Kayaks

We're looking into purchasing some kayaks for the cabin.  We want the open concept style.  My husband wants one for fishing/paddling around lakes and rivers and I want just a little one to paddle around in.  He weighs about 260 lbs. and I weigh about 140 lbs.  We went to a kayak store and found that the prices were a bit high for us.  Wondering if anyone has bought kayaks from a sporting goods store such as ***'s and found them to be sufficient for lake kayaking. 

Cabin Girl,

This is a great question. I don't have an immediate answer for you, but  I'll pass this along to our kayak experts. This seems like a good topic for the Q&A section of Cabin Life magazine, so maybe you'll see your question (and answer) in a future issue.

-- Mark, Editor of Cabin Life Magazine

I bought our first kayak this Christmas for my wife.  I went to multiple resources to understand features and prices.  If you are ok with a used one try craigslist, lots of kayaks always available.

I went with a new one from ***'s Sporting Goods, they had a sale in December and I thought the price was good enough.  Beware that the paddles are sometimes extra, go figure. 

Lots of reviewers online give contradicting feedback on how particular kayaks "track" or steer.  If you are going to use in relatively calm waters I'm not sure it matters much, if your husband is going fishing out into a bigger/rougher water area the tracking would be very important I would think.

I expect we will give ours a try in the next 60 days for sure.

We bought the Potomac : http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3605130&cp=2367438.2367826.2672651.2674153

It is both educational and a great weekend experience to go to a "Paddlefest."  The one i've attended for nearly 10 years is in Old Forge, NY.  Here you can test drive kayaks and canoes of every shape, price and design for $5-10/ day as many times as you want.   The bonus is they have all the manufacturers reps on site to discuss the features and benefits of their products as well as they have free lectures on what to look for when buying, the craft, the gear and what do do on the water.  I HIGHLY recommend you do that first..  The experts will help you more than anyone at a store.   They have them in many states not just NY.  For example:  http://www.mountainmanoutdoors.com/SpecialEvents/AdirondackPaddlefest/tabid/92/Default.aspx

Thanks, blmeanie, for the advice.  We've look at that particular model also.  We're waiting for the next sale which is supposedly in April.  I probably will get that model and my husband was looking at something a little bigger.   Have fun with your kayak this year.    Won't be long now!

Thanks, ADK Rich, I just might try a few of them out.  Sounds like a fun time.

My only concern and this comes from the paddlefest information is if you were to overtun this kayak, and how much water it holds that you'd be expecting to get out prior to getting back into the kayak.

Go to a paddle fest before you buy.  you'll learn so much.  and they're having lots of those all over at this time of year.  Hod Off. Learn First.    Also spend as much time and effort on the PFD, paddle and other gear.  Think about the first two, you'll wear or hold them most of the time during the trip and they have to both be comfy for the trip.

I bought one on sale several years ago at the end of season at a sporting goods store. The clerks didn't know much about the kayak so I did research before I bought. Its an Old Town and has been proven to be very durable for what we use it for. A year later my brother sold me one that he had (two passenger) same manufacuturer. The family has a blast with them. For us having two added a lot of fun in that you can go with others. We can go around the lake or down a river that is at the far end of the lake. I weigh 250 and they handle the weight without a problem. Besure to look around and research the weight limits before you buy. You may want to check getting a used one to start.

Good luck.

Murphy, thanks.  We're weighing all our options before we buy and we do have a sporting goods consignment shop near our house that we can check out also.  (We bought our snowmobile helmets and bibs there when we first took up the sport.)  Everyone has given such good advice and I really appreciate the responses I've received on this topic.

We bought our kayaks!  We went to a sale at a sporting goods store with my brother-in-law and his wife.  We each ended up with a different brand,   Of course the guys needed ones that could hold more weight and they also plan to fish from theirs.   Now we can all go kayaking together this summer.  I'll bet we won't want to leave the kayaks at the cabin, as we'll probably want to use them in our home state also.

Enjoy them.  The last two weekends we have tried our kayak out around the cove we are in.  Getting in and out was initially a challenge, luckily I have two jet-ski docks so we now just steer for the opening in the jet ski dock and drive right up, somebody has to help pull it all the way out of the water but launching from there is fun for the kids too.

We're looking at getting a canoe too, with 5 kids need to have something for everybody.

We have a Great Canadian canoe which is over twenty-five years old.  My husband bought it when we were dating.   We have an even older Coleman, which we fondly call the "slug" because it is pretty cumbersome.  My husband is restoring a 1950's wooden guide canoe with the flat back (so you can put a motor on it).  A friend of his gave it to him because he didn't have the time to restore it.   My husband is pretty lucky that way.  Can't wait to get that going.  It's pretty lightweight compared to the fiberglass canoes. 

We just purchased 2 new Wilderness Systems Pungo 120 Kayaks. We were able to find second's These Kayak's sell for about $900. each. We paid $600. I could not find anything wrong with them. The Store Mgr told me there is something not perect with the color. They look fine to me I went back with a buddy who is in to Kayak's and he could not find anything wrong. Anyway the cockpit is huge and very open. Larger than any I could find. I was not sure when you say open if you are talking about the sit on top style, or a sit in with a larger cockpit.

Any how good luck in your search for a kayak. I have not picked mine up from the store yet. They have been kind enough to store them for me all winter. I will bring them up to the cabin in a coulpe of weeks. Need to do some spring projects at our cabin first. Get the work out of the way. Then it is fun, fun, fun. 

We have never kayaked before, we have a We-no-nah canoe and like that but this is an experiance we want to try. The mgr told us he would give us a 30 day's to see if we like it. If not as long as we keep them in sellable condition he will refund every penny. Looking forward to the experiance.

Sounds like you scored on finding your kayaks. I really enjoy ours. We inherited them when we bought the cabin. It's very peaceful to skim across the water and it makes me feel connected to the lake. I posted a picture in the gallery of my oldest daughter teaching the younger one how to manuever.

KariCabin and Loony Moose - It looks like we'll all be enjoying our kayaks this summer!   I ended up with a Potomac, my husband bought a Trophy, which can handle more weight, my sister-in-law got a Swifty (she got the shortest one and she IS the shortest one!) and my brother-in-law got an Old Town.  His was the most expensive.   Mine was the least expensive.  It looks like we'll be trying them out Memorial Day weekend.  We're planning a nice long weekend at the cabin.   We have some chores first, too, but we plan to make time to play.