I am new to kayaking and am interested in finding the best type of kayak to use on the Texas IntraCoastal. My primary interests are paddling around Shamrock Cove and from Bird Island Basin to Yarborough Pass.
paddling the icw
– Last Updated: Mar-16-09 1:21 PM EST –
is like biking an interstate, at least here in SC. yes you can do it and its fun but be prepared for some big wakes. 14' long and 24" wide seems to be a good compromise between speed, handling, and surfability. the pygmy 14' arctic tern is a great example, brian schultz's F1 at cape falcon kayaks is the exemplar. i'd look at a looksha sport or easky 15 in plastic. these boats are sporty, not hard to paddle, and you wont outgrow them in a year.
Some questions
Are you interested in camping out of the kayak?
What is your height and weight?
Are you going to be primarily interested in fishing out of the kayak?
Are you willing to put in the extra time in learning to paddle a longer narrower sit-in kayak that would make covering the distances involved in your listed trips possible in shorter times?
I am a member of the Corpus Christi paddlers. Send me an e-mail if you want some info on the club, some kayaks for sale in this area, or just info on paddling the Corpus Christi area.
Mark