P & H
Too bad there are no P & H dealers handy. Their lower priced line of rotomold Brit style boats marketed as the Venture marque includes a nice low volume light tourer, the Easky 15LV. At around $1200 it is a nicely finished and well equipped boat that is excellent for medium to small poeple. I’m 5’ 5" but a little heftier (155) and love this boat. We’ve had some previous discussions about it on here and most other users of the model around my size and smaller agree – it is a swift, maneuverable boat that performs really well in rough water and tracks like an arrow. Has a standard touring cockpit, great seat and thigh hooks and comes with a skeg or rudder (mine has neither but I have not felt it needed either.) It’s comfortable for a relative novice but allows for developing higher level skills. At 44 lbs it is a breeze to load.
Not the Chatham 16
It’s good for someone heavier than you, I’d look at Eliza, Suka.
How would you describe the Willow’s
handling, even though it was too loose of a fit for you?
The Suka cockpit is much, much tighter than the Willow.
Impex Mystic
My wife is your size and loves her glass Impex Mystic. Good thing because we found it used, like new, on ebay and although we checked it out in person, (it was less than 10 miles away), had no opportunity to paddle it before buying. Sometimes you get lucky! Good luck.
All The “Slim” Gals I Know
Enjoy paddling their Epic V-10L kayak. Of course it is a surfski, but works great in flat and choppy inland waters.
Old forum topic but regardless, the top results for my search (5’6", 120lbs)
- Sea Kayaking UK - Echo (for more journey than play)
- Sea Kayaking UK - Pilgrim (for more play than journey)
- Valley Sea - Sirona 15-10
- Zegul - Arrow Play LV
Seven years later…
Maybe the OP put on weight and needs a different boat now. Maybe she doesn’t even paddle anymore.
What is it with first time posters and zombie threads??
There has been a sudden resurrection of zombie threads today.
You are two inches taller than me and depending on the day 1 to 5 pounds lighter. I have been in or in one case owned a number of the boats mentioned above.
Dump the stores and the young men who want to sell you a glorified rec boat. Look used. And be willing to drive an hour or two to grab a deal.
One advantage of Wilderness Systems for where you are is they tend to be a ubiquitous brand, so easier to find used. I have used the Tempest 16 in demonstrations where they wanted a female who could roll, do rescues etc. It is fine on fit for you, and plenty responsive. It can take a somewhat larger person but none of that diminishes its responsiveness for someone our size. Can’t tell if the folks above actually did anything with this boat on the water.
The Zephyr 155 would also fit you and is similar to the Tempest 16 in supporting a learning curve. It is shorter and a bit less fast but again a boat I have been in and found it nicely responsive. It is a little sea kayak. WS may be discontinuing this one, don’t see it in their 2019 lineup.
Re Necky -
I have been in the Eliza, it behaved fine rolled easily etc. It didn’t say “buy me”, but it worked fine. My fuzzy recall is that one of my question marks about the boat may have involved the day hatch. There was a moment when a couple of manufacturers decided not to put a day hatch into the small person boats to save a pound or so of weight. Tiderace did that with their small paddler boat when it first came out, and staunchly defended that when I wrote them that I loved the boat but day hatch was a deal killer for me. Within a couple of years they had changed their minds but by then I wasn’t looking for one of their boats.
Chatham series - the 17 is too big for you, unless you want a barge. The 16 is intended to be a very manuveurable boat and yeah, is a little tall in how it sits on someone your size. It also rolls easily. But it is a more narrowly targeted boat than the Tempest 16.
QCC -
I don’t know this boat from personal experience, but QCC used to maintain a list of boat owners so someone could contact them and ask to try the boat. Might be worth seeing if this network still exists.
Eddyline Merlin LT -
Issue I had with this boat is that the fit was so uncomfortable and froggy for me that I could get past it to push the boat. If your body and that cockpit is a match your experience may be better. But you need to sit in one of these in the water to tell.
CD -
The CD Squall was my first sea kayak. Above comments are correct, and I was told the same thing by a CD rep at one point. It is still a little big for us. It is high decked represents the older view of kayaks by North American manufacturers, more concerned with getting you home safe than making it fluid to do wet work. I very much appreciated the boat for getting me out on the water, it is a good boat. But when I wanted to do more in terms of skills I found it time for something more responsive. The boat they slipped in under that, for our size, was initially the Slipstream. But it is also fiberglass, a bit expensive, and the Tempest is a kinder boat to someone starting out.
Other Older CD Boats -
No day hatch but the Suka may be comfortable for you. Smaller Greenland style boat that was put out in glass. Not so quirky as the Slipstream.
I suggest you start with a plastic boat to reduce that cost, and to leave money to be able to focus on a really good paddle and a properly fitting PFD. New paddlers tend to focus on the boat to the detriment of these other items, which can make or break your comfort paddling. The hatches tend to leak a bit more than a glass one, but everything in your storage areas should be in dry bags anyway.
I know you said you would never be able to buy a new composite boat, but there was a time when I never thought I would ever be into that. On the chance that you might change your mind, you should look at the Current Designs Prana. If you get the chance to try one–be warned it will probably ruin you for anything else. Yes, they are that good.
One other boat you should take a look at if possible is the Stellar Intrepid (the smaller one)… Go to their website. It doesn’t cost anything to look.
All this talk about how ladies have to be in smaller boats. I see lots of women in sea kayaks that look too big for them, but they seem very happy with their boats. Yesterday there was an average sized woman in a Pygmy Coho and she was very happy about it. She even had a “stick” for her paddle. She probably built both of them.
I’m just saying, keep an open mind.
@Magooch There are two sizes of Coho boats. Only one is for bigger paddlers. Did you check which version it was? In any case the Coho was designed so that even at a larger size it would be more responsive than average.
As to being happy with a boat’s size and fit, unless you ask the paddler about their usage and performance requirements you can’t speak for why a boat is working for them. I also know women who like an over volume boat. These women have zero interest in dimensional water or rolling, they do flat rivers and lakes and want to haul a lot of camping gear. They really do not want the same boat that l do.
The OPer here, as is typical of new people, is still sorting much of that out. Getting a boat that fits her better will leave her with more options for where to go as her paddling develops.
@Celia said:
@Magooch There are two sizes of Coho boats. Only one is for bigger paddlers. Did you check which version it was? In any case the Coho was designed so that even at a larger size it would be more responsive than average.As to being happy with a boat’s size and fit, unless you ask the paddler about their usage and performance requirements you can’t speak for why a boat is working for them. I also know women who like an over volume boat. These women have zero interest in dimensional water or rolling, they do flat rivers and lakes and want to haul a lot of camping gear. They really do not want the same boat that l do.
The OPer here, as is typical of new people, is still sorting much of that out. Getting a boat that fits her better will leave her with more options for where to go as her paddling develops.
Well it looked like the big Coho to me. We didn’t talk about boats. I’m just saying she looked very comfortable with her boat and she also looked like she knew what she was doing. This was in an area that gets pretty bumpy; I’m sure by her actions that she was very experienced and probably selected that boat purposely.