Do you kayak? (1 Viewer)

[lumbee1]

We just picked up three kayaks for the family and we're itching to try them out. Last year, we hooked up with some friends at a lake in their neighborhood. They brought their kayaks and both my son and daughter immediately tried them out and took to them like fish in water. I've been searching craigslist and Dick's sales ever since.

Just so happens Costco had a Pelican Premium 10' and a kids 6' for sale. I picked up one of each. The 6' kids kayak is really small and my 5'4" 10 year old daughter (yes she is that tall) looked uncomfortable in such a tiny kayak. This one will probably get returned.

Dick's is running their annual boating sale right now. I stopped in to check their inventory and found two 8' kayaks, one being a nice Pelican on clearance. Retails for $250 but on clearance for $150. It was the last one in the store so I bought it. I picked up a paddle from Amazon for $32 and life vests for the whole family for $20 a piece.

Tomorrow is the maiden voyage. I'm hoping the kids and myself have a blast out on the water. I will be making a list of modifications I want to add to each kayak.

Anyone else out there kayak or even considering it? I'm hoping to do some destination camping and kayaking trips at Uwharrie later this year.

 

[izzyandsue]

Yessir, got two of the Pecalins from Dick's last month, used them and enjoyed them but just getting started as well. John and Sarah have experience and helped my search, that are on a kayaking trip as I type!

 

[elkaholic]

Yup. Now that I live on Lake Wateree, I get asked quite a lot if I have a boat. I usually just point toward my Perception Aspire (10.5 footer) and most shake their heads. It is a nice way to explore around the lake though.

 

[AndrewHadji]

we love to, wife and I have had our for a few years now. I have a field and stream fishing and she has a generic sit on top 10 footer. since i put on the rtt though i dont have enough room for 2, so we are looking for a dual carrier ( or 2 singles) for her cx5. Shes stoked that she gets to be the kayak carriers for nearby lakes and stuff. Almost there in convincing her that she needs a 70 series to carry them proper :-D

id love to see a group outting. SHes still not comfortable in oceans, but she comes with for lakes and river trips.

 

[JohnVee]

Sarah and I each have a Pelican 10' sit-in. Only flaw I've found for our use on lakes is that it can be a challenge to find a place to dismount on the shore sometimes Impoundments and reservoirs generally don't have sloping shores to glide up. Might be easier to swing off a sit-on than step up and out from a sit-in while floating.

Since kayaking usually means fishing for me, I got us the inflatable life vests. CO2 cartridge on a pull string plus manual inflate, too. They don't take up much room on your body so there's plenty of space for moving around freely and casting/holding the rod.

We bought the boats cheap last winter to give them a try and learn the process. Digging it. And they both just fit on the roof rack with some ratchet straps (2each).

 

[stevezero]

I've got a wilderness systems tarpon 140 sit on top fishing yak that has been in lakes, rivers, multiday camping trips on the waccamaw river, ocean playing, and class 1-2 whitewater. I also used it as our mark setting/rescue boat for our rc sailboat club. Since we got our jon boat/trolling motor combo, the yak seems to sit a lot.

Used to go to belews lake every fri night to kayak with the tarheel paddlers. faded out after about 2 years with them.

The only gripes i would make about the costco and pelican boats are they are very heavy for their size, and not a very efficient hull design. Great starter boat for the price, but if you get serious about yaking, start attending demo days where you can try out a bunch of different boats. Longer usually tracks straight better for longer distances, and shorter hulls are made for tight turns, or whitewaterish type activities. The pelicans and costco boats are built for stability and ease of use.

I highly recommend sit on tops vs rec boats or touring boats, especially given the higher displacement of some more fuller figured folks. much easier to get onto/into, and more importantly, you fall out instead of have to wet exit on an unplanned roll. Sounds trivial, but that has literally been a lifesaver for folks.

 

[JohnVee]

I thought the Pelicans would be heavier than they are. I can heft it overhead onto the lifted truck (and 6-7 more inches of rack) pretty easily. I'm intrigued if better boats are even lighter! They sure can't be thinner! I gotta remember to add some JB Weld to my boat bag.

 

[stevezero]

Duct tape too. good duck tape.

You can get a kevlar 14 or 16 ft kayak that weighs under 40 lbs.....but you pay dearly for it.

My tarpon is about 70 lbs. I use Yakima racks, with a home made telescopic tube that sits inside one of the yakimas. time to load, I pull the alum tube out lift the rear of the yak onto it,face down, then lift the front of the boat and slide onto the rack. slide the rear on and tie the boat down. last step is slide the tube back in the rack.

I can single hand load it with or without the tube, it's just a whole lot easier.

 

[lt1fire]

I'll be purchasing some kayaks very soon... ones that are good for both the pacific ocean and the lakes here. I need to find one that is long enough and big enough to keep stable when a 300lbs yeti sits on them.

We used to go with friends a lot and use our season pass at the WWC to do a lot of kayaking around charlotte.

 

[lt1fire]

Two good club members to tap for info on these are Quinton and Keefer.

Brian and Heather go a ton and I think own close to 10 kayaks. Brian also has competed in a lot of flat water kayak races.

Quinton used to be a guide in Natahala for kayaks and rafts and was also the out door director for a college for years.

