New kayak buyer

Advice
#1

Hello all,

I have never owned a kayak, usually I just rent or borrow a friends. But i finally decided I wanted to have my own. I live in Virginia and I would like to buy kayak that can be used for light white water kayaking (up to level 3), fishing, and storage for camping gear. I’m wondering what everyone’s thought are in this, is it possible to find such a kayak?

#2

What did you rent or borrow ? What do your friends paddle?

#3

Here’s a good explanation of the different types of kayaks and their specific uses: http://www.paddlesafely.com/kayaks/

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#4

I’ll be completely honest, I have no clue. I used a sit on top a few times and then other times it was simply a longer sit in kayak that we used for fishing. I’m really looking for a kayak that has the capability for storage of camping gear, that can be used on rivers.

#5

Thanks for the information! I’ll give it a read.

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#6

Take a look in the sections you are reading about crossovers, as in between WW and flatware. These are choices that might not be awful to paddle some distance and could carry some gear.

Note that if you want to get a used WW kayak just to knock off that, they are generally to be found quite cheap.

Also note that class 3 WW is a whole different kettle of fish, in terms of risks, in a sit inside than in a SOT. If you don’t really know how to control a boat in moving water, find some instruction as part of your plans.

#7

I recently came across a good blog post by the West Coast rep for Eddyline (among other products) that has good info on how to select a boat. https://happypaddlin.com/2020/03/11/choosing-the-right-kayak-canoe-sup-with-f-i-t/

The video is aimed at sales folks, so you might find just using the image content better.

You have some of the F.I.T. stuff determined, but not all. Settling on this before trying to select a boat could be useful.

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#8

Additionally—concerning crossover yaks—I don’t feel like they would effectively check the “fishing” box off your list of activities.
Those hauls have too much WW DNA in them to be stable enough for fishing out of.

If I were to envision fishing out of my Katana 10.4, I just cringe @ imagining the theatrics of what would happen if I actually hooked a fish w/ decent size.
… I’d be in for quite the ride :grimacing: