Not at all that costly. In fact you could outfit 3 people for less than $2000, even under $1500 if you have the patience to watch for deals. I live in SW Pennsylvania and have bought at least 7 used sea kayaks in great condition for myself and family and friends over the past 10 years (the buys usually included a paddle and PFD and sometimes a pump and sprayskirt in the price) for under $600 each – several were only $400. There are two listed on my local Craigslist now for $750 each (and I usually find I can get those sellers down to $600 if I show up with a roll of cash). In fact there is very nice sea kayak for sale south of me right now, a Wilderness Systems Sealution for $400.
@kier.selinsky@gmail.com said:
Even used I’m still looking at $5K for 3 sea yaks
Not if you’re wise and patient. It’s coming up on “kayak buying season”. Lots of people realize when the first snow falls that they have no place to store their boat. Then they realize it didn’t get much use anyway, so they sell it.
I sense frustration with the replies here dissuading you to use your current boats on Lake Erie. I agree with what’s been said. Not because you will immediately die in the case of a capsize but rather because it is human nature to push boundaries…and luck. After you’ve gone up and down the shoreline in glass-smooth water a few times, you have the confidence to go out in bigger and bigger waves. Then you get bored with your route and start heading outside the break wall… and so on.
With the right boat and skills there’s no problem with this progression. But in the wrong one it’s a recipe for a Paddling.com thread discussing a news story about a family that died using recreation kayaks in conditions they shouldn’t have.
Take a boat or two to a local beach on a day you’d go swimming there. Put your swim suit and PFD on and paddle out to where you can just touch bottom. Now capsize, making sure to get a lot of water in the cockpit, and try to get back in without touching the bottom. Report back with your experience.
Just a caveat. Plastic hulls change shape over time, not greatly, but enough that the bulkheads will no longer hold water. This is why float bags are required bow and stern. I have always used them and they are a great addition to have any time you are not carrying sufficient dry bag storage for necessities.
These significantly reduce the odds of the boat flooding and (since there is less water inside) make recovery significantly easier.
Postscript to my above comment: Remember that even if you find you can get back in at the beach, you need to consider how you’d fair in 3’+ waves, wind, cold, tired, and scared.
By the way Kier, on those used prices. If most of those folks want to get the boat out of their garage before winter they will take less than the prices you are seeing.
To get a good deal on a sea kayak you need to check your local Craigslist and Next Door listings daily and be prepared to contact the seller right away and then show up within 24 hours with cash and means to haul the boat home. It helps if you are willing to travel an hour or more. I traveled from Pittsburgh to Manitowoc, Wisconsin to buy a kayak once (including taking a ferry across Lake Michigan to fetch it.) Not suggesting you get that radical, but the more flexible you can be the better if you want to save money and get the best deals.
These Current Design Breeze kayaks have been on the Erie Craigslist for 21 days. They are sort of transitional from rec boats to full sea kayaks but with the smaller cockpit coamings that will support spray skirts and stern bulkheads and built in flotation in the bow, and a hull designed to handle waves, they would be suitable for coastal Lake Erie. Plus the sellers are throwing in paddles, though they don’t mention what kind. They are offering them for $500 each and are suitable for small to mid sized adults. If they still have them and it has been 3 weeks, they might take less.
Ah, I see you are in Cleveland. I was thinking you were nearer Erie, Pa. Should have looked up Rocky River. So my suggestions of boats were a little far afield.
I preferred the old version of Paddling.com (p.net) where people had their approximate geographic locations in their profiles so we could know better where they were paddling.