In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
TLDR:
sit on top:
self bailing
much easier to get on/off in water
bottom half not stuck in a hot boat
sit in:
leg inside so protected for colder weather?
better for longer travel?
generally going to be skinnier and faster, i think
longer:
straighter while paddling
faster
shorter: much easier to turn and maneuver
I have a wilderness tarpon 120(sit on top)that i use for fishing and goofing off, snorkeling, whatever. I can get in and out of it on the water, swimming, without much issue.
the longer it is, the straighter it will paddle. Also the longer it is, its harder to turn. I find the 10-12' range sit on top perfect for florida waters. I tried a 14'. Super straight and quick but a total whore to turn, and i need to turn and maneuver. Also transport over 12" gets annoying. 12' and under for me is a quick toss into the bed of the truck. 14' really needs another support since it sticks out way too far.
Since it seems like exploring and doing more than going A to B are what she'll like, i suggest a 10-12' sit on top. They will all suck to load up at her size. The self bailing nature of the sit on top is huge for me. Im getting in and out of the water. Im going to be splashing and whatever, dealing with waves. I dont want water in the boat.
Also, for me its too hot to have me bottom half in a boat and not in the breeze/open air.
In reply to TJL (Forum Supporter) :
Yes. She is a fitness lover but not a fitness freak. She is a freak about being outdoors, so every day she chooses an outdoor fitness activity. More of a double-duty thing. Get a little exercise while communing with nature at the same time. She might run a couple miles in a park one day, maybe trail run or hike in the woods, sometimes ride a bike. She started borrowing kayaks this past summer and got the bug.
Good advice, all. We're hatching a plan for transport and it looks a little like this:
She has a 1-1/4" receiver hitch so I can make an upright (the blue) with a yoke on top that swivels. I'm thinking she can set the stern up on the yoke, then lift the bow and spin it around on top of the car.
You could also put a roller on the yoke instead of having it swivel. Looking at that picture of her, I don't think she's going to need a lot of assistance loading unless height is the problem.
Hull design on things like kayaks is really interesting. The "longer = more directionally stable" is roughly true, but there's a whole lot of interesting stuff going on that only makes it part of the equation. That's why I tend to favor boats from kayak specality places over Bass Pro, as they're more likely to be designed with the water in mind than how they look stacked up in a parking lot. I also don't buy a boat without taking it for a test paddle, and a proper kayak store will not only understand that, they'll respect it.
Renting a few boats that get on your short list is a good way to go, assuming there are still some rentals available. And buying an end-of-year rental is an excellent choice - that's what at least one of my whitewater boats is. Sure, it had a couple of scratches on the bottom but that's the nature of a whitewater boat :)
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I was thinking that if it swiveled, the yoke could be just wide enough to hold the tip, If it's a roller it would have to be 30" wide or so to take the whole width of the boat. Still, very good suggestion.
I also found it interesting in the review of 5 store bought cheap boats, the one that tracked straightest, was the easiest paddling, and had the best glide was 7'10" long... and also the cheapest. The physics make sense of a longer boat tracking straighter, but it does make that Blade an attractive one to test paddle.
If you make the yoke swivel as described, she's going to need a good amount of space to the side of the car to load it up. Pretty close to the length of the kayak, basically an empty parking spot. She's also going to have to lift the nose up fairly high for your sketch, so you'll want to make sure that works. The closer to the nose she lifts, the higher it has to go but the lighter it will be. You could compensate for that by making the yoke higher - I would prefer to have the kayak sitting a little more level for aero reasons anyhow.
Not having a roller on the yoke makes it a better tie-down spot, although that's easy to work around.
I wonder if you could use some Hully rollers (Yakima) on the rear yoke and then cradles on a standard roof crossbar? The J-Hook style are really popular here in FL for shorter boats on shorter cars. They do preclude that you can lift the boat to the roof.
Keith Tanner said:
If you make the yoke swivel as described, she's going to need a good amount of space to the side of the car to load it up. Pretty close to the length of the kayak, basically an empty parking spot. She's also going to have to lift the nose up fairly high for your sketch, so you'll want to make sure that works. The closer to the nose she lifts, the higher it has to go but the lighter it will be. You could compensate for that by making the yoke higher - I would prefer to have the kayak sitting a little more level for aero reasons anyhow.
Not having a roller on the yoke makes it a better tie-down spot, although that's easy to work around.
Or get a taller girlfriend, but this one has all the options I like.
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:
Keith Tanner said:
If you make the yoke swivel as described, she's going to need a good amount of space to the side of the car to load it up. Pretty close to the length of the kayak, basically an empty parking spot. She's also going to have to lift the nose up fairly high for your sketch, so you'll want to make sure that works. The closer to the nose she lifts, the higher it has to go but the lighter it will be. You could compensate for that by making the yoke higher - I would prefer to have the kayak sitting a little more level for aero reasons anyhow.
Not having a roller on the yoke makes it a better tie-down spot, although that's easy to work around.
Or get a taller girlfriend, but this one has all the options I like.
I was taking the choice of girlfriend as a constraint :)
Keith Tanner said:
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:
Keith Tanner said:
If you make the yoke swivel as described, she's going to need a good amount of space to the side of the car to load it up. Pretty close to the length of the kayak, basically an empty parking spot. She's also going to have to lift the nose up fairly high for your sketch, so you'll want to make sure that works. The closer to the nose she lifts, the higher it has to go but the lighter it will be. You could compensate for that by making the yoke higher - I would prefer to have the kayak sitting a little more level for aero reasons anyhow.
Not having a roller on the yoke makes it a better tie-down spot, although that's easy to work around.
Or get a taller girlfriend, but this one has all the options I like.
I was taking the choice of girlfriend as a constraint :)
With this one, it definitely is. She's a keeper.
My only suggestion, as the owner and user of two kayaks, she sounds like a competitive spirit. As somebody with that streak, she is not going to be happy with a stable "tub" that will not go fast no matter how hard you paddle. Get a real sit in Kayak. Being a mountain biker, I am sure she has more than enough balance to keep a narrowish kayak right side up, and if not, I am sure she can learn to roll it back upright.
Length equals speed. She is going to want something at least 15 feet in length and no more than 24" inches in width.
edwardh80 said:
My wife and I have a kayak each. Hers is the yellow craft in the pic below; mine is the silver boat. She is about 120lbs, 5'10" or so. Her boat is a Current Designs "Squall" (I think that's the model) but without a rudder (doesn't need one), and is about 15.5' long. It's a beautiful little boat, just a tad too tight for me or I would have bought it for myself. My bride is reasonably athletic, but even without any experience it is a boat that most peope can easily paddle. Long enough to be fast, small enough to be maneuverable and put on a car roof easily. Don't get a SoT, in my experience they are wide, clumsy and slow and rob the joy from the experience as they are tiring to paddle.
Pic was taken on a 2-week trip on Lake Superior back in 2012. Two of the best weeks of our lives.
I checked, my bride's boat is a Current Designs Squamish. Not sure where you are located but if I search marketplace in NE FL there's a few around in the 400-600 range.
In reply to mad_machine :
For on the river local to them narrow would work (though with the rocks there, shorter (12-13ft) would be better. Down in tidal VA a touch wider would be needed as a 6" chop is considered calm as the current is nearly always running down there.
6" is not much in the way of chop. I have had my CLC Chesapeake 17 out in three to four foot swells. It's only 24" wide and plenty stable in anything not coming over the bow. Even then, as long as you take the waves over the bow or stern, you will be fine, you just do not want to take something heavy from the side.
