Best money spent would be to find an experienced sea kayaking instructor in your area and pick his/her brain after taking some (refresher) sea kayak lessons.
For a big guy like you, the best choices IMO are the Current Design Sirocco (rotomold) or Gulfstream (fiberglass), or the NDK Romany Excel. Why you ask and not several of the other makes you mentioned? You are eventually an agressive paddler so you want a kayak built for rough paddling conditions, thus my short list.
PS - I prefer kayaks with a skeg vice rudder (that is a “which came first, the chicken or the egg” discussion of which there are many in archives)
I guess the skeg / rudder would depend on the design of boat and what would work best for that however skeg for myself is preferred for many reasons
Yes… construction would be important as well as I will eventually be tackling some rough water - good point.
TY for the options and I am going to be visiting a few more places amd ask a few more questions !
TY
Good question, I’m 6’ 2", 240#, 40+ waist, size 12 booties, and have been very happy after several years in a Wilderness Systems Tsunami 175 (ruddered), followed by a Valley Etain 17-7 (skegged), both rotomolded boats.
Just enough room for me to wiggle around to keep up leg circulation, and able to drop into the seat and get my legs folded back inside the cockpit.
Mostly paddling the more flat open water of South San Francisco Bay, but have been out the Golden Gate in more textured water on 2 occasions, once with each boat.
Using the paddling.com Search function using “big person kayaks”, you can find two past discussions with more specific boat recommendations here:
Rudder tends more towards the point A-B type boat. It’s rare but I got cut by a metal rudder, early in my seakayaking, when I came out in rougher water. I like much more rockered boats with skegs since I am more into surf kayakinging and rockplaying.
The suggestion to take some lessons and/or guided trip is spot on. It’s a good way to get a lay of the ocean and get to test out different boats. I don’t how how far this outfitter is from you, but they have some staff that seem to be into surf and rock play - https://www.bestcoastoutfitters.com/ Love their videos:
Also, as suggested above, a search of past PCom discussions of seakayaks can also give ideas. This one specifically is relevant because of the questioner’s size and the fact that the suggested boats are still very much available new and in the pre-owned market:
We loved paddling Victoria harbor, along the shore, hopping down to Flynn’s seafood, down by the community of houseboats, watching the float planes.
I don’t know all those boats but we love the workhorse Current Designs large volume model and it was picked up for 600 dollars (20 years old but perfectly functional) Great stability and tracking for that area is how I see it.
The PNW used to have a good supply of used CD boats and I know we’ve looked at new ones right there in Victoria. It’s a great town btw
Also when I’m buying gear for the first time, I care about resale so there is a sweet spot if you buy a “top shelf” boat (RV etc) and then go back to the year that meets your price point.
I never owned a Current Design boat but regret to hear that the are no more! Did I hear that they had been bought out and merely changed ownership, or is the line now gone?
One thing nobody has mentioned here is don’t buy new. If you buy used and decide you need something different you can likely get pretty close to what you paid for it.
Sorry to hear about Current Designs. As a larger paddler on Maine coastal waters, I was concerned about cockpit size/ease of ingress/egress, and went with a Current Designs Solstice GT, which I recently sold. Great boat, the only thing I didn’t care for was the foot peg rudder, and the stiff tension of raising the rudder. Would have preferred a skeg in retrospect. Look around, mine was a good deal for the buyer, there should be plenty of them out there.
My hubby is about your size and experience level. He ended up purchasing a Cetus MV (medium volume). He absolutely loves it! It’s fast, stable, and easy to maneuver.
He purchased his kayak used, but in excellent condition. In doing so, he was able to get a very well respected, very good quality kayak for less than the price of a new plastic one. He paid $2000.
I recommend you take your time and keep your eyes peeled to kayak classifieds on this site, as well as kayak classifieds on Facebook Marketplace.
If you purchase quality, you will never feel the need to upgrade.
