I went kayaking on Norris Lake with some friends last year and I loved it. I am now wanting to kayak on the Little Miami River in Southwest Ohio this summer by myself. I eventually may want to try class 2 or class 3 rapids on faster rivers. I am 47 years old 6' tall and weigh 175 pounds. I don't believe I'll ever kayak enough to progress beyond an intermediate level. Being a newbie in this sport I would like some advice on which kayak would be best suited for my age, size and ability level. Thanks for any and all answers.<br />
Contact rroberts on this forum if you really want to get in trouble. He lives near Dayton and paddles the Little Miami with a lite beer drinker named Ronzo. They paddle whitewater kayaks, but rroberts has a Prijon Barricuda, and is familiar with various boat options. Sometimes he comes to the SE to paddle with the real studs.
If you want to run rivers while carrying camping gear, you might look at the Liquid Logic Remix 10. It’s like a ww boat with reduced rocker for cruising ease, and hatches for gear. Certain other companies offer such boats (Prijon, Pyranha, Dagger) but the Remix hatchboat may be the best.
All of these boats will be very slow on flat sections. A “crossover” boat like the Remix XP10 mentioned (http://www.liquidlogickayaks.com/remix_xp10.cfm) might be a better choice if there are long flat stretches between the rapids.
Almost any kayak – including touring models – can run class 2 water with a competent paddler, but if you want to stay and play a whitewater boat will work better.