 

[weejub]

I know nothing of this, only been told - - try sit in vs sit on top before buying. I have only canoe'd, but the kayak folks tell me all the time that the sit on top kayaks are tougher to deal with, but easier to get on/off.

And just for fun . . .

We drove by this situation last weekend - every news team in town was down at the take out near our house:

Pair rescued from Haw River after kayaking incident in Chatham County

 

[weejub]

I was looking at a whitewater canoe for storage vs a kayak most recently.

Here is a nice used PFD from Astral on CList: Made in Asheville. They sit high and are great PFDs. I bought one used 6 years ago and used it for 5 years river guiding on the Niangua in MO. The only negative is my big belly can be seen below it . . . so i gotta wear a shirt LOL

Astral Ronny Men's Life Jacket, PFD, Personal Flotation Device, L/XL

 

[GarnerFJ40]

Yes, the Keefers only have 5 kayaks Wife and I have two Wilderness Systems 14.5', Tsunami and Cape Lookout. Ive also got a large cockpit Perception that can hold my wife and a child, or two kids, but it's not a tandem. And the littlest one has a small sit on top, Mirage I think it is.
I've done the Tame the Tyger race in South Carolina a couple of times, which has up to class III rapids, but we do a combination of flatwater and mild whitewater. We just opened up the season a few weeks ago going down the Haw for my birthday.

Love going down the Cape Fear between Buckhorn Dam and Erwin, NC. The rapids near Raven Rock are pretty fun. The Neuse between Poole Rd and Highwy 42 in Clayton is a nice relaxing trip. There is one section with a small bump depending upon the water level that is fun, and you can paddle back upstream to repeat if you're a strong enough paddler.

I've thought about getting a group together for a kayak trip, but didn't know how many people had them.

 

[pkniland]

My wife and I both have 11.5 Perceptions. We dont do much on the lake but like the streams/creeks. We did the Dan River up in Stokes county yesterday, were did the Catawba up by Lake James a few weeks before, and a few of my buddies are going the French Broad in two weeks. If you ever want company let me know.

 

[jamesurq]

Been kayaking several times, but never bought my own. I'm fairly comfortable renting them instead of buying.

Lake Townsend in Greensboro and Jordan Lake in Durham both have fairly cheap rentals.

I enjoy it, but it's tiring...

 

[lumbee1]

We took the kayaks to Jordan Lake to spend some time with friends. The lake was filled with boats ranging from house boats to jet skis and everything in between. The wake kicked up by some of them was rather annoying but not too bad. The Pelican Striker 10ft (aka Odyssey) is the performer. It is both stable and fast in the water, but the paddle that came with it is crap. The Pelican Evo 8ft (aka Sonic) is more stable but requires a lot more effort to maintain speed and the $30 paddle I got off Amazon was great.

I don't have much invested at this point but really enjoyed myself. I would like to check out some flat water and see how fast they really go. Both kayaks are sit on top which I prefer (now) for ease of use but that might change if we get more involved.

The 10ft kayak is not heavy at 50lbs but rather awkward to load by myself. The 8ft kayak is light but also awkward because they didn't add side handles. Currently both kayaks are cinched down with ratchet straps to the roof rack but I've ordered kayak holders.

 

[izzyandsue]

Nice! I mount mine on top of the roof rack with 2 pieces of pool noodles sliced over the front and back bars, then ratchet. The 10' Pelican trailblazer are about 38lbs, so not bad to handle.

Nice GTI !!

 

[roadstr6]

We canoe or kayak a section of the New River in West Jefferson several times a year. We have a 10' Old Town kayak, a big heavy 17' Pelican canoe and a vintage 17' Grumman (yup the Aircraft company) aluminum canoe that we use on lakes. The Grumman is my favorite but I can't bear to drag it across rocks. It gets used every year at lake Jocassee.

 

[coinoperated40]

@roadstr6 The New River at the right water level is great. Been to that low bridge many times. Wife and I have done about 30 miles of the New in different places. I guess we have had ours maybe 20 years or so. Both sit on tops and fall off tops are the kind we own.
We put in at Zallo's and for a fee, they will ferry your car to pick up point. That way, you can take as long as you want to do the river, pack up and head home. Two or three state parks along the way for lunch'n and breaks. It is a long day, but usually great times.

 

[roadstr6]

@roadstr6 The New River at the right water level is great. Been to that low bridge many times. Wife and I have done about 30 miles of the New in different places. I guess we have had ours maybe 20 years or so. Both sit on tops and fall off tops are the kind we own.
We put in at Zallo's and for a fee, they will ferry your car to pick up point. That way, you can take as long as you want to do the river, pack up and head home. Two or three state parks along the way for lunch'n and breaks. It is a long day, but usually great times.

We put in at Zaloos as well or at the bridge just downstream from there. We usually have two vehicles so we leave my truck downstream at either Wagoner or 421 access and paddle to the truck, load up and go home. It's more trouble doing it that way but you can take as long as you want or go as fast as you want. You don't have to wait for the shuttle and it's free. That last part is the best part. The New is a beautiful river. No real rapids but very picturesque and a relaxing paddle. When the level is down there are a lot of rocks to contend with and it can be aggravating in certain spots.