BS: Kayak Season 2009

Subject: BS: Kayak Season 2009
From: LilyFestre
Date: 31 May 09 - 11:51 AM

It's kayak season (ok, yes, you CAN kayak all year round if you live in a warmer climate or have winter gear) and I am wondering if anyone else on Mudcat is kayaking? If you are, where have you been? What kind of water do you enjoy? Do you fish while you are kayaking? How about that yak...what kind do you like the most?

I LOVE to kayak. This is only my 3 (or is it the 4th) season kayaking and each year I am becoming more adventurous! I have a Pungo 120 and a Heritage Featherlite 9.5. Both boats are recreational kayaks and while I hate to say it, I'm partial to my Pungo 120...a bit harder for me to manage in the loading and unloading department but in the water....ahhhh yes!!!!!!!!

I was out on the water yesterday in the late afternoon. While the sun was shining and it was a really nice day, the water had whitecaps and spray going on. I went out anyway and practiced some of my turns and such in rougher water. The spray kicked up in my face and the yak was just a rocking....it was a good time!!!! Some of the coves were more quiet and I was able to see 5 chain pickeral, 4 red ear sliders (turtles) and countless sunnies. Next weekend I have registered for a 10 mile river run....no big rapids or anything, maybe a class II at best. It will be my first time out on a river and I'm excited about it! I drove over this particular river on Friday and the water level is up and the current was cruising right along..should be fun!!!! WOOO HOOOO!!!

So how about it? Any other kayak fans out there?

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Kayak Season 2009
From: gnu
Date: 31 May 09 - 01:18 PM

My favourite.

Subject: RE: BS: Kayak Season 2009
From: LilyFestre
Date: 31 May 09 - 02:51 PM

That sure is pretty Gnu...might be a bit tricky to load on top of the car though.......

Subject: RE: BS: Kayak Season 2009
From: GUEST,hg
Date: 31 May 09 - 09:38 PM

I like that little Pungo 120. Very serviceable. Have been out steadily all year in my Pelican and my Mainstream. I like the knock about boats because I don't worry much about banging them up. Going in the morning, in fact. A spring fed river.

Subject: RE: BS: Kayak Season 2009
From: fretless
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 10:34 AM

Thinking about a kayak (enjoyed one recently for a full-moon evening on the lower Potomac), but still prefer my 2-person canoe. I use an Old Towne Royalex, which I selected for weight and traditional styling. Looking now for a single-person Royalex, which at 33 lbs is morwe than 10 lbs. lighter than the specification weight for the Pungo 120.

Subject: RE: BS: Kayak Season 2009
From: GUEST,Lilyfestre
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 11:41 AM

Yeah, the Pungo is a beast to haul around but on the water, it's a whole other story!!   Because it is so heavy, I purchased the Heritage Featherweight 9.5 which I can easily handly myself for those times when I go out alone. Other times, when I'm out with my husband or friends, we help each other and the Pungo is much more manageable!

We have an Old Towne canoe as well but I prefer the kayak because it sits lower in the water. In anycase, both are great to enjoy a day out on the water!!!!

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Kayak Season 2009
From: fretless
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 12:29 PM

That's a good lead on the Heritage. I'm looking for something I can sling around easily by myself. Thanks.

Agreed about how they sit in the water. That's actually why I shifted to the kayak for the recent evening ride -- too much wind for the canoe. But it was great once we go onto the water. A few bald eagles and more than a dozen beaver swimming around their dams and domes along the shoreline. All within a short drive from downtown DC.

Subject: RE: BS: Kayak Season 2009
From: Amos
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 04:15 PM

My happy Cobra Navigator is ready to roll; I have been too busy to get out this last couple of weeks, but soon. I typically launch down on La Jolla Shores beach and cruise the caves that line the cliff face to seaward. It has plenty of storage and a nice way of taking the chop. The only problem I ever had with it was when I mis-estimated the ingoing surf while landing but I think I have pretty well mastered that now.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Kayak Season 2009
From: LilyFestre
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 06:11 PM

So Amos, do you have a sea kayak? Say, 14 feet or longer? Do you have a rudder on yours? I don't have anything like that on mine but then again, I live many miles from really BIG water. I did train with a female marathon kayaker and she offered to let folks try out her boat....I wish I had given it a go...but for those who did, not ONE managed to stay upright farther than maybe 20 feet....very narrow and tippy.

Have you ever seen any wildlife out on the ocean or in the bay? I have some local kayaking pals who were off the coast of NJ when a few dolphins began swimming around and under their yaks and a little later they were jumping in front of them. I am SO jealous...I would LOVE to experience something like that!!!

Part of the joy of kayaking for me is definitely animal watching!! What have you seen Fretless? Amos? Anybody!!!

