Sea Kayak Buying 101

By John Winters In Partnership With Swift Canoe & Kayak

2011 Swift Canoe & Kayak/John Winters. This document is not to be printed, distributed, sold for pro t, or used in any capacity outside the Scribd document database without the expressed written consent of Swift Canoe & Kayak and/or John Winters

Your rst step is to organize your priorities. Are you a casual paddler with no illusions about your abilities nor any strong desire to excel or are you serious about paddling? Do you have a long range goal of extended expeditions or will you be content with inshore and close at hand (even that may require more boat than you think)? Are you cautious or daring? Will you paddle for relaxation or thrills? Are you a conservative or a liberal? With your goals de ned you are ready to ll out your personal kayak buying questionnaire. This is not unlike those questionnaires in Cosmopolitan about you and your lover's compatibility. You have to be brutally honest. You must also do this before you look at boats! Keeping your head in the presence of beautiful boats isn't easy. Your Personal Priority List 1. What is your current skill level? (1 if you have never paddled, 10 if you have forgotten more about paddling than most people will ever know). 2. What do you expect your skill level to be two years from now? _________ (See above) 3. Where will you paddle? Will it be the ocean, large lakes, around the cottage, warm water only? __________________ 4. What is the typical weight you expect your kayak to carry? Total Weight _________ 5. Arrange the following from most to least importance to you. Aesthetics 1.__________________________ Controllability 2.__________________________ Durability 3.__________________________ Maintenance 4.__________________________ Price 5.__________________________ Seaworthiness 6.__________________________ E ciency 7.__________________________ Stability 8.__________________________ Weight 9.__________________________ Other Requirements 10._________________________ I have deliberately left "Comfort" out of the priority list. Your safety and enjoyment are a function of your mood and your mood is a function of how happy your body is after several hours of paddling. Why a particular seat or cockpit suits one and not the other eludes me but the importance of the proper cockpit environment does not. For instance, small cockpits and hard molded seats get no raves from me. Any kayak that I cannot enter and exit with ease or seat that doesn't coddle my butt gets an immediate negative response. So, your comfort is non-negotiable. No matter how appealing a boat is, if it feels like a tight pair of shoes, look elsewhere. Comments Question #1 & 2 -- The sexiest kayaks are long, slender, responsive and demanding. If you lack con dence in your abilities, a more stable user friendly kayak is best. By "user friendly," I mean one that does not require the ability to do ten di erent Eskimo rolls or instinctive braces. Remember, this is your " rst" boat. Your skills will improve in direct proportion to your enjoyment. When you are ready for something more challenging you can get it. If you are a paddling "one" the last thing you need is a boat for a "ten". Yes, some gurus of the sport insist that everyone learn to paddle in a high performance boat. "How else will you develop proper skills?" This is valid up to a point but assumes that everyone wants to be an expert when most people are content with some good safe fun. Fast learners or the already skilled can move right into a high performance kayak. The point is to t the boat to your abilities not vice versa.

