SOT fine for Photography on Ocean
Trust me on this one.
be still my heart
Thanks for that link
I responded to the craigs list ad, that is a nice looking kayak. It is about the right length i’m looking for and I like the upswept ends, very cool.
celia thank you for your concern
and you are right about lessons being important. I have taken a few basic lessons and I have a friend (acquaintance really i met while on a paddling trip) who invited me to her house WITH IN GROUND POOL (!!!) and we practiced self rescues. I can do a paddle float re-entry in a pool with my manitou sport but i do realize the ocean is very different. I have worried about what i would do if i capsized out there but fortunately didn’t.
My camera is a simple digital with no special lenses that i point and shoot, it’s a very simple camera. I just want to be sure I am stable enough not to flip over when I use the camera. I would like to get some photos of the whales and other cool things out on the water but i was too afraid to take my hands off the paddle when i paddled in the rental kayaks. It would be nice to have skills and not worry so much.
yes, i saw the hurricane website
and i like the looks of the Tampico. I still need to contact the outfitter in S.D. and see what brands they carry.
thanks everybody
I responded to the craigs list ad about the Impex Mystic so we shall see what happens there, but I do want to try a few different kayaks before i make a decision and spend a lot of money.
Thanks to everyone, this is a very impressive group who seem to care so much about a newbie and have been so patient with answering my questions. i am sure i will be back with more annoying questions after i get my next kayak. 
I have been looking at
the Hurricane Phoenix 120 or 130 which i think would be great for inland photography. Might be ok for ocean too but i think i want a traditional kayak for that. The hurricane would be great for getting a tan on my legs too, and you know tans are so important here in sunny calif.
W/ more info in hand…
– Last Updated: Jan-12-08 1:01 PM EST –
I suspect that your camera is something like the Olympus 770 or one of the Reef waterproof cameras in its use - point and shoot with some zoom and shooting modes. In that case, you don't have a lot of stability concerns related to the camera itself like you would with a deck-mounted one or one where you were fussing with big lenses. The most that you would be worried about would be getting it in and out of a drybag if it wasn't one of the fully waterproof ones, which in and of itself should not be a stability concern. It does argue for something like deck rigging to clip the drybag onto is all, but both better SOT's and SINK's have that.
From what you say about your current skill level, I am going to restate my primary advice. Don't worry about a new boat until you have taken some lessons or similar and can be comfortably in a sea kayak in swells, as well as do a self-rescue with some amount of swell going on, and by comfortable I mean being able to drop your paddle for a shot and just sit there.
The alternative re boat purchase is to get yourself to a really good outfitter like those mentioned above and put yourself in their hands regarding the boat. That will likely put you into a boat that'll feel more active on the water than you are presently comfortable with though, and you may resist that for a boat that feels safer to you right now. Some people don't do well by starting out in a boat that leaves them a little discomforted, others do. If you read the thread "Stability?" you'll both sides of the coin talking.
For example, the Mystic may be a great boat for your needs (assuming the length works). But you may not be comfortable in it right now.
Regardless of boats, I'd suggest that you only paddle with others until you can handle an emergency on the water better by yourself. Find that paddling group as suggested above. That should allow you to something else that is crucial, which is to practice self-rescues out in the water in which you paddle. A heated pool is OK to get the basic process down, but if you don't try it in the conditions in which you paddle it isn't likely to be reliable.
The other thing that you need to be thinking about is clothing. You haven't indicated what you are wearing - wetsuit, and/or top etc, but between your prior location and the sense that your paddling has been entirely upright outside of a pool, you may not be dressing for the water you are in now. If you hook up with a paddling group, you may find that some have used clothing for sale that will get you set up OK for basic safety.