In Kentucky, i was perfectly happy on rivers and light whitewater with my Dagger Zydeco, but my situation has changed.
I now live in Hawaii, so a sit-on-top seems to be the prefered, and only available option. On the Big Island, there is only one reasonably priced kayak retailer. The website is:
http://www.plentypupule.com/
From the selection of single kayaks (i am looking at the range of $300-400), the lineup is:
$399 Oceankayak Frenzy
$299 Oceankayak Yak Board
$399 Spectrum Solo
$339 (package) FeelFree Move
I really don't know what i would do with a kayak here, but i would probably just do light touring (2 hour trips, at the most... nothing heavy), surfing, and *possibly* diving from a kayak (in the process of getting a license)
The obvious choice would be the FeelFree Move, except for a few problems:
>I can't seem to find any information on it
>The foot molds stick out only about 3/4" from the side of the boat
With that boat aside, i started looking at the Yak Board and the Frenzy. The Frenzy is big, bulky, and not very streamlined. The Buyers' Guide comments seem to say that it isn't all that fast, either. The Yak Board is small, sleek, very wet (you sit... in the water), but probably won't track well. I was going to just go ahead and buy it, considering it is $100 cheaper than the Frenzy, but i thought i'd ask you guys, first.
I also can't find much information on the Spectrum Solo, but it is a bit bigger than i want.
Some advice
I own a Frenzy, actually it was my son’s first kayak. It’s a good boat for messing around on the water in, it’s fun to learn to surf and it’s stable enough to fish out of it. Of the boats you mentioned I would go for the frenzy.
The yak board is meant only for surfing, to be honest it does not do much better than the Frenzy.
I do know there is a store on Oahu (spelling) called Gobananas the have a web page and they get boats to people on the other other islands.
If you could get a hold of one a Ocean Kayak scupper pro or Ocean Kayak Scrambler would be a better fit for what you want to do now. You can often find them used, I’m sure there are used ones on the big Island.
Also go to Tom Holtey’s web page www.sit-on-topkayaking.com and post on the forum there he used to live in Hawaii and would know how to get more selection.
SOT Advice
I’ll second seadart’s comments. From what I’ve heard Scupper Pro’s seem to be the light touring SOT of choice in the islands. Go to Tom Hotley’s Topkayaker.net and post and you should get some responses from some fellow islanders.
Gobananas is a SOT retailer on the islands that has gotten several mentions on Topkayer.
get an entry level surfski
for heaven’s sake- you live in hawaii. embrace the fantasy! you need to right now get a mako xt from oceanpaddlesport.com (they have a hawaii dealer i believe) and discover what serious sit on top paddling is about.
af
YAK BOARD
I have a YakBoard that I use for surfing in NJ. Tracks well, spins on it’s own axis, is stable, and holds the wave face without a problem.
It is not really designed for doing much more than surfing.
Scrambler
My first SOT was a Frenzy, but I was more into kayak surfing when I started out.
A Scrambler can surf and is not so painfully slow on flatwater. Only about $100 more than the Frenzy. I would stay away from the Yak board. It is not very verstile
Feelfree Kayaks are reviewed in the …
product reviews of this website and can be purchased on ebay in the price range you mention. Don’t know what shipping would be to Hawaii though. The Nomad is 9’10" SOT, bigger than the Move. It has received very positive reviews. We recently purchased two for $300 each but haven’t tried them yet. A search on Google turns up info on Feelfree. They are based in Thailand. I would be interested to hear from anyone what their experience has been.
Yak Board and Frenzy
I own both, and can tell you that the Frenzy is actually faster than the Yak board, and surfs just as well as the Yak Board.
I like the Frenzy, but now want something faster and an looking at a Surf Ski.
Ask DLonborg - he’s in Hawaii and paddles skis as well as kayaks.
Look for a used Scupper
or raise your price range a little bit, if you can. You’re giving up a lot of versatility with the boats you’re looking at.
He’s a young guy, says he’s a kid
his parent’s are helping him buy the boat. I thought his best choices would be a Necky Dolphin, Scupper Pro, or a Scrambler. Since he’s young I’m wondering if the Scrambler might be the most versatile, since you can surf it and go in and out through big stuff with it.
Makes sense
Scupper also works pretty well in surf, albeit with a little higher pain factor when you exceed its limitations (endos are a little more dramatic).