HW Help! What kind of kayaking do you do

Hello,

I was wondering if someone could answer a few questions for me. I’m working on a technical report for school and my topic is basically how to choose the right kind of kayaking (sort of a guide explaining what is out there).

What I’d like to know is what type of paddling you do (whitewater, touring, for fun or for competition,etc) and what factors influenced your own decision: interests, cost, time,etc.

Thanks for your help!

Katie


How bout
a paper on t r o l l i n g ?

I think you may’ve misunderstood?
Perhaps I should emphasize that this is a research project. I have only limited experience with kayaking and only in paddling local lakes and creeks. I was just hoping to get more experienced opinions before developing a thesis. If that’s cheating I apologize (if that’s what you’re implying) ,and you obviously needn’t reply, but if you have suggestions i’d really like to hear them.

"What type of Paddling?"
Touring, nature watching, racing, surfing, white water, camping, short fat boats, long skinny boats, poly ones, composite ones, ocean rivers, swamps, streams, esturaries.



“What influenced me”: Carpe diem!



“Costs?”: It is better spending it on the above rather than loose women and cheap liquor. Although some might argue that point



cheers,

JackL

Touring

– Last Updated: Mar-27-06 7:57 AM EST –

Long boats - sea kayaks - day trips on local rivers and lakes, including going longer distances to Lake George and Lake Champlain, three weeks on the coast of Maine each year plus other coastal trips as we can make the time. Overnight camping.

We got into it largely by circumstance. After regularly vacationing on the coast of Maine - literally since that's where the cabin is - we found ourselves wanting to go out and get to all those islands we saw. Kayaking suited better than anything else because we could do it at home as well, it didn't require investing in a big motorized boat or sailboat.

Stayed with it because we found we really loved it. A tremendous amount of time on the water in Maine is about getting to somewhere that we can see birds etc., and we get to see a goodly number of bald eagles around home.

For me it is touring and
fishing. I also enjoy nature watching. I paddle lakes and rivers. Started out fishing and camping from a canoe and decided I wanted to try a kayak. Got the kayak recently and have only had a few trips in it. I bought a rec boat and didn’t spend a lot of money on it since it is my first 'yak. If I really get hooked I will upgrade. Good luck on your project.

Yes…
…WW or touring.



doesn’t matter to me. WW for thrills, touring for

tranquility.



Cost is less of a factor in picking a boat than how

much I like the way it feels.


a technical report on a personal choice?
That’s an odd combination. I do whitewater river running, whitewater playboating, sea kayaking, a little surf kayaking (when there’s surf around here), and greenland style rolling. I do all for fun although I have done some light competing with kayaks (triathlon, slalom, etc.) and I don’t kayak with competition in mind. Fun factor was the primary decision maker for all the above. Cost isn’t the concern (although I am frugal with my kayak purchases) as it is the sport which I love more than any other.



You might want to narrow down the focus of your report. If you’re trying to associate whitewater paddlers as adrenaline junkies and sea kayakers as peaceful bird watchers or other such correlations, I doubt you’ll get the right mix of responses from the right sample to derive any sort of meaningful answer.

For me, whitewater
What influenced me was time and getting cheap thrills. By time i am referring to my availabiity to do day trips only involving occassional weekends and little planning. THe thrills equals fun,rush, comraderie, challenge. Hope this helps.

lake, flatwater, Tour

– Last Updated: Mar-27-06 8:20 PM EST –

I do recreational and touring kayaking. I just go on the lake for a day. I'm also going to do some touring on bigger camping lakes. I always loved lakes.

How to choose the right kind of kayaking
I have not been able to choose the right kind, so I just do them all. The technical term for this is “paddle slut.” Cost and time do not matter to a paddle slut. Dollars and hours just seem to lose their context when you are out on the water doing what you love. I will get on any water at any time in any boat… with anyone.



My preference is to do long-distance, big water touring in a sea kayak, and paddling when it’s not recommended (during “small craft advisories”.)


Why
Katie,

I kayak (in a “touring” boat) to be able to be on the water - quiet Wisconsin lakes, as well as Lake Superior. For me, it’s a spiritual experience that nourishes my soul. Very hard to explain, but I know others who feel the same.

There is no wrong type of kayaking
Are you trying to “prove” there is such a thing?



If it enriches your life, it’s good.



I chose touring because I like the motion, the travel, the scenery, and (yes) the exercise. Kayak camping is even better: access to places unreachable (or at least, little-used) by motorized visitors, self-sufficiency, stretching out the days instead of compressing them.



I don’t like shuttles–too much driving and not enough paddling!–so that pretty much rules out WW except at park-n-play sites. And I live in a state where WW is what most people think of when “kayaking” is mentioned.



I got a taste of kayak surfing on vacation and would do that if it existed where I live. So this choice is mandated by location: no surfing for me.



Time…it all takes time. But as I said above, cutting out shuttling means more time for paddling.

Kayak choice
I live in Michigan blessed with many choices of water and places to paddle. I purchased a 14 foot recreational/touring boat thats okay in our many twisting moderately quick rivers,better on quiet ponds and small lakes. But I’ve done lots of big lake trips (the Great Lakes) with multi-day camping and found it handles larger seas quite well. My plastic boat, like life,was and is a compromise. Paddling for me ,afterall,is getting on the water and doing it safely . Costs are so relative its hard to make any suggestions except don’t buy on price.

paddling, the simplest, most natural,
economical, environmental, versatile beautiful way to interact with the water and marine environment i have tried. and great exercise.

Outdoor Recreation with the Family.
Katie, my reason for kayaking is to be able to spend time with the family, doing an outdoors recreational activity. Of all my activities, backpacing, scuba diving, bicycling, and skiing, it is the one I can do with the Wife and our boys , 2 yo and 4 yo. We would consider ourselves recreational kayakers, who are learning/progressing to sea kayakers.

Also, no one mentioned it, but kayak fishing is a big deal in some parts of the country. See http://www.texaskayakfisherman.com/forum/portal.php and http://www.plasticnavy.com/ for their take on why anyone would ever want to kayak.

Don

Pamlico 140

– Last Updated: Mar-30-06 7:22 PM EST –

the boat is kind of a Recreational and Day touring boat. It's also for coastal on but I don't live by the ocean. just Basic Touring. for fun, to releive stress, and I also like boats alot. Especially kayaks. A test called CSAP, colorado student assesment program is a way to see how well schools teach students and it determins your skills in that subject. It is very stressful having to test for 1 hour, a ten minute break, and then 1 more hour. You have to sit the whole time besides having to leave the room. It is a thing that stresses me ALOT, and it is tooken before the end of school and Thats when I start paddling. They are big tests, and unpleasent. the school is all finished now. :-)

they last like 4 days. about 2 hours each day. so a total of more than 8 hours of testing. But it's over !!!

Environmental probabilism
I live in the centre of the continent, on the edge of the shield. A canoe is the best way to get around these parts in the natural world.



I never even understood why people enjoyed hiking until I traveled West. Likewise with rock-climbing, and sea kayaking. Some things are influenced by the regions in which we live. For me, canoeing was the natural choice.