Question #3 -- This is qualitative and quantitative. It is possible to paddle extensively in the ocean and never ever meet anything more than a gentle rolling swell. On the other hand, there are small lakes that can rattle your llings. Nevertheless, large bodies of water carry large risks. Tidal currents, breaking surf, rapidly changing weather are only the most obvious of what can make a pleasant paddle a nightmare. Your boat should handle the worst you are likely to experience but remember that no boat can save you from bad judgment. Question #4 -- Do not be misled by "Volume" gures. What you want is the "designed" displacement. In other words, how much weight did the designer intend the boat to carry? Just because there is abundant room under the deck doesn't mean the boat will handle well when it is stu ed like a Christmas goose. If the designed displacement is not available, your only recourse is to load it up and try it out. If it feels sluggish with you and your gear, it is too small even if there is room for twice as much gear. Question #5. Aesthetics There is no law that says a kayak must be ugly to be inexpensive, durable, safe, or perform well. Sea kayaking is an aesthetic experience and you should never have to explain that the kayak on your BMW is not a bathroom xture. On the other hand, if it stirs your soul, that's all that matters. Controllability This includes both tracking and maneuverability. The balance between the two depends upon how and where you paddle. Exceptional maneuverability is less important in open than in con ned waters. Only a test paddle will tell you if a kayak is suitable but be sure to test it fully loaded. How a boat feels changes dramatically with increasing load. This is also a good time to talk about rudders. A rudder can make an abominable kayak handle reasonably well but it should not be necessary. Well-designed kayaks track straight yet turn readily using just paddle strokes. Nevertheless, even the best hulls can pro t from a rudder. Quartering waves and wind make any boat di cult to hold on course and a rudder can provide just the right amount of course correction to ease the drudgery. Maybe "trim tab" is a more accurate name than "rudder" for that is closer to their function. No, the Inuit didn't use rudders but they spent their lives in their boats. If you paddle to and from work and the grocery store is out in the ocean, a rudder should be super uous. The presence of a rudder, however, does not suggest a poor design or a poor paddler. It is just a convenience. Durability Kayaks do not usually receive the same abuse as canoes and most kayaks will provide many years of trouble free service. Nevertheless, polyethylene kayak is advisable if sur ng on to a rocky beach is your idea of fun. For best performance, there is no substitute for light weight, but less costs more in kayaks, so let your ability and pocket book be your guide. Maintenance This isn't a big deal unless you have bought something exotic. Modern kayaks are relatively maintenance free and replacing worn cables, shock cords and hatch seals plus an occasional wash and touch-up is the extent of maintenance. Oddly enough, most damage occurs when loading or storing so good roof and storage racks are a wise investment. Price Set a range but be flexible. Adhering slavishly to a price limit is often false economy and a few extra dollars might buy a significantly better kayak. Seaworthiness This is not a trivial matter. By definition a sea kayak should be seaworthy but don't let the deck and spray skirt fool you. Seaworthiness is more than just keeping the water out. The boat must be controllable in confused and large seas, fast enough to get you past dangerous shoals even when you have to paddle into the wind, and stable enough to keep you upright even when you are tired. Here is a good time to talk about the Eskimo roll. Experts di er as to the importance of the roll and whether a boat should be easy to roll or di cult to capsize. You will not likely resolve this issue until you to are an expert. Nevertheless, thousands of miles of trouble free paddling have been logged in kayaks that roll poorly and the ability to roll is academic if one is right side up. Since kayaks that are easy to roll are also easy to capsize, that may be a good hint regarding the kind of boat you will want. Fast learners and enthusiasts can step right over here to these skinny boats. Casual types with a strong fear of getting wet can step over here by these wide boats.

 Eciency Do not confuse eciency with speed. Racing canoes are fast but are ecient only when paddled hard. Don't expect to cruise at 8 mph unless you have the muscles and skills. Your search is for the fastest kayak at your normal stroke rate. Increasing length (it is important to note that the important "length" is the waterline and not the overall length) increases the top speed potential but, because of the increased wetted surface, length decreases eciency at lower speeds. Stability Stability is a highly subjective and personal matter. Kayak "X" may be "stable" for the salesperson but like sitting on a basketball for you. Since stability varies significantly with the load, test boats fully loaded. Mind you, it doesn't take long to become accustomed to a boat but that doesn't mean you should have to. There are those who sneer derisively at stable kayaks but don't let them influence you. There are plenty of stable boats that are just as responsive as the tippy super boats. Weight Portaging is a minor issue for kayakers but you still have to lift the thing onto your car. A test load may be just as important as a test paddle. The more important aspect is that lighter kayaks handle better in rough water, turn more easily, and are generally easier to paddle. Other Requirements If it's important to you, then put it down. Now, examine your list. Adjust it if needed and you are ready to look at kayaks. Looking At Kayaks The first rule is to stick to your priorities and stick to your list. Ask the salesperson how each kayak fits your criteria not his or someone else's. What the rest of the world paddles is only important to the rest of the world. To what skill level is it best suited? What load is it designed to carry? Accept no compromise on what is important to you. You will always regret giving up something you value for a passing whim. For items of middling importance, some compromise is acceptable. For instance, if aesthetics is fifth, a plastic boat may be perfectly acceptable even though you prefer something a little sleeker and shinier. Those items at the bottom of the list can be ignored if all other requirements are met. The keenly observant will notice that I have said nothing about test paddling and nothing about the advice of experts or friends. You definitely should test paddle a boat but this is your first boat and you may not know what makes or breaks a boat. There are several routes. You can take professionally run paddling lessons, join a kayaking club, or paddle with friends in rented boats. This is where experts and friends come in. They have been the same route, already made some of the mistakes, and might even know that first class salesperson I mentioned earlier. 2011 Swift Canoe & Kayak/John Winters. This document is not to be printed, distributed, sold for profit, or used in any capacity outside the Scribd document database without the expressed written consent of Swift Canoe & Kayak and/or John Winters

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