Well this is my first Kayak and I found zero touring Kayaks even light Touring Kayaks to test out in my State or even in the South area for that matter so I went for the Journey 14 and love it…sure it is slower but it can handle some serious waves and harsh water conditions out in the Lake which is awesome and especially for a newbie like myself…it handles so well that I have no fear of going out where even these people in their expensive yachts do not want to venture out into…all I hear when they are heading back from high winds and waters is something like “mumble mumble we need to turn around…mumble…too windy…scary…mumble look idiot in Kayak…mumble he is nuts!!!” lol …followed by “man that Kayak can really handle those waves look at him in that thing!!” A nice big grin just pops up on my face when I get compliments like that…and once I get this thing into the faster moving rivers it is so tough it will probably even handle hard rocks/branches etc. so my first Kayak as an all arounder light touring Kayak even being heavy again…I love it…and sure if I had money falling out my trees outside I would order that carbon fiber boat right now!! so for now being a newbie with my very first Kayak I am going to make the best of what I have…and I must say I did very well for myself considering I only had recreational kayaks to compare this to before buying
Trust me…longer and lighter Kayaks will be in my future…but I am still going to keep my Jackson Journey 14 regardless of other Kayaks I will own in the future.
I will make sure to update on how I feel with the Werner paddles coming in. I should have them tomorrow but we will be having horrible thunderstorms this whole Weekend so I will not get to test them out until sometime next Week.
I swear…everytime I have new equipment being shipped to me for my Kayak I feel like a kid all over again. This is awesome…I am glad I accidentally stumbled upon this sport of Kayaking.
@kfbrady said:
"I am looking to get to speed quicker "
Then get a lighter weight, carbon fiber boat!
My first paddle was a Sting Ray Carbon and then I moved to a crank-shafted Werner Cyprus so I’ll be interested in what you think of the two paddles you try out.
If you have a smart phone that is your GPS install endomondo then post up you stats from computer with a picture and your course and distance. I’ll do it later. It will store all your stats.
@PaddleDog52 said:
If you have a smart phone that is your GPS install endomondo then post up you stats from computer with a picture and your course and distance. I’ll do it later. It will store all your stats.
Yes, assuming that he will be able to see the display of the smart phone while paddling.
Keeping the phone stowed away somewhere and logging with no immediate feedback is not worth much if you want to improve your speed. I know this from myself because that is what I have done until 9 months ago. When I got a GPS watch which could show me my speed in real time, I suddenly got much better options of trying out small changes and see the effect.
I’m not up to date on GPS technology, but if your phone can do the job and you can read the actual speed you are going while on the go, that should work well enough. My GPS is an ancient Garmin Etrex - the original basic model which was quite cheap at the time. It is good enough for this kind of thing. A little online shopping might identify a relatively basic model of GPS that’s still relatively cheap these days.
@PaddleDog52 said:
Should be able to see phone in drypak.
I first tried that. It is fiddly and it is difficult to position the phone in a drypack on the front deck in an angle where the display is easily readable, especially in bright sunlight. Also, having the screen always on drains a lot of power on a phone because their screens depend on backlight - and you do not want to fiddle with turning the screen on and off while paddling.
A GPS or a GPS watch usually have a display which does not depend on backlight. It uses the light from the surroundings. So the brighter the surroundings are, the easier readable the screen becomes, just like a piece of paper. These displays can be kept always on without draining any noticeable power. My watch can go for several weeks on one charge with the screen always on (I don’t even think I can turn the screen off!). And the better watches are so waterproof that you can use them in seawater without fiddling with drybags.
As long as you haven’t tried anything better, it is easy to convince yourself that a smartphone is the best solution. But I have tried both, and there is no comparison.
Agree with Alan! Dedicated GPS is far superior, I can download maps for virtually anywhere in the world. Have used it in Italy and doesn’t rely on a cell or wifi signal. Have a Garmin 76cx, with 16 gig memory card. Waterproof and it floats.
I use the same as Guideboatguy:
“My GPS is an ancient Garmin Etrex - the original basic model which was quite cheap”
I have a few of these, as the later 12 channel Etrex is too sensitive for monitoring speed in a sea kayak, in my experience. The numbers flick all over the place. The original Etrex gives me a speed reading which is stable enough to be useful. I’ve used it for detecting eddy currents and for discovering that the tide has turned when offshore out of sight of land, as well as for detecting efficiency in paddling when, for example, borrowing a friend’s wing paddles for our tandem. A few years ago I bought a couple direct from Garmin as reconditioned units for $60 IIRC.
Nick
Another who concurs with Allan. I have tried both Android and iOS and can’t see either screen in bright sunlight. I took the always excellent advice of Greg Stamer a couple of years ago and purchased a Garmin Forerunner 310XT. Waterproof, great battery life, easy to read screen in all conditions, and displays the stats I set: time, distance, speed, and heart rate. It does a wireless transfer of my track and stats to Garmin Connect so I have a permanent record.
Sometimes it’s fun to replay the paddle and see exactly where my speed dropped to 0.00 thanks to a fierce gusting headwind. And wince.
I doubt he’s looking to buy a GPS for 4-500 or more from what I read. He can do a paddle in certain areas and revenue later or burn the battery up for two hours.
@Andy_Szymczak said:
Agree with Alan! Dedicated GPS is far superior, I can download maps for virtually anywhere in the world. Have used it in Italy and doesn’t rely on a cell or wifi signal. Have a Garmin 76cx, with 16 gig memory card. Waterproof and it floats.
My wife and I both use wrist-worn, GPS enabled Garmin Vivosmart HR+ activity trackers. Mostly I use mine for tracking my heart rate and pace while I’m running, but it’s handy for tracking paddling speed and distance too. The screen is fairly small but I can usually make it out even in bright sunlight. It claims to be waterproof to 5ATM.
Oh, and it’s fun to use the GPS tracking for everything from paddling local lakes to walking around Italy!
A. Boats too short. Length/width ratio is in the 6-7. You need a boat around 9.
B. I’m your ht. And wt. Short paddles , no matter what convention says, suck. I paddle a 230, green land. It has more sq inches of area than most euro paddles. Paddles are real personal choice.
C. Consider a real sea kayak in the 17 ft range with 23-24" beam.
D. Map my ride app on your phone will track distance, splits and speed.
I don’t think there would be a lot of correlation between Euro and a GP in regards to sq in in the blade. I don’t know much about GP and I never used one. I am thinking that how much and when a blade becomes effective. Your thoughts?
