UKC

About to purchase my first Sea Kayak but cant decide which one. After playing around with several models from various manfacturers.

My 3 favourites are:

"Aquanaut" or "Avocet" by Valley

or

"Contour Expedition" by Perception

The Valley Kayaks are roughly £900 (new) whilst the Perception Kayak is £550 (new). Also the Valley Kayaks have the skeg which is a useful aid for paddling in a straight line whilst the Perception kayak doesnt but allows for the addition of a rudder. Just came back from a 6 day sea kayak expedition to British columbia and used a rudder for the first time. Made a big difference especially on those long crossings as I only needed to make small foot adjustments.

Any advice or anyone want to mention other models. (must be plastic)

In reply to Alan M:

Look at the island kayaks expedition. I have one and tis great. Brookbank in stockport sell them as do highland kayaks.
http://www.canoesforsale.co.uk/index.html?pageTitle=Expedition_05_Island_Ka...
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In reply to Alan M:

Dont know the two kayaks mentioned, tried the Sealion from perception though and it was very stable.

Had a kayak with retractable skeg and hated the way it handled when the skeg was down, didnt find it a help.
I wouldnt worry about the lack of one. And rudder is nice i guess if you dont want to have to correct the direction with the paddling.

In reply to mik:


Trying to decide Skeg or Rudder? Probably go with the rudder. I found it made a massive difference whilst on long journeys in exposed waters allowed me to put all of my energy into paddling forward. On calmer/sheltered waters I generally lifted the rudder and just paddled as normal.

will have a look at that boat you mention.

thanks

In reply to Alan M: go down to brookbank in stockport! they have loads, you can hire one for the day so go an play in one u like,

I was quite taken by the wilderness systems tsunami one! bloody nice boat, but yea brookbank!

In reply to Alan M:

Skegs are better imo. Rudders have parts which can jam, imagine the trouble you'll have if you get your rudder jammed at an angle. Skegs need to be tuned to the wind. Sea kayaks are balanced to pivot about the bow so in a wind the boat heads up wind. The skeg is there to balance it out and with the right tuning its easy to get the boat to sit at a natural angle across the wind (its easy when you try it). Boats designed for rudders are also generalyl designed to track well in a straight line which means there hard to control without the rudder. Boats with skegs are generally designed to be easy to turn by leaning. The expedition which i'd got is easy to turn by edging the boat, it just sweeps round in a long smooth turn, as well as kicking round really quickly in a low brace turn which is very useful coming into shore or just for the hell of it. Also, stable boats aren't as great a thing as they sound. If you get flipped over in a stable boat you've not got much chance of gettnig back up as its stable in both directions. Also you cant do edge turns as the boat just stays rock solid at the same angle. Less stable boats allow you to paddle along with the boat on edge to compensate for the wind trynig to turn you (on top or instead of the skeg) and make turning alot easier, as well as keeping the boat level whilst paddling across a swell or chop. A stable boat in a short chop (say 2-3ft peak to peak) would get kicked about and be really tiring, a more tippy boat would jsut stay level with a bit of work frm the hips to keep it in control.
Also, rudders are very american, you'll get sneered at by the scots.
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In reply to Hotbad Peteel:

I know what you mean about the Skeg and the rudder thing. In the UK all the boats I've paddled/rented have been equipped with a skeg whilst in Canada you cant hire a boat without a rudder..very strange. I know exactly what you mean about the rudder getting jammed aswell. I could only get my rudder down with the use of my mate who was in a second boat. Also Kelp forests and rudders dont really mix,lol. Cant remember the name of the boat I used in Canada but all I can say is that it was like paddling a bath tub handled waves great though just battered its way through them. Couldnt really edge or anything so thats why the Rudder came in handy.

That boat you mention looks great but at £1400 its out of my price range for a first boat. I'm looking to spend no more than £500-900 (new) and looking for a good all rounder. obviously if I find a boat second hand than I would probably get something better. I 've also decided plastic is the way to go aswell had an incident on the menai straights back in March when two boats collided the composite boat (P and H Quest) ended up with a nasty hole in its side..not great!!

In reply to Alan M:

I was pretty fortunate to get one of the prototype expeditions straight off island kayaks. £940, it weights as much as a plastic boat and i've smashed my way through ice over an inch thick without any damage (thats real fun btw). I bought 2 of them though, one for me and one for my then girlfriend so I could of bought a proper boat. Reason I bought it was a recommendation frmo a friend who used to instruct at plas y brenin, who basically said, thats the best boat thats been built in the last 20-30 years or something. Took it up to the skye symposium and everyone said the same, and lots of the old hands buying the prototypes at knock down price. Plastic seems a bit of a waste of money, it goes fuzzy and its never going to look as wseet after a few years. Factor in paddles too, i've got a set of full carbon touring blades that make it much easier to paddle. Well worth the silly money paid for them.
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In reply to Alan M:

I have an Aquanaut and really like it. Good balance between stability and manoeuvrability. You can fit a lot of kit into them as well. You can fit a rudder on an Aquanaut and have the best of both worlds.

In reply to Punter S Thompson:

Cool,

Quick question: How do you find the seat and back support?

Me: I find it hurts like hell after about 20/30mins of sitting which I dont experience in other kayaks.

Do you know if Valley offer a better seat and back rest?

In reply to Alan M:

I've got a Prijon Yukon Expedition with rudder which I'm selling for £325.00.

Very safe,stable, broad SK with two cavernous hatches fore and aft which take loads of gear.

I'm looking to buy a new Prijon as I prefer something tough and stable to something fast and tippy.

In reply to Alan M: I agree with Hotbad about the rudder v skeg pros and cons. My boat, an NDK Explorer, has a skeg and in the UK I have never used a rudder. Just come back from three months in NZ where we hired sea kayaks and kayaked various places on the South Island. All rental kayaks have a rudder. Yes they are good if they work but our guide broke his cable and was rudderless. Luckily he was BCU trained so he wasnt clueless and he edged and sweep stroked his way back to base.

I also found it difficult to paddle hard with a rudder. I 'cycle' my legs when I paddle if I need maximum power, try cycling with a rudder and you just go side to side very quickly! Wasnt happy with that.

You could maybe try going to as many of the sea kayak symposia as you can this Summer and try out lots of boat types. OK it'll cost you to do this but better that than spending money on a boat that you ultimately dont get on with. Plus you'll meet very nice people and will probably come to the right conclusion that composite is much better than rotomoulded!!

In reply to Jonno:


Which one are you thinking of Jonno? After a bit of paddling this weekend I am again thinking I should get a boat, and of the various I've tried I still like the seayak a lot (used one both with a rudder and without). If you are off camping for a few days the size of the hatches is a real benefit compare to some others I've used. I've paddled the biggest swells I've ever been in (which are probably pretty tiddly compared to what you lot will get in the UK - but still I couldn't see the missus when there was a wave between us) in a seayak and as still a beginner I felt very comfy in it. It felt very natural to move your weight into the face of the wave so to say. Also used one in very choppy water after high winds on the biggest lake in Finland. Smaller waves than on the sea, but much higher frequency so in many ways much harder - and again was impressed with how the seayak went with it.

Before I buy I'll try more models from other makes but if you like Prijon definitely give the seayak ago.