Kayaking advice.

[DeSnousa]

As the title says I'm after advice on kayaking. I have never kayaked (only canoed). I see kayakers all over my river whenever I go for walks, and now I am considering purchasing one :D

I have just began looking into it, but my major concerns are:

1) I'm a tall bloke ~191cm (6"2') and want a portable kayak that I can place on the roof of my parents car. I see kayaks that range from 3-5 metres. What size would suit these 2 conditions?
2) I'm pretty nervous about rolling over and doing an Eskimo role, is it that bad? Should I get lessons or is it fast to learn?
3) What kind is good for a beginner, there are styles where you are on top of the kayak, ones where you sit inside, and ones where you sit inside and have a rubber lining so no water can get in.
4)What price should I aim for, would AUS$250-400 be unreasonable.

any other advice would be great, including web links. Thank-you :)

[pseudobrit]

As the title says I'm after advice on kayaking. I have never kayaked (only canoed). I see kayakers all over my river whenever I go for walks, and now I am considering purchasing one :D

I have just began looking into it, but my major concerns are:

1) I'm a tall bloke ~191cm (6"2') and want a portable kayak that I can place on the roof of my parents car. I see kayaks that range from 3-5 metres. What size would suit these 2 conditions?
2) I'm pretty nervous about rolling over and doing an Eskimo role, is it that bad? Should I get lessons or is it fast to learn?
3) What kind is good for a beginner, there are styles where you are on top of the kayak, ones where you sit inside, and ones where you sit inside and have a rubber lining so no water can get in.
4)What price should I aim for, would AUS$250-400 be unreasonable.

any other advice would be great, including web links. Thank-you :)

All I know is not to get one of the heavy ass soft plastic ones.

[SpookTheHamster]

1) I'm a tall bloke ~191cm (6"2') and want a portable kayak that I can place on the roof of my parents car. I see kayaks that range from 3-5 metres. What size would suit these 2 conditions?

It depends what sort of kayaking you plan on doing, if you just plan on happily paddling up and down a flat river or canal, then a touring kayak (quite long, stable, wide) would be good. If you're going sea kayaking then you'll want a longer, thinner boat. White water boats and playboats are shorter, and for playing around near beaches then a sit-on-top is fine.

I prefer white water and playboating, so I had an Eskimo Nano, which was not much taller than me (6ft). But my Dad prefers touring on a canal, so has a Perception Acadia (11ft). We have a 2 person Perception Kiwi for longer trips.

2) I'm pretty nervous about rolling over and doing an Eskimo role, is it that bad? Should I get lessons or is it fast to learn?

Try to find a local kayaking club that does sessions in swimming pools. While the theory behind rolling is simple, it can take a long time to perfect, and perfect is what it has to be. You want to be able to do it every single time you try, without fail. If you got a sit-on-top, you wouldn't need to learn to roll. Because you aren't attached, you just fall off if the kayak tips over and climb back on.

3) What kind is good for a beginner, there are styles where you are on top of the kayak, ones where you sit inside, and ones where you sit inside and have a rubber lining so no water can get in.

Sit-on-top kayaks are good for a beginner playing around, but I prefer a proper kayak with a spraydeck (what you called a "rubber lining"). I learnt in a Perception ARC, a kayak like that is perfect for the beginner. Not too short or long, stable and easy to roll. But it was also fun, which is important.

4)What price should I aim for, would AUS$250-400 be unreasonable.

Look for a kayaking forum and buy one second hand, you'll still be looking higher up your price range, but you might find someone selling all their kit in a package. You're in Australia, there must be loads of kayak stores around in cities, so find someone to talk to about what you want.

any other advice would be great, including web links. Thank-you :)[/QUOTE]

[DeSnousa]

Thank-you SpookTheHamster for taking your time to write your post. It was very informative :)

[adk]

I know that there are some pretty affordable ones aimed at beginners. They're usually Made of plastic and are usually pretty wide (and therefore stable - about the same as a canoe). They also have large openings and usually aren't used with spraydecks since they're made for quit ponds and rivers.