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Kayak Season 2009
From: GUEST,BanjoRay
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 06:34 AM

I used to do quite a lot of white water kayaking in the UK (and a bit in the Alps), but I wasn't a natural - my wife was much better. I spent a lot of time inspecting the bottoms of rivers in Yorkshire and the Lake district till I learned to roll. I'm past it now, but I remember some lovely trips fondly, and wonder how I managed to survive some of them.
Ray

Subject: RE: BS: Kayak Season 2009
From: LilyFestre
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 06:48 AM

Oooohhhh...white water kayaking....I'm not brave enough for that...YET!!!!   I'd love to try out a white water kayak though, on somewhat still water. They look like great fun, bobbing around the way they do!!!

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Kayak Season 2009
From: Amos
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 08:27 AM

No rudder, although I see several each time I am out which are pedal-and-rudder equipped. Mine is straight paddle, and what they call a sit-on-top.

We see hundreds of sea lions and harbor seals, cormorants, flocks of pelicans, and occasionally a couple of dolphin exploring.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Kayak Season 2009
From: LilyFestre
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 10:32 AM

I've seen the sit-on-tops...always have heard them called "sit upons." A friend of mine has one of those and one day we were going (with a group) to Upper Goose Pond in MA...turned out to be anything BUT a pond...but rather a large body of water with several very impressive houses along it's shore, a channel and then it opened up into an uninhabited space....long story short, I thought for sure she was in trouble with her sit-upon as the water was choppy and later the wind picked up and it was downright rough water but she was just fine...ok...wet...but fine! Of course, we were all soaked..LOL!

And seal lions? harbor seals? Dang!!! The biggest creature I've run into are some big ugly carp! I'm always on the lookout for herons and eagles which are pretty big too but nothing in comparison to what you've seen! Do they pay much attention to your boat? I can get close enough to Canadian Geese to touch them (when they are swimming) unless they have babies and then they are a bit more cautious. Oh...wait...I have seen a few beavers too...one came running out of the woods once and made such a big splash and so much noise that I thought it was a bear (had only seen a flash of brown fur).   

Cool beans.

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Kayak Season 2009
From: EBarnacle
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 12:55 AM

I got in to Kayaking about 3 years ago. I took basic training with Sebago Canoe and Kayak club (www.sebagocanoeclub.org) at Lake Sebago, NY. Since then I have gone out of the Sebago location in Brooklyn, NY and in to Jamaica Bay. (Think National wildlife Refuge). I use the club boats, finding out what I like and what I can handle. Its a good idea to check this out before you put down some green. I found some boats that I can't stand, and some I like. I also go to the Paddlesport show in March in NJ. They bring in manufacturers and dealers so you can talk to the people who make the products. Pay for any thing that you buy all at once on the way out. Try on a PFD for the day to see if it's comfortable. They have boats and paddles and PFDs and wet suits and dry suits, and .... seminars :-). yes, I have seen bald eagles and turtles, althought my best BE sighting was in March by the Delaware River Gap just before the river thawed and the eagle flew right over the car in front of us. This Saturday I was paddling in Jamacia Bay and knew I needed more paddle time.....It was gorgeous!

Lady Hillary

Subject: RE: BS: Kayak Season 2009
From: fretless
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 11:28 AM

I do fresh water only in my canoe (in recent years, flat water only except once when I got onto an unanticipated part of the south fork of the Shenandoah a few years ago). As for wildlife: lots of bald eagles, herons, and such as well as the occasional deer on the middle Potomac. Beaver sightings, as I wrote above, are common there at dusk. Best sightings have been bucks with full racks of horns swimming with a trail of a few does on the Shenandoah and alone on the lake in Douthat State Park in the Virginia Alleghenys. Majestic!

Lady Hillary, I used to take my archaeology field school classes to Jamaica Bay for mapping/field survey exercises in the area of Old Mill Creek (also known as Spring Creek) near Howard Beach. Lots of remains, mostly pilings and artifact scatters, of old fishing cabins along the mud flats there. The approach from the water would be interesting, I suspect; although I never tried it. Kayaking through the Bay should be terrific this time of year.

Subject: RE: BS: Kayak Season 2009
From: Amos
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 11:43 AM

There's one seal who gets friendly; he dives down and then pops up and investigates the boat, then disappears and comes up again on the other side. I've had a couple of dolphins fool around for a few minutes, but theyhad to run off for an appointment somewhere. Mostly the sea lions wrestle and bark on hte rocks, asserting themselves, or sleep indolently. It's pretty much a live-and-let-live relationship.

The sit-on-top is actually quite stable and takes the chop well. The storage and seating areas in the hull are equipped with fast acting drain scuppers which get rid of the water if any gets in, such as when you are cutting your way through rollers on the way out; or if you misjudge the surf and get swung into broaching on the way in. So although you can get wet, it's not a problem, especially in the relatively warm environment of San Diego.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Kayak Season 2009
From: EBarnacle
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 01:34 PM

Most of the kayak fishing people we know use sit on tops as their boat of choice.   A lot of them seem to be becoming fans of the Hobie foot operated devices. This includes a friend who is paralyzed in one arm. He loves the freedom the Hobie gives him--it allows him similar mobility and speed to a TAB [temporarily able bodied] paddler.