How many times...........

Get a Sit on Top!
Get a Sit On top style Kayak. Save yourself a lot of money, and hassle. No pumps…no skirts…no fear of getting trapped underwater…no fear of swamping the boat…it’s a no brainier…there are some very wide models that are as stable as you can get and still be in a kayak.



Kayaking can be as simple or complex as you want to make it. If you just want to go out on the water, enjoy yourself, get a little exercise and not reinvent your life around this sport, by all means get a Sit on top Kayak and start enjoying the experience from day one.



Regards,

Waterrat

Sometimes self rescue means standup
Stay close to shore (and out of rip tides) and you should be fine. In all the miles of fun we have had kayaking no one in our party has ever had to get back into a kayak in water over their knees unintentionally. It is possible to a have a lot fun and do a lot of paddling and never be more than 100 yards from water you can stand in. Where we live, without going out on Lake Michigan and a few other inland lakes, we have more trouble with too little water rather than too much. We have spare paddles but they are almost always stored under the deck. We don’t have any paddle floats and only a couple of boats happen to have paddle rescue rigging from the factory and although we add deck rigging to all but the whitewater play boats, we have never added rescue rigging.



Remember, if you ever are out on lake and have to swim to shore you can cut the boat loose and swim in. Send someone back for the boat later, worst case you can always buy another boat.



I think you should wrap the sharp ends of those knitting needles before putting them in your boat, you could puncture something.

self rescue
It sounds like you have picked out your boats already. If you get rec. kayaks like mine (a Perception “Sparky” and tip it over you will probably NOT be able to reenter it. This type of kayak does not have water tight bulkheads and will fill up with so much water that they will bearly float. If you add your weight (no matter how much you weigh) the boat will probably sink.

All that said, I have enjoyed my boat but have since gotten one with water tight compartments and rigging that will allow a self rescue.

If this is the type of boat you are getting stay close to shore and do not paddle without a pfd.

George

self rescue


I am getting a Perception America 13.5 which has STERN FLOTATION BULKHEAD and VERTICAL BOW WALL FLOTATION—but I will be getting some float bags for the bow. Thanks

an off-topic story
Years ago my grandmother told me a story about taking her driver’s test. She didn’t grow up driving and was well into her adult years when she took the test. Where she lived, tests were conducted on the street, not on a closed course. She did everything fine and the test was going well when the examiner pointed to a rather tight spot for her to parallel park into. She shook her head and said that she couldn’t and wouldn’t do it. The examiner was shocked, and asked her, “What if you are driving out here one day and need to park?” She replied, “Then I’d pull into that spot around the corner” – pointing to an open spot that did not require parallel parking. The examiner let her off the hook and passed her, evidently enjoying her answer.

2nd the Sit on Top
I can not think of a single advantage of a rec Sit inside Kayak over a Sit on Top. Sit on Tops are easy to climb back on after a capsize.

it depends on what and in what
Hopefully folks won’t go messing around in unsafe areas when they are not matched yet to their equipment.



Some of the comments on here sound like they are coming from folks who have anger at folks whose life situations resulted in their being fat. In my angry mode I sometimes say I hope someone puts a lot of prednisone in your food and your appetite balloons out of control. But truly you just need to either become humanized and become kind or go your own selfish hard headed way.



Unfortunately there is no book that says if you are fat or have this problem or that problem then this kayak in particular is not right for you but on the other hand this other one might work. I’ve found this out.



I was very ill ten years ago, couldn’t walk and breathe at the same time. I was on tons of prednisone and gained tons of weight. Now I still have the weight, I have a back problem, and I’m even older.



I didn’t even know about kayaks but I always wanted my own personal watercraft. Yes I’m overweight and yes I have physical issues but those beautiful hours on Gun Lake in Michigan paddling in the wake of speedboats and jet skis in my Pungo and a couple of other trips were well worth it.



I bought a Sonoma 10 thinking that it would work for my weight but it is tippy as hell for me. My Pungo, on the other hand, is really stable and I love paddling it. It is just too heavy for me to cart with my back and my asthma, so I have to be choosy on where I kayak.



I was feeling sorry for myself about this until I read these posts. So I have had to decide there are some situations, more than less, where I can not kayak.



I’m not sure that I could get back in if I capsized but I do know that I can float and tread water in water that is not comfortably warm and I could do it for a long period of time, three to five hours. So your fitness test fits this outsized person just fine! I have always figured if I went over I could just tow the Pungo or whatever back to shore and start over. I may not be fast in the water but I don’t try swimming upstream either.



Some folks can’t walk, too much back or leg pain, but they can handle the right kayak pretty darn well and enjoy some but not all of the waterways and open water. We just have to pick our poison and know that there are places we shouldn’t be trying to paddle.



I say this to the overweight kayaker, try a different kayak and keep paddling. It can be a wonderful experience.


??? Anger ???!!!
“Some of the comments on here sound like they are coming from folks who have anger at folks whose life situations resulted in their being fat.”



On the contrary I myself look like the Michelin Tire Man in my wetsuit and have a pretty good BMI myself. I’ve spent the last 6 years developing potential anti-obesity drugs for the Melanocortin, CB1 and MCH receptors. No anger at obese people here. Obese people keep me employed.



