Found my kayak. The one.

[7rider]

Geez. T and I took the boats out on the South River yesterday.
I felt like my Dagger was dragging a sea anchor behind me the whole time! Talk about slow and ponderous. And then I come here and read what looks like a catalog for sleek zippy boats.
If you ever feel like your latest isn't {insert some word for light, fast, high-end, or all of the above, here} enough for you, let me put you in my boat.

[colby]

Geez. T and I took the boats out on the South River yesterday.
I felt like my Dagger was dragging a sea anchor behind me the whole time! Talk about slow and ponderous. And then I come here and read what looks like a catalog for sleek zippy boats.
If you ever feel like your latest isn't {insert some word for light, fast, high-end, or all of the above, here} enough for you, let me put you in my boat.

No kidding - we have a couple of 10' plastic Daggers that were great for compromise entry level kayaking, touring around the lake, swimmer tracking, not hauling butt or anything. We didn't realise what we didn't have until we went on a kayaking tour in tandem kayaks... boats that track, boats that are sleek, boats that carry weight, boats that go zoom zoom zoom (and our marriage survived). Seeing these pictures just makes me want to go back out to the San Juans and tour again - but still probably in someone else's fast, well-tracking, well-packed boats. Very awesome.

[Cataboo]

7 - if you ever want help convincing DH that you guys want sea kayaks, you can come try mine. Although, he's pretty tall - i think the point 65 xp is the only one that'd fit him (the silhouette has the bulkhead moved back up front for shorter people so that there's more room to haul stuff.)

I've never paddled shorter than 14' - and truthfully, I'm not sure I could! It'd be like getting on a walmart bike, I intellectually know that they work and can move people and many many people do use them... but I would just rather not ride. I have to stop at 18' long for the kayaks, 'cause anything longer is longer than the garage I'm storing themin. I used to row sculls in high school - so kayaks still feel slow to me.

[Cataboo]

Since I finally took better pics & got some of the decking replaced (still need to go out and buy more bungee and stuff to finish)





I'm not crazy about the airbrushing - but it's under the gel coat:

[lph]

But oh! the lines on that thing! What a beauty.

[Cataboo]

But oh! the lines on that thing! What a beauty.

It handles really well as well - I need to take it out in waves and see how it does. On the little bit of waves I've had it in, it felt like it was leaping on them to surf - so I think it'll be a lot of fun. It's easier to roll than the purple, and slices through the water nicer.

[tulip]

Catriona and lph, do you know if there is a kayak forum like this TE forum (although not necessarily woman-focused)? It would be great for a beginner kayaker like me to have a resource like TE, but for kayaking.