Narrowed choices
I will be trying the Necky Manitou 14 this weekend and my wife will be trying the Hurricane Tampico 135S. I will be using the Werner Tybee Bent Shaft paddles. The PFD will probably be the Kokatat Bahia Tour. Any thoughts?
Thanks to all
The people have been very helpful on this forum - thank you. My wife and I went to Rhode Island yesterday (beautiful day sunny & 78 degrees) and tried out the kayaks. To make a long story short, my wife loved (and bought) the Hurricane Tampico 135 L and I bought the Creative Designs Kestral 140 TCS. I liked the Tempest 165 but I was told that it would not be a good match if I intended to paddle with my wife. As her skills increase (and mine) we may add or change kayaks within the next few years. We both bought Werner paddles and other stuff so we are ready to go. Again, I appreciated everyone’s input
Cheers
“I liked the Tempest 165 but I was told
"that it would not be a good match if I intended to paddle with my wife”
you needed me there to tell you the obvious:
get the boat you want
take back the kestral, and get the boat you want
Congratulations on getting started
If you really liked the Tempest, I strongly suggest that you guys go for some training earlier rather than later. That means that you probably responded well to the apparent speed and liveliness of the boat compared to the shorter stuff, and weren’t daunted by the fit. I was in a T165 yesterday and would guess that a lot of newbies at your size would find it too much of a shoehorn. I had no trouble making it roll etc at 7 inches shorter than you.
In sum, you may be more ready for challenge right off the mark than your wife, so will need to keep things kinda equalized between the two of you so you grow together. Getting right into lessons to learn the basics, get by the wet exit thing, be able to help rescue each other - this will all make a huge diff to make sure that you both go forward together.
(And if you wait a smidge to get that Tempest, you will profit by getting one that has been fully water-tested before it leaves the factory. The one I was in yesterday was leaking a bit thru every bulkhead and hatch near as we could tell.)
Reason
The reason I picked the Kestrel is to enjoy the sport with my wife. I want to go on nature paddles taking the time to enjoy paddling together, I can’t do that if my wife is several yards (or 1/2 mile) behind me. Today we went out and paddled a local lake and it was enjoyable for the two of us. My wife is learning and in time she will be relaxed and be able to go faster. (Since I used to WW race in the OC2 div. I was able to acclimate quickley.) I am very happy with my Kestrel - looks nice also. If I get the urge to live life in the fast lane maybe I will go after a 18’ Kevlar (used a 18’6" Kevlar canoe for WW racing many years ago)