10 minute and made 100 yards. Stop and end up a mile further out to the Bay. I was going ro guide her into into the lagoon that offered lee protection, but she buckle in, stopped feeling sorry for herself and made it. Iwas in a Heritage lite 9 ft boat. I could make about .5 mph headway. At thst speed I ride the intervals. Any faster plunged the bow and sent a sheet of water into my lap, doing math, each gallon weighs about 8 lbs . . . I never felt in danger because I was close to land, near enough to get shelter by going perpendicular to the wind where I could land on a protected shore. I knew my ability and powred on. I also learned that it was to much like work. Now I got a more suitable boat and my sister powers through 30 inch wave with her 140 Tsunami at 4.2 mph over a period of 2 miles. Dang she’s good. She went 25 miles from Bush River to Fairlee Creek or Worton Pond and she bonked, but she powered through and made it back. Then got back in the saddle

I never tell anyone kayaking is fun. It’s never fun. But it is rewarding, exciting, and very satisfying. The last 2 miles of every trip. I go full plung, paddle bending, over-reaching strokes. Stop to recoup a bit. Then resume the last 1/4 mile without hesitation. Tell.me it doesn’t make sense. But it let’s me know what pain I can endure iff the Furies pit their vengeance against me for dalliance in their domain.

Keep going Pelicans and SOTs but don’t miss.opportunities. I’m often asked what’s so important about speed. Nothing. Really, but If I sit in a boat for 8 hours, it’s no different whether I went 20 miles or 38. But if I doubled my speed I could have finished 20 mile in 4 hours rather than suffer for 8. You’re gonna hurt one way or another. And the faster you drive, the quicker you can get out of that damned seat. You’ll never see the other side of the river if you don’t train to get there. I’ve seen the entire navigable Chesapeake watershed from York. PA to Old Road Bay by Sparrows Point, across to Tolchester. Except the Delaware Canal. Back River and Spesutie Island. Not a lot compared to so many travelers on this forum, but it’s the best I could do. My hope is that you rec kayakers aim for a faster, more seaworthy boat, learn the craft and come back to tell about your adventures. Check out those pictures posts. Yeow!

yea…I might have expressed it wrong, BUT 10 inch is from top to bottom so about 5 inch stuff

String. I know you’re a credit to parenting and your children are surely better without the snakes. But please tell me you didn’t nurture them so well then buy them kayaks to follow you out on the treacherous waters so you could test the power of the sirenes together. Unless you say you did, and they took pity on your boat, so they suprised you with a fast red one. Mine kids never overcame the trauma of wanting motor bike and getting ones with pedals.

Does the beak on that sea flamingo have a function or is it merely ornamental, like the prow of a viking ship. I bet it cuts through waves like a knife. I want one.

I guess I will reiterate my thoughts in post #21 again.

This forum is really not a great place to get information or ask questions regarding rec-boats both canoes and kayaks.

The title is kind of ironic as in reading between the lines It is not OK to buy a rec-kayak and they become the topic of jokes and or feats of daring daredevil lore close to going over Niagara Falls in a barrel.

I enjoyed the video of the daredevils in the pink flamingo as much as the next guy, but we need a thread of funny videos of people paddling. Not equating a rec-kayak to a pool toy wildly outside its limits.

We have one current thread running where a guy and his wife got two high end rec-kayaks and subjected themselves to a crazy amount of danger with using them in the wrong place. Enough information and concern was applied that the guy bought a proper kayak suitable for the water he was riding and then the stories, no training on that boat and repeated capsize and no skills to handle it worried me more than him in the rec-boat to the point I quite reading. The redeeming fact in his case was he was a advanced outdoor survivalist with advanced water skills and could pull off for now what most couldn’t. Last I checked he was looking at driving 1000 miles to the nearest place he could get a lesson. That same guy if he was the average middle age overweight guy that bought a rec-boat and was encouraged to jump to fast to an ocean kayak self training solo paddling where he is would likely be gone by now.

Some people need to stay in fairly safe water in a fairly safe beginner boat. They need to be informed on the things they need to know and maybe even do to their boats to make them even better. Lastly they need to learn how something that looks very safe can turn bad quickly in lots of ways.

We should stop making threads like this a joke thread.

I get it some people are young and in shape and may get tired of playing close to shore on perfect days in small ponds really quickly. Then there are a lot of us that is what we like or will feel accomplished doing just that. :canoe:

2 Likes

Where is Pam 140?

1 Like

If recreational pelicans are so good, where’s the video proof?

2 Likes

Don’t need no stinking proof look at her. She the soul of perfection. Look at the hard chines. The long breakwater prow. Ample cockpit with no need of coaming or skirt. And white. Visible. Reflecting the sun’s rays. That my friend is what they call a planing hull. No limit to the top end except your frail human frame. Thst boat can take everything you dish out and then more. Some may call it a tandem. But it’s more a side by side. Car ethursiacks might call that a rooster. I mean roadster. I wentbtk the kayak store and asked for the new pink flamingo kayak.

Saw the comments on Walmart bikes. They actually started using aluminum wheels, because the steel ones couldn’t be trued without pulling the nipple through the seat. The gas pipe (same stuff as in your house) was heavy, but strong. The main issue with them is the geometry is horrible, the distance.from the handle bars and the length .of the seat tube didn’t permit adequate parameters to adjust except for a small range of people. Often replacement part are unavailable. One day you get in a properly fitted agile bike and nobody has to convince you that it’s nice.

