Looking at the Pelican Getaway 100 as a first Kayak. Most use would be fishing windy, choppy Rehobeth Bay, Delaware. Haven’t found any reviews of this boat. Any information would be a great help.
Don
I wouldn’t buy one. Don’t care
for how Pelican kayaks are made, look poorly finished if not poorly built. The Scout camp my sons worked at this summer was given about 30 new Pelican 100’s. My boys took a couple down the river the camp is located on prior to the Scouts arrival. The said they track poorly and are difficult to keep upright. The river has a few Class II rapids, but nothing exciting about them. But, they hated the things even in the flat water sections.
The kayak may not be so good in choppy water, especially with bad tracking. Personally, I’d go for a 12 foot or larger boat, better tracking usually. Often, you can find Heritage kayaks for a decent price new. If you want a kayak around 10 ft, then the Heritage Featherlite 9.5 may be the kayak for you…tracks well and is a good fishing platform. But, for choppy bay waters, I’d perfer a 12 for 14 ft boat.
http://www.heritagekayaks.com/traditionalkayaks.htm
Dagger Blackwater, Wilderness Systems Pungo or Pamlico, and one of the Old Town Loons are Dirgos are far superior kayaks also. Take a look at them. See if you can paddle that Pelican, then one of the others mentioned.
pelican
The greatist kayak is the one you can throw in the pickup when you are ready to go. My fishin buddy has one I’ve paddled it and also the wife and kid. Last year we had record rain in South Texas
pelican
oops continued
We had the pelican in the river every weekend class II and III rapids. we fish every slow spot on the river. Before everybody piles on… There are much better boats on the market. But I suggest that you start your fleet with whatever you can afford. I found I always need a boat to take a newbie. Maybee you will want to upgrade in a season or two. We also fish the Tx coast and find SOT boats like a parachute in the wind. I have an OK scrambler 12foot (the wifes boat) and a 12’ SOB that I prefer for any conditions. It was so windy yesterday that my wife had the SOT pinned on the bank while I was haulin in a 5 lb Bass.
Iamdamoder?
Bad story second hand.
Well, this would make it third I guess, so take with a grain of salt. A guy with a kayak rental place up in MN came down here two summers ago to buy a used kayak from me. He said a friend of his left his pelican on top of his SUV in the “blazing” MN sun all day, and came back to find it nearly flat and conformed to the roof of his SUV. I’ve seen them and the materials looks like it’s awfully flimsy to me.
.
Don’t use a ten footer in windy conditions. I wouldn’t recommend a Pelican either. Most places that I have seen carry them are general outdoor shops who don’t deal much with paddlesports. It’s a “filler” item. You won’t get any customer service with Pelican either. I tried to help a guy out who bought one of their kayaks in another store. The store didn’t even bother trying to help and told the guy they couldn’t fix it.
We worked with the guy the best we could and tried to contact Pelican for replacement parts with no luck.
Go to a kayak shop and try a few out. Expect to spend $650 to $1000. You’ll be much happier than buying a cheap “starter” kayaks and then buying a better one a year later. Most dealers run package discounts as well, for example, 10% off accessories with a kayak purchase. If you still want to spend less, at least buy a used name brand kayak like Wilderness, Hurricane, Heritage, etc…
Most Pelican’s are made with
Ram-X. Its the same stuff Scanoe is made of and doesn’t deform in that way. The stuff stands up to Texas heat. But, I’ve never seen a kayak made of it that looks good or is made well. Maybe its a matter of Pelican not doing good work. Then again, maybe its the material, no one else seems to use it.
good little boat
This is a very good little boat…NOT for the serious kayaker, but if you are a weekender i don’t think you can go wrong for the price. As stated above,there are better kayaks but the Pelican Getaway 100 is very well built and at the price is a good starter kayak. The only problem i have seen is it doesn’t track well,but if you have a paddle you can still go where ya want to go.
go used
Go down Rt 1 just south of Bethany beach and check out Coastal Kayak. It is a small rental operation in the south lane right before the MD line. This time of year they are selling all the summer rentals. you could demo them and get one at a great price.
Mutan’s suggestion sounds like …
… a great option .
I would seriously take that short ride down the road to check out the used rentals being sold off !!
Disclaimer , I don’t yak , I canoe .
Especially if this your first boat to paddle , a good used boat is a great idea . You should be able to save a signifigent amount of bucks in exchange for a few cosmetic discrepencies , and still have all the better qualities of a better boat .
Having the chance to test paddle before you purchase is also a great plus . Go make a day of it and come home with some seat time , maybe even a new (to you) yak !!!
ps., I don’t like Pelican canoes , although I believe the “Coleman” canoes were made by Pelican …