I thought from the title you might be
looking to trade.
I forgot about that one
very good suggestion
LOL- 8^)>
Nah… I’m pretty partial to the ones I have
Well…
The poly Eliza does come in fuchsia.
Nice color. I had a hang-glider that was white, fuchsia, and royal blue, and it looked great backlit against the sky.
Beginner course and rolling
I’m going to have a little time in my boat before I get to the symposium, but I’d like to take some of the very basic classes with strokes and rescues. Will I be up to trying some rolling by the end of the weekend (does the class scheduling provide for that)?
PS Had a nice paddle tonight on Lake Michigan that I had to cut short when I realized I hadn’t clipped on my deck bag with bilge pump and paddle float (it was fairly windy and small waves).
Really small
If you are under 110 lbs check out the CD Raven. Look under specialty kayaks. Another one that was not mentioned is the Impex Mystic or Gale in their formula series. Same boat but different hatches.
You filthy minded no good rotten…
frizz-a frat!
How dare you insult my teeny weeny!
Cheers,
JackL
Okay, I have to ask…
Why "at least 16’? I think you’re eliminating way too many great boats with that restriction, AND, I think your wife might be happier with a shorter boat to boot!
Start rolling whenever
Always good to at lesat start rolling. Speaking of, I’d suggest that you stash the bilge pump and paddle float via other means that a deck bag, with rolling in mind. The usual place for a paddle float is behind the seat - get a carbiner and clip it to one of the supports for the back band. Unless you are in a coach situation, you aren’t likely to need it unless you are out of the boat anyway. Bilge pump in the deck rigging, front or back.
Thanks salty
for sharing their concept and execution in development of the Eliza. It’s nice to know that companys are willing to address certain aspects. Good boats are good for the entire industry.
We live on the Great Lakes
So the majority of our paddling will be on bigger water. Eventually our trips would be Keewenaw peninsula, Grand Island, Pictured Rocks, Apostle Islands, and Isle Royale. So we will probably be paddling L.Superior a lot. Seems like most people have pointed to a 16 foot boat as the minimum for that kind of paddling. Right now I have been staying in the relative shelter of little Bay de Noc on Lake Michigan and will be paddling on a little inland lake for the next three weeks, but I have bigger aspirations. If people think she could get away with a smaller boat that would be fine, but I don’t want to limit our opportunities. Of course, a lot of it will depend on fit when she demos the different boats.
IMHO, 14’ is fine for “big” water.
I’ve paddled the exposed coast of Alaska in my 14’ Impex Mystic and it did just fine. No problem “keeping up” with longer boats and handled like a dream in rough water. I was also able to haul enough gear for over a week.
You might want to research the matter of length vs speed and have your wife try some 14-footers on for size, too. Good luck and paddle safe!
Absolutely Toesnorth!
And for smaller paddlers big long boats hurt them in several ways, so they will go slower and be more fatigued. Funny how we intuitively get that with paddle blades but not with hulls? You would never give a small paddler a Lendal Powermaster, unless they were a competitive athlete.
Length thing
One of the reasons that you hear that 16’ length is that the kind of outfitting and deck rigging you’ll want for bigger water trips tends to be reliably available on boats of that length but requires some inspection as you get to shorter boats. It is common to start seeing less perimeter line, no day hatch, other things that you’ll care about on those long trips. It certainly can be found, but will require that you really take a look. At 16’ you don’t need to think about it - they’ll all have it.
Also, if you want to camp and carry a nicer mattress pad and tent shorter, lower decked boats can start being a little more challenging to fit stuff into.
All that said, the point is well taken that a shorter boat can have all the waterline someone your wife’s size will need because it should also be a narrower boat. That tends to keep the proportions right.
Thoughts
In over 7k solo miles on expeditions I have NEVER accessed a day hatch while in the kayak. To me they are extra weight, and totally non-essential. Many of my boats have had them, and I’m not bothered by them, but they are cerainly not essential to a seaworthy boat.
Deck rigging is a matter of function, and so long as it’s adequate for rescues etc., it’s fine.
Case in point, the Mystic at 14’ and Eliza at 15’ 2". Both have very adequate rigging.
Many many times we’ve covered efficiency on this site, but I feel few still really “get it”. A boat should be matched to the paddler, not the other way around. Smaller, less powerful people will go farther, faster, with less fatigue in a shorter, low drag hull. toesnorth is right on.
Very few understand the difference between Frictional resistance and Residual resistance. The hydrodynamics are real, and apply to all of us on planet Earth. No catalogue nonsense or well intended but mis-informed dogma can dispute that. There comes a point where extra length is simply useless unless needed for gear.
At 210 I went for month long trips in a Romany 16, Nordkapps, etc. It’s about changing one’s thinking and assumptions about what they need to carry.
If I’m in anything longer than a 16-17 ft. kayak it will be a surf ski.
Day Hatch
"In over 7k solo miles on expeditions I have NEVER accessed a day hatch while in the kayak. To me they are extra weight, and totally non-essential."
Seems to me they are counterproductive in small volume boats as packing for camping would be much easier without them. I know I would rather not have one in the AA although on day paddles it is nice at stops to have all the goodies in one spot near the center of the boat. Even that seems illogical though.
Day hatches
They do impact ease of packing for camping. But as to accessing them - when we are out all day on vacation in Maine in the summer, across long legs, I definately use mine on the water. We will paddle with the weather and lengthen a leg if we think we are good to go, so the day hatch holds stuff that would otherwise be cluttering my deck. Actually it gets less use in camping where we will paddle straight to the island in the morning, set up and have lunch, then do shorter hops from the island once there.
There is reluctance from some to actually open that hatch on the water. And I definately am more cautious in one boat than in the other about that. But for the most part, women can bend around to do that without less stress than most guys can.
tampico 140s
I have a Hurricane Tampico 125S and I’m a short petite female. The boat is perfectly designed for me. I can finally keep up with the boys even in my “shorter” 13’5" boat and it’s a real pleasure to paddle. The Tampico 140 below is even longer and based off the same design. I haven’t used it but if it’s anything like the 125S, it’s a very elegant, lightweight, and excellent craft for a nice low price.
http://www.hurricaneaquasports.com/tampico-140-s.html
Cockpit/height
These guys are looking for a boat for more advanced skills including rolling. The Tampico looks a litle high and wide in the cockpit to make that an easy thing for someone of this size.
(and it appears that the manufacturer agrees - dodn’t even bother to put a skirt on it for the photo)
reluctance to opening hatch on water
My reticence to opening a day hatch on the water has something to do with ease of opening/closing something thats right in front of me,like a skirt, compared to something behind me,and I’m pretty flexible as men go, rotate 180degrees, can put hands flat on the ground, etc.
If I opened the ‘day hatch’ on a Chatham 16 in 2’ waves it’ll fill up as water flows over the aft deck if I paddle backwards or the waves come from the stern. Opening a day hatch on the water makes as much sense as opening either big hatches.
Just because I can reach it doesn’t make it a worthwhile compared to the alternatives.
In flat water there’s no problem. So either “sea kayaks” were designed for flat water or access to day hatches was intended for flat water use. Neither of which make sense.
My $.02 is that double bulkheads and the hatch to access the small compartment is a reasonable way to strengthen a plastic aft deck in order to reduce the pumping action around the hatch seals that can occur when a plastic boat is climbed on.
Other than that the advantage of packing accesible items is better met by making them more accesible attached to the floor of the kayak in front of the seat or under the foredeck where they’re really accesible.