I have been involved in rescues when people were too out of shape to be in situations that required the ability to swim in currents and waves or pull themselves into boats. It’s not a situation you want to find yourself or a friend in.



SYOTW

Yep
The thing about a rec sit inside is you might soon outgrow its limitations. SOTs can handle much more demanding conditions

Please explain in more detail…
what limitations I might outgrow with a sit in. Also, what kind of more demanding conditions are you referring to with a SOT?



Thanks

Definitly SOT
If you have a concern about self rescue you should definitly look at a SOT. If you take the time to study self rescue in a SINK or watch people attempt self rescue it will really convince you to buy a SOT. Remember that wider SOTs may not always mean easier to get back on. I recently bought a Future II. It is 20 inches wide and is by far the easiest SOT I have had to climb back on. The primary reason for this is that it sits low in the water and because it is so narrow it is easy to swing your leg over it and straddle the kayak in the water. Self rescue is a very important skill for any kayaker. The learning curve for a SOT is far faster and easier than a SINK.

Well…
I don’t like SOT’s so that is not an option. Just don’t.



I will learn a self rescue–I can parallel park my big truck as good as any man can–so I don’t really think there will be any problem with the good advice I have gotten here.

another .02
Believe it was a Clint Eastwood line…“Man Needs To Know His Limitations”

By all means stay with kayaking…it’s the closest thing to Zen you’re ever gonna find…(and a ton cheaper than Prozac)

Familiarize yourself with basic techniques of self rescue and if possible, get togeather with other folks and practice those techniques at least once a week…

But…that said: Go with your own instincts…If you DON’T feel comfortable doing swells or paddling fast water…Don’t.

You’re out there to enjoy life and enjoy paddling…NOT to impress anyone else.

To each his own…

– Last Updated: Jul-27-05 9:49 AM EST –

I agree with njpaddler...Walk yourself...or have someone experienced walk you thru the procedure of re-entering a Sit In Side from start to finish...have them list all the extra gear you need and a realistic time frame to complete the self-rescue. Now compare that to just sliding your body on top of an unsinkable SOT sliding back in the seat, swinging your leg into position (without trying to cram them under a deck) taking about 30-45 seconds.

Get the boat that makes you happy...just remember the more complex you make the sport in no way equates to how much fun you are going to have...for most people its just the opposite.

Especially in the beginning the easier you make it on yourself, the more likely you will be to stick with it. Make it too difficult at the start and you will be just another soul that blew thru the sport. How many times have you read a Classified add that said "Kayak and accessories for sale, only used 3 times, paid $800.00 will sell for $400...call 555-5555.

Also remember this is your first kayak...not the last kayak you will ever buy... if you stay in the sport.

I can't help but get the feeling that you view SOT's as second class kayaks...they are not. Some of the most demanding kayaks out there (Wave skis, and Surf skis to name two) are sit On Tops. I would rather put my money into a better boat/and or paddle instead of float bags, spray skirts, paddle floats, and pumps. Your choice.

Where did the "as good as any man" thing come from? Kayaking is gender blind...you get to leave that social baggage at the shoreline.

Here hoping that you have a long and happy paddling experience no matter what boat you choose.

Regards,
Waterrat


Like this


The first time the weather turns to crap and the glassy water you were paddling on turns to a 2-3 foot close chop. Now if you have that bomb proof roll down… all is well… but if you don’t…You will be scared to death that you will capsize… you know the chances of re-entering your boat and pumping it out are slim and none. The chop is going to be washing over the deck and filling the cockpit with water far faster than you can pump it out. Hope you are close to shore or there is a power boat there to help you out.



The same situation in a SOT you capsize, you climb back in…there are drains in the bottom that let the water flow out nearly as fast as it comes in…it is unsinkable so you have the confidence that although you are going to get very wet, at no time is your boat going to sink, swamp, or require you to pump it out. You have control of you craft…not drifting into what could be a dangerous situation with a swamped boat.



Melodramatic? not really…could it happen absolutely…does it happen…you bet.



Waterrat

thanks

– Last Updated: Jul-27-05 10:32 AM EST –

for all the replys to this post. I (knowing myself as I do) do not foresee ever 'needing' to buy another kayak than the one I am purchasing now. Perhaps I will win the SOT from paddling.net and then I will have one!!!! I am a pretty content person most of the time and don't need to strive to get bigger and better things. Thinking I just need a kayak, paddle and pfd to be happy. Don't need all the 'bells and whistles' that a lot of people here think you do. By the way--I can whistle really loud all by myself! I don't need a kayak for 'demanding' situations--just a kayak to take out a few times a year in the backwaters of VA, NC and Long Island. I want my own because renting is expensive.

Longing for the simple life.................and finding it sometimes.

Bye for now.

Tina

what
crappy weather? I am a fair weather person—probably only out in a light drizzle with no wind or thunderstroms predicted–that would be the most crappy weather I would endure. Any more than that and I am back at the house in the hot tub.

Best of luck
…trying to control the weather…



Regards,

Waterrat

knitting…
Well, since you brought it up, if the kayaking doesn’t work out, there’e still hope. Hop over to the Bicker & Banter forum, where a bona fide Sewing (& knitting) Club exists. The “girls” are always looking for new members, & I’m sure would welcome you with open arms. Good luck in whatever you may pursue.

not controlling
not controlling it—but working around it!



Thanks