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I don’t mean to be a snob, but those are some bad kayaks. Okay for floating around and not going much of anywhere…

Actually, we're looking for some new kayaks so if anyone can recommend any, please post them...

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"Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime."- Lavrentiy Beria

Quote
DP
Actually, we're looking for some new kayaks so if anyone can recommend any, please post them...

What kind of paddling do you do? I almost always buy used(one exception when that boat was one of a kind and too new to be found used), so I try not to have a particular one in mind, but a group.

River and inland lake, usually in Michigan. No need for sea kayaks as, even if we decide to kayak in Lake Michigan, e.g., I doubt if we'd go far from shore...

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"Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime."- Lavrentiy Beria

Whitewater? If not, I would go for 12’-14’. I’m a small woman, and I adore my Perception Tribute, which isn’t made anymore, but I’ve seen a few used lately. It’s designed for small people. I’d steer away from bathtub shaped wide boats, and try for one with 2 waterproof hatches, because they won’t sink if you capsize.

Fit is important to me, so I always match the sizes/volume of the boat to the paddler. I like narrow boats and small cockpits, but my other half needs a much bigger opening and a higher weight capacity. He has a Perception Acadia (it’s old) and a Necky Looksha 14’. My other boat is a sea kayak, so not applicable to you. The Tribute does everything I’ve ever wanted, from a bit of rapids (not its forte) to some sea kayaking before I got the long boat. It’s wonderful for rivers, bays, and lakes.

Thx!

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"Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime."- Lavrentiy Beria

When I first transitioned from a canoe to a kayak about 20 years ago, I went with a smaller Old Town Otter just under 10'. I went with a smaller, wider yak since I was only planning on paddling in rivers and small lakes in Wisconsin. The Otters are well made and super stable and easy to maneuver which is important if just starting out. They are not the fastest but that didn't matter to me. I still have the Otters but have added a Perception Shorty and a few Wilderness System Pungo 120s to the herd (12' long). We are in Florida now and the 12'ers are too long for my mangrove forrest exploring so the shorter ones are perfect. I'm using the Pungos for more open water paddling out to the islands in the Gulf.

Oh yeah, you have to think about how you are going to transport them, too. After my shoulder surgery, my doctor wouldn't let me lift them onto the roof of my car anymore so I had to buy a trailer if I wanted to continue paddling.

You may want to check out some shops in your area and sit in a few. I'm 6'3" and weigh about 180#s so the cockpit size was important to me.

I wouldn't spend lots of money on my first yak and look for used. I know too many people that bought wonderful new ones and pretty much never used them because they didn't enjoy the sport.

Good luck, it's a lot of fun and great exercise. Buy a cheap waterproof camera, too.

The Otter was my first boat, too. It was great for that purpose, but yes, not fast and does not stay straight without a lot of effort. Pungos are nice, but heavy for what they are, IMO.

My boats are 45 and 55 lbs, and I can lift them myself, but not easily. Putting them on a rack wouldn’t happen alone. I use my pickup bed, but if I had to use a roof, I’d probably have some kind of ultralight boat like one of the Eddylines or a composite.

We are out 3x weekly for much of the year, sometimes 15 mile trips, so it’s important that we love our boats.

See what’s out there used, and report what interests you - we can tell you the pros and cons of that boat.

We were very different with our choice of kayaks and went low-end. I knew nothing about kayaks other than I had paddled a few times as a teenager but my wife had never been in one. When I retired we decided that kayaking might be a nice way to get some upper body work in a pleasant way. My wife was concerned about a sit-in kayak tipping over and her getting stuck and drowning so she was more interested in a sit-on kayak. I wasn't worried about it because I knew we were only going to paddle on a reservoir that's 3.5 miles around the shore and even if she managed to tip over she'd exit the kayak as she fell in. Maybe we'd take them to the Okefenokee or other swamps. But we weren't going to do any whitewater at all. We have an Academy Sports near our reservoir so I bought a Pelican Argo 10' sit-in kayak, paddle and vest and took her to the reservoir. She immediately realized she didn't have to worry about somehow getting stuck in it and drowning and she liked the idea of being a bit lower than she'd be on a sit-on, so while she paddled around I went back to Academy and bought another one. They are absolutely fine for both of us. I'm 5'10" and weigh 205; she's 5'5" and weighs 145. Interestingly, she's faster than am I when paddling around; I imagine it's because I weigh my boat down more than does she so I'm pushing more boat through the water. I meet the weight limit for the 10' kayak (275 lb) but would probably have done fine with a longer one. They weigh 42 lbs but I just put them in the back of the pickup so it's not a problem transporting them. One of the reasons I wanted sit-in kayaks is because we do it year-round and I wanted to get splash covers for winter use because we both get a bit wet when we paddle. I bought a couple of Perception covers from Amazon for $70 each; they work great. We're about to go out and paddle this morning at 30 degrees and it won't be a problem. I bought ours the summer before the pandemic and they were $150 each; they're now $250. I figured that at $150 it wouldn't be a great loss if we didn't use them. But we do, twice a week, absent significant rain or winds enough to give the reservoir white caps. We also recently bought new vests where the flotation is higher so that we're not sitting against the flotation and the seat. It allowed us to be a bit farther back in the kayaks.

Good recommendations - I definitely prefer sit-ins, for a few reasons: much less heavy, and you get a lot less wet, plus you can keep things secured inside. We use spray skirts for a lot of the year, for sun and bug protection as well as keeping water out of the boat.

Good PFDs make a big difference, and thry need to fit you and the boat. I have one with a very high back and mesh below it, because I’m short and it would not clear my seat back if the back floatation came down lower.