The hook is set. You will not stop at two. I have been culling the herd of late, but wife and I still have 10 boats between us (and a canoe) Why so many? Dumb question. Why does a golfer need 10 clubs? Also, if you view it (only) as an upper body work out, you might need some technique improvement. You should be using your entire body. The obliques should be the most sore after a hard paddle.
Ok, you need a couple utility type singles and a double, two white water, that’s five. Two nice ocean types. That gets to seven, a beater or two for guests?
2 for whitewater? Feh. 8 of them are for whitewater. I was not facetious asking why a golfer needs 10 clubs:
3 x all-around ww river boat
1 x creek boat
1 x squirt boat
1 x slalom kayak
1 x slalom C-1 (technically, a canoe, paddler kneels and uses canoe paddle)
1 x slalom C-2 (two paddlers)
The other 2 are sea kayaks (plastic). I’d like to add or replace one with a composite boat.
I also have this:
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Is that Richard Harris?
You’re right. I have a sit on top. I am eyeing a sit inside from the same company. One that will fit my dog.
Dogs are great kayaking buddies.
Obliques are kinda upper body…non?
But I have to go back to work first. I’m furloughed. Maybe I can hold a yard sale…or babysit…or be a mystery shopper…so many options
Wow a thread about a hobby I currently looking into, nice.
I am in the process of maybe getting a kayak, but because of storage constraints I’m considering inflatable.
What do people with experience kayaking think about a Advanced Elements kayak?
https://www.advancedelements.com/day-touring-inflatable-kayaks/inflatable-kayak-ae1007/
Anyone have experience with this brand?
I will use it in the archipelago around Stavanger.
I went sailing in a Klepper folding kayak with a shipmate. Departed Homer Alaska, sailed out into Kachemak Bay, around Gull island, made landfall on the end of Homer Spit and then went into Land’s End restaurant bar and had a beer.
The Klepper seems to be a very high quality product, folds up into two bags for travel.
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Yaya! And this one, the Oru Kayak.
A kind Norwegian crewmate took me home with him one time so I could have a graceful start to my DNT hytter trek. I can’t believe this place where he lives. They call it øyana, its the islands near Møvik. One day the neighbor lady paddles up his quay/patio. She has 3 roudy bairns and a hound on TOP of her hull. And she’s just happily going between islands like that. Just visiting the folks. Like you do. Minivans need not apply.
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In 1970 I bought a Folbot. God, I loved that thing. My camping buddy and I would kayak the St. Croix river, which involved dropping his car at Sunrise MN, then taking mine up to a northern launch point. My buddy was big and my car (Saab 96) was small.
One day we pulled up to the launch point and there was a bunch of jackpine savages (Minnesota equivalent of redneck) getting out their fishing gear. So the scene was this: big guy and normal size guy pull up in little car. Take out two big bags, proceed to erect a large kayak. Load kayak with hibachi and cooler (gourmet cooking in the outdoors was our thing - typical menu was rack of lamb and crepes suzette for dinner, eggs benedict for breakfast.), two old brass Primus stoves, tent, sleeping bags. We were preoccupied with the stowage drill and didn’t look back until we launched. The fishermen were all lined up, almost slack-jawed. It must have looked like the clown car act at the circus.
The Folbot was amazing. The skin on frame construction was so quiet on the water we had to be careful to call out when overtaking an aluminum canoe or we’d startle them into a capsize. And on big lakes that thing really shone. With the mass centered as opposed on the ends as a typical canoe she would ride out weather that kept everybody else on the shore.
Then kids and career intervened and I sold it. It was like having to shoot a beloved horse.
Cheers,
Earl
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That is some of the area I was thinking about, I have family in the area and have spent lots of summers in Kristiansand/Søgne archipelago.
We have freedom to roame in Norway, so you can go ashore on all the islands at the coast.
I know. I took full advantage of that freedom while I was there. Its lovely, and a lovely country. I was just marvelling at the neighbour lady’s comfort level in a small craft meant for one person having 4 people and a dog on what is actually the Atlantic Ocean, no matter how glassy and warm.
Somewhere on a graph defined by the axes of practice makes perfect and familiarity breeds contempt, I expect. No guess implied as to where on that graph.
I loved the concept but the ORU - Coast cost almost 3000 dollars in Norway. That’s almost 1500,- more than the AE Convertible. Which can carry 70 kg more.
Well the wife and I have 7.2 were built by the wife from the Chesapeake light craft company. Stitch and glue method Okume plywood with Sapele (African Mahogany) deck pure art, but you have to treat them as if you are launching a Steinway piano. Others are plastic and a salvaged Chesapeake light craft now painted, it had a hard life. The boats easiest to use get used the most, just a boat and paddle. Well Lifejacket, whistle and hand held flashlight for after dark in case any of those CG types are around.
Maybe. But the feeling I had was more like Mama, Do You Love Me? by Barbara Joosse.
The pic is close enough. But I beleive the Inuit call that an umiak, not a kayak.
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An umiak is a more appropriate vehicle to stand in for a minivan.
The important thing is to get a boat and paddle. It’s pretty common to quickly outfrow your first boat and/or want something different.
My only experience with inflatable kayaks was a whitewater specific one called the Thrill seeker, but the advanced elements model looks better than most. It has a rsemi-rigid floor and a spine which will make it paddle better.
The Oru folding boat looks good, but I was shocked at the price, the same as a good compoisite boat.There are also modular boats, and that might be the best bet for you. They are polyethylene and come in 3 sections, each about 5’ long. It looks like it has a cockpit that can take a skirt, and it might even be possible to roll one of those (right an inverted boat without getting out).
Or, take up whitewater. The boats are much shorter, some less than 7’, you can stand one of those up in a closet.
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My kayak is a Perception Tribe 9.5. It’s a sit-on-top. Perception makes some sit-ins also. And it makes the well known Pescador fishing kayaks. You don’t need a fishing kayak to fish, though. You really only need a rod holder and a place to stow your cooler/tackle box. I can car-top this boat very easily.
I recommend shopping around for the best price. I bought mine at REI and they hold sales. They will help you choose a paddle and PFD. I also have a dry bag and a leash for my paddle and one for the fishing rod.
And if the NMC isn’t funded anytime soon, the only thing I will be sailing is that kayak.
(edited to make better sense…)
Craigslist is also a great place to find kayaks. Added a beautiful 16’ Romany to our fleet a few years ago at a great price.
But be sure to know the strengths and weaknesses of any model you are considering, and where you will be paddling it. We see a lot of boats out on big water that belong only on protected waters.