I’ve been paddling with a keyhole cockpit for a while - this thread is 3.5 years old. But better late than never!
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Others can read it.
One other advantage of ocean cockpits–much better for re-enter and roll…
It’s a good skill to master.
Been paddling cockpit type sea kayaks for nearly 20 years and never learned how to roll, never learned rescue, never used a skirt. I just use more rec type boats that still have some performance in them like the Tsunami 125 when in the ocean at my inlaws house or my Stellar S14 G2 and S12 inland where I live. They are surprisingly fast and very stable. Everyone always talks about wanting a more advanced boat this and that but the key element everyone forgets is the “paddler mod”. If you just train more, paddle more and lift weights you can make the same “slower” kayak a whole lot faster but the benefit is the same rec kayak still stays just as stable!
Rec kayaks with a wide flat bottom follow the surface of the water. You can’t do all that much to change that. So if you’re on a wave face at a 45 or more degree angle that doesn’t feel like stability to me.
With no skirt in waves I have no clue how you keep water out of the cockpit while edging or going through waves or taking them broadside.
Fitter paddler will make a hull faster than a weaker or not fit paddler. That’s like comparing apples and oranges or even bananas. Imagine two race cars exactly the same one has a 200 hp motor and one has same motor making 300 hp it’s not relevant comparison.
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Getting in and out of an OC kayak isn’t that hard. Will take some practice. You can actually practice and gain an initial understanding with the Tahe on grass - sit on the back deck, set the paddle as an outrigger behind you, and, keeping an eye on the tip of the paddle, slip in and out of the cockpit. Practice in-water with yr spouse standing by until becomes a confident, fluid motion.
Great advice, thanks.
Depends on your size, flexibility,and strength. You can slide off the rear deck going in but you’ll have to push up your body to get out.
I agree, go for it. I’d play it safe until you get comfortable with it. Once you get proficient you won’t have to worry about wanting to upgrade your boat.
The level of control you have in an ocean cockpit is unsurpassed; you really feel like you’re wearing the boat. You’re not limited to keeping your knees under knee/thigh braces, so you can move your legs around under the deck without losing control. This is especially true if you install a foam pad that runs from gunwale to gunwale, similar to the “maskik” beam in a Greenland-style skin-on-frame kayak. Here are a couple of pics of this from my Anas Acuta and a third from my Pintail:
I pad them down quite a bit, as I prefer to paddle Greenland-style with straight legs. However, if you want more room, you can always make the pad thinner. In both cases, the pad is only 2" wide and contacts your thighs behind your knees.
Note that in both cases, I removed the original fiberglass seat, but retained the cheek plates so I could stow a bailing sponge on one side and a bilge pump on the other. It makes for a nice, tidy cockpit.
For me, paddling a kayak with an ocean cockpit is like driving a car with a manual transmission (which also prefer); you’re more involved in the process and you have substantially more control.
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Turner Wilson (formerly of Walden “Pond Scum” of Greenland rollers) and Cherie Perry (former Greenland rolling champ) made video about this:
Their approach allows testing/using more removable options.
sing
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Aloha, Sing. That is an excellent kayak-fitting video, by two of the most knowledgeable folks in any kayak. There’s relevant info there for anyone who desires solid control of their kayak, not just Greenland aficionados. I use removable foam masiks in my Anas Acuta and my Illaga (courtesy of Turner) though tempted to install one in my AA as per Mr. Nystrom’s excellent examples.
Thanks!
It looks like Cherie uses the removable Masik pad primarily so she can reposition it after getting in. I have long legs and don’t need to do that with a VCP ocean cockpit. I even used the same size cockpits on my skin-on-frame boats.
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I have only paddles a very small cockpit one time. It was a skin on frame kayak made by a friend of my sister who lives in Oregon. It was small enough that getting into it was a bit of a wiggle. It was so small I had to scrape my shins and knees a bit to get into the seat. I was wondering about the exit, so I tried it as soon as I got it into 2-1/2 feet of water. No problem at all. Getting out upside down was super easy. I just lifted the kayak up and pushed myself down until my butt was out and slid the kayak off to the front. A LOT easier then getting back into it.
So my dislike about that small round cockpit is getting into them. Getting out seems quite easy in the water but hard to do on land. I’d roll out of it in shallow water instead of landing and then trying to get out. I don’t like real small opening but down to the size that a Seals 1.2 fits I have no issues. His SOF was smaller then a 1.2
I don’t know if that’s helpful however. I am short with short inseam but my thighs are 27-28 inches in diameter. Different people may have different opinions. A given opening is the same size for anyone that tries to get in or out of it. It’s the paddlers who are different sizes.
So my short thick legs do better then someone with long legs I am sure. Someone with short thin legs would do even better then I do.
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A Seals 1.2 is not all that small. My Arluk 1.9 takes a Seals 1.2 and it is pretty much a normal size keyhole cockpit. Not at all like an ocean cockpit.
Yes, my Montauk is a Seals 1.2 and let me tell you, its cockpit looks giant next to the Tahe Greenland’s. But then again my thighs definitely do not measure 27-28 inches in diameter! Though I’m guessing you meant circumference (
) still your legs would definitely make it harder.
27" diameter you’d need a SOT for each 
.
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And a bunch of sandwiches.
Oops…yup. Circumference, not diameter.
If they were 27 in Diameter I’d be paddling large canoe…or a raft.