Someone asked about buying a boat:

"Looking for your suggestion. Only kayaked a handful of times and really enjoyed ocean kayaking. What would you suggest as a beginners purchase, not looking to break the bank?"

I'm not going to suggest any boat. This is something you need to find on your own. The big reason is fit. To be frank, I don't know how much seat you need. A boat that is too tight is just too uncomfortable. A boat that is too loose may be comfortable. But it doesn't give you much control if your butt slides around in it.

So Goldilocks, you need to find one just right. Actually, it might be hard to find. So you need to sit in the kayak and see how it feels. Will it be comfortable for a couple hours of sitting? Can you make it lean? You need to figure out what you can live with.

Also, you need to test its stability in the water. Can you get comfortable with how it rocks? If it feels tippy, it may not be a bad thing. What you are feeling is it's primary stability. Some kayaks feel like they will tip easily. But once they start leaning, they are hard to turn over. That's the secondary stability. I will come back to this in a later entry.

Like I said, those are the things you find out for yourself.

But there is a factor that I strongly believe in: length.

The longer the kayak, the easier it is to keep it straight - aka tracking. Short boats veer easily to the right or left. A lot of energy is spent keeping them in a straight line.

I know people who do well in 16-foot boats. But I think you should get 17-foot. That extra foot can make a lot of difference in its tracking. I wish I could get a 18-foot boat. In the long term, a longer kayak is a better buy.

Then there is the issue of skeg vs. rudder. Give me some time and I will work on that later today. In the meantime, I'm biased against rudders.

Then there is the money issue. I say buy the lightest kayak you can afford. Think about getting it on top of your car. But the cheapest kayaks are plastic - which are heavy. But some fiberglass kayaks aren't that light. So how much can you lift to the top of a car?

There is much more to cover. But I will do that later in installments. For now, you need to buy the boat you are going to keep using. A good beginner boat would be one that feels good now and lets you do the kind of paddling your friends will be doing.

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