Kayak length

In reply to T.J.:

So how is your "$20/day kayak habit" going?

That's how a buddy described it when building his first boat ("every day I'm buying something... clamps, planes, more epoxy, something..."). After that, he built 4 more... since he already had the tools.

He also got into making his own inuit-style paddles.

In reply to Ian F:

I am getting close to using some serious epoxy. I started accumulating tools and supplies in December or so, so by the time I started working on it, I pretty much had everything I needed. We'll see how it goes.

You can use a lot more energy on a long paddle correcting your course and fighting the wind in a smaller boat than you may realize. Anything under 10' isn't going to be worth any price savings unless it is for whitewater (in which case there probably won't be any savings anyhow). The extra length gets you tracking, speed and cargo capacity.

I had a 12' Native Ultimate that was a very good general duty kayak. With that boat, if I was going to do it over, I'd get a 14' for the extra cargo capacity and speed. I've since diversified into two boats- an Old Town 119 Guide for small lakes/rivers and a 14' Jackson Cuda for ocean/large lake fishing.

My long term goal is to get a Hobie Pro Angler, but they are big $$$.

I can build you a 8' kayak that will track like its on rails. I can build you a 40' kayak that you can't make go straight. All by itself, length has little to do with how a boat tracks.

That said, generally, a longer boat has more carrying capacity and tracks straighter than a shorter boat. Width also has tremendous impact on carrying capacity.

For paddling around in reservoirs and such, almost anything will do.

I'm presuming from the tone of your initial post, you want a toy that you can simply play with. To that end, I'd suggest you go look at the plastic sit on top things. They are nearly indestructible, require zero maintenance, and are a lot of fun.

Try one out first. I have more than a few hundred hours in what we call sea kayaks and I cannot do it any more. The seating position pinches nerves in my lower back and my legs loose all sensation. It got to the point that I could not stand for 30 minutes after beaching. I had to go back to a canoe, which is like going from a fast car to a berkeleying hay wagon. I also know that I am not the only one.

I have two 10 footers. One is an expensive Old Towne, the other might have come from Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart:

~$250. Comfortable, has adjustable pedals to push off of while paddling.
Comes with a skirt for white water. Lifting handles stay on the deck wile paddling. Ribs (pockets?) down the centerline of the bottom; the boat tracks straight when you stop paddling.

Old Towne

~$500. The back rest is not comfortable regardless of adjustments. With the white water skirt in place, it pops off the rear of the seat whenever you lean off the backrest. Lifting handles fall off the deck and produce drag; not a lot, but it's resistance to your paddling efforts.
No ribs on the bottom. The boat heads off in the direction of your last stroke (flat water)

Borrow some before plunking down good money. Knowing what I do now and the way I use them, I would not have bought the Old Town, but your needs may be different.

Dan

I was given an Ocean Kayak Scrambler. Not too serious about kayaking, just messing about when at the beach or sandbar. It can take me and my ~70lb lab for an easy afternoon ride.

At ~11'6", I wouldn't go any shorter if wanting to cover any distance or be exposed to the wind. Its easy to car-top and carry around, and just enough for the dog and a small cooler. I don't go in any tight spaces or flowing water with it though.

When is a kayak really a canoe?

If all you want to do is paddle you might want to try looking at entry level  sit on top surf skis like are offered by Epic and Stellar.   

 16' to 18', somewhat stable, easy to remount if you have decent strength.    And much faster than any 8' to 10 foot barge.  4.5 to 5 mph should be easily attainable on flat water.  This is intermediate fast for kayaking by the way with the Olympic K1 guys in the 8.5 mph range and the short barge boats maybe 2 to 3 mph and they will wear you out doing it.   Look up power curves for various kayaks and you will see the power vs speed requirement hits a wall pretty quickly due to the displacement  hull limitations.  Obviously longer and narrower are faster but also get extremely hard to balance as the width goes down.    Stability rankings are usually 1 to 10 or 1 to 5.  Depending  upon manufacturer.  With 10 and 5 being equal on the different scales (I have no idea why they do this)    Just about anyone can handle the stable ones and most people with a little confidence building can go down to the 8/4 ratings.  Below that takes a commitment and a willingness to get wet a lot and remount (personal experience with a surfski rated  a 6 on the 1-10 scale.)

So a  fast surf ski takes a little more commitment to learning to paddle without tipping over.   Then there is the whole world of $400 wing paddles that are way more efficient but take practice to master the stroke. 

  I like sit on top types over the sit inside of the sea kayaks. You fall off a surf ski or traditional sit on top kayak you get back on.  You fall out a sea kayak/closed cockpit boat in open water  and you had better have practiced remounting dozens of times, have a paddle float, and hopefully a buddy that can help.  No thanks.  

So you want something at least 20" wide, or wider.    Under that and its like being 5 years old learning to ride a bicycle as opposed to switching from a road bike to a recumbent bike for the wider ones up to about 24".    Different learning curves.   

So a kayak thread got canoed?  Oh the irony...