You say a kayak is lighter than a canoe, but if you make that comparison between boats that are reasonably similar, the reverse is usually true. Though canoes are usually "taller" and thus have more material in the sides of the hull, and they are likely to be wider as well, the lack of a top deck is more than enough to offset that. Even for boats of the same weight, a canoe is usually easier to carry, though kayaks can be carried the same way if equipped with a specialized clamp-on yoke (which of course, is extra weight to carry).
CLC Chesapeake 17 If you like building boats this would be a great choice. I am about 15 lbs heavier than you and I built a Chesapeake and I have camped out of it for a week or more with no problem. My only complaint is the front hatch is pretty small for the size of the compartment.
It is as fast as my other two sea kayaks (Impex Susquehanna, and a One Ocean Cirrus LT) but will carry much more camping gear.
Loaner for Wayne Hi Celia, I was at a gulf of maine symposium and I actually tried to loan Wayne my kayak. We’re the same size and I have an Argonaut that I had the bulkhead moved away so it would fit me perfectly.
Wayne was really hesitant to borrow my kayak but I insisted since I know how bad it is to be wedged into a poorly fitting kayak especially when teaching.
During the night someone moved the boats on the beach and replaced my kayak with an identical one… that lacked the custom bulkhead, seat, padding, etc… Apparently his feet were against the standard bulkhead when he was sitting on the day hatch
Wayne was convinced that I had conspired with the other instructors as part of an elaborate practical joke. I still feel bad that he didn’t get to use my kayak, poor guy.
kayak beam I seem to have hit a nerve with the suggestion about kayak beam. For a week’s worth of gear, you need some buoyancy, especially on big water which is where longer trips take place. I have paddled an Eddyline kayak with a 25 inch beam in salt water and found it to be plenty fast as long as it had length in the 17 1/2 foot range. Alas I have given up kayaks and gone back to canoes where 36 inches is a common beam for a tandem boat. Solo canoes are often around 28-30 inches.
Not a nerve per se But saying a minimum beam is needed, as in required to my ears, flies in the face of a lot of actual experience people have had in major long-haul kayak camping trips on open water. I know people who have done the Maine Island Trail, circumnavigated Greenland and done multi-week trips along the coast of Norway in boats that clearly did not have a 25 inch beam. The water was cold and nasty, the gear they were carrying was significant. And the MITA islands are where the OPer wants to aim his boat - many of which I have camped or landed on myself.
It is correct that someone might prefer the wider beam boat, and if you are a rather large person that might be the beam of the best boat for you to use. But is is not a mandatory measure for someone the size of the OPer, who comes in at the lower end of the traditional average paddler. Saying that was a criteria for his getting a boat was where you hit some disagreement.
Personally dimensions are somewhat Irrelevant. A 14’x25" kayak can be just as sea worthy as a 17"x21" kayak. If one has the motor and prefers to paddle at a 4.5mph pace a narrow and longish kayak can make sense and if 3mph is more to ones preference a wider round bottomed kayak w minimal wetted area can work. If a person will never cruise at 5mph pace there’s no benefit to a long narrow boat.
We agree We took our Cetus LV and Cetus HV out for a 12-day trip last summer (we did not have to haul water) - we had more than enough room for everything - terrific boats!
I always try to keep in mind that the same amount of volume is underwater for a given load. We're just talking about the shape of that volume, and the efficiency of moving that shape through the water at different speeds.
I sort of think the basic 3 knots vs. 5 knots on flatwater might come apart to some degree in open water waves. I really would like to experiment specifically with it.
I really like hippy kayaks for maneuverability. I have a Dagger Halifax 17 at 23.5" width, and using those edges is a blast. The Current Designs Gulfstream shares this characteristic, and it's a fairly efficient boat. Not a speedster, but it doesn't feel sluggish at typical speeds. So this is just to establish my appreciation of hippy (wide hipped - happy-leaf-construction is optional)kayaks. Many other design aspects come into play - of course. But they do offer a distinct advantage in edged maneuvering - all else equal to the degree all else can be equal.
Back to the original point. The most difficult progress I ever make is directly into stiff winds in open water, with those steep short-period waves that go along with it. Every degree of quartering makes progress a little better - given you personally don't lose comfort and let your forward stroke start to fall apart.
It is in these conditions that the displacement is all over the place. The peaks of the waves can be coming right over the top of your boat - a radical change in displacement activity from flatwater. And you have to counteract the waves coming at you just to remain in place.
So then I have to wonder if my P&H Bahiya or Sirius, at 20.5" wide, cuts through these waves more efficiently than a hippy kayak? It seems quite a complicated study on paper, as you can't ignore the rest of the design, such as other parts of bow profiles - rocker, volume distribution, raked/plumb/etc., deck shape - peaked vs flat, rounded or hard chines, convex vs concave surfaces, and on and on.
Maybe a hippy kayak with the same common hydrostatic figures as the Bahiya or Sirius, and a few test runs in choppy conditions?
Width versus all the rest of it You and CapeFear have covered what I meant when I said it was about hull shape, not just a single measure, albeit with more expertise.
Where my husband and I have stayed for all these years is an easy shot to Thief Island and a couple of other spots that people commonly aim for after making it around Pemaquid Point. Over the years we saw people doing the Trail in a variety of kayaks and a few canoes. One day we met both a paddler doing the Trail in a Kruger Sea Wind and another in a stripper kayak that he had adapted with a retractable pedal system. He had started with a boat from a well-known wooden kayak designer, it might even have been a Schade design, but it was skinny. Several years ago two guys canoed the Trail hitting some of the most miserable weeks of rain in years. Different approaches but they all completed their trips.
Bottom line - all kinds of craft have worked for this purpose. The only universal thing I have seen is that the good paddlers who understand the environment can make just about anything work, and the paddlers who are less solid in their skills or their preparation are more likely to have to shorten their trip.