Scuse me but l was not really young when I started kayaking. I am not young now.

The couple who were advised to get more serious boats boil down to one of the two, who clearly needs help because he went out and regularly capsized a sea kayak that is NOT a tricky boat. At all. It is commonly used as an intro sea kayak.

As to getting into that boat over the rec boat, if you read thru all of the posts you will see that he was arguing for a rec being used on a body of water with wind speeds up to 30 mph and areas of long fetch. Plus within those posts he admitted that he could not always get back in after a capsize.

You are free to argue that this is a safe idea. I and others are free to say it is not.

In one of the cases you are focusing on, the person posting argued for taking a rec boat out in conditions that were way beyond rec boat environment. In the other, this one, the person has been insisting that there is little substantial difference between the two. Fine for an armchair discussion. Not so good for making decisions on where to paddle.

What should have been relatively simple conversations have been warped by individuals who make my 98 year old relative look like a flexible human being. It is unfortunate. But it is unfair to characterize this board based on two particularly obvious sets of exchanges. Especially considering how long some people have been here.

I think P140 is here with another name.

2 Likes

I came in on the middle of the thread so I don’t know the history. I guess the bottom line is that there’s a fine line between comedy and hazing or humiliating which is wrong. I feel responsible when somebody asks me a question to give a direct answer. I have preferences, but if somebody wants a stable boat, I don’t suggest a fast boat, or one that edges. If I recommend a Wildernesd, somebody might say, you don’t want that heavy pig, if you roll it’ll you’ll never reenter, you need a boat that rolls. I don’t want to hear that, because it doesn’t answer my need. In the above example, sounds like he didn’t need a mire stable boat, he needed another place to kayak. I likevwaves, bud dang if I’m going to go in what was suggested above. Somebody needs to say old son. I have no trouble with big boats, but I would never tell a novice to launch in Middle River due the the heavy boat traffic. I did it, but I would suggest a more suitable place, and mention Middle River with a warning caveat. The first time I saw the Flamingo, I though, What the . . . , and blew it off
Each time I saw a hit, it drew me back and you got to admit that’s funny, but if it’s meant to be mean, we gotta check ourself. Then I see a Pelican. Where can do you get this stuff. It’s down right funny, but if it’s meant to ridicule pelican owners, that’s not funny, but that pelican. That’s funny. So laugh but let’s laugh for the right reasons. All I ask for is opinions. You can tell me the Tsunami is a pig, and I might put a pig face on it, because it’s funny. But tell me I’m.stylid for buying it, I’ll laugh because that’s a stupid thing to say without knowing g why I bought it. This is a good place for beginners to ask questions. I joined because I’ve never seen such consolidated info. You got to be the person who sifts the data. Sit back and enjoy the show. Don’t be impatient for answers. Sit back and observe. In the end, everybody here wants to help and we all, every one of us has room to learn, even from the people new to the hand powered boats. Find time to laugh at the flamingo. I actually saw one two weeks ago and said, What the . . . , but it was actually a yellow duck, and it was big.

I work in the bike industry, and those bikes are often referred to as a “BSO - Bicycle Shaped Object.” Unfortunately, with bike supply (and demand) where it is these days, that may be all that is available to some folks. We do our best to make them as rideable as possible when they come into our shop, but some of them are truly bad and unsafe. For a lot of folks, just like with the rec boats that are the topic of such debate in this thread, the bikes work just fine for their needs.

Strange. I went to bike shops for basic entry bikes for my kids. They quickly outgrew them and the equipment became obsolete, so it’s hard to upgrade. It ironic, but the ones that get passed around are the Walmart bikes.ones that get passed around are the Walmart bikes.

I still have a mid level Giant Butte mountain bike that bought in 1991 for $350. I regret that I didn’t go two steps up and pay $425 for the Sedona, a lighter bike with superior geometry. I hand built lighter wheels twice, upgraded from 21 to 24 speed, and upgraded shifters and derailleur twice. Its still on the road and shifts beautifully. Current trend is for one front chainring and massive rear sprokets. 26 inch weeks are out, 27 and 29 inch in. Planned obsolescence. No wonder people buy disposable.

Just because something is better, doesn’t mean it’s going to fit every need. I love my bike. It worked well then, it works now. I don’t need better. We’ve had a connection since 1991.

Debate becomes a decree when we have to do something because someone else has made a decision for us.

1 Like

Entry level bikes - actually a good example of how choices work out. Diff from kayaks/canoes in that you generally can’t drown in overly cold water a mile offshore riding one. But putting that aside, some parallels.

The cheaper bikes tend to be less able to stand up to hard wear. Derialleurs, brakes etc are less well made and after being pounded on bad roads or trails those components will give out faster than on more expensive bikes. If someone is looking to go out and do hard or competitive riding, they are better off stepping up to more bike. Similar to someone wanting to do big water.

The cheaper bikes are also an outstanding alternative for people who want to putter around on things like bike trails and similarly favorable paths without breaking the bank. As long as the bike is light enough to get in and out of the car, the additional clunkiness of a lesser bike is not an issue.

In fact I just described the bike we got for my husband. I went for the best components I could get within the price range he was comfortable with, hardly four digits. I sold it after he died for half of what we paid to a guy who as far as I know is still happily riding local bike paths with it.

If the bike components and/or frame had been unsafe, I would have left it out for the metal pickers.

That looked like a lot of fun. When the Flamingo came around the corner at the 7 minute mark I almost laughed coffee out my nose.

1 Like