Anyone kayak?

[back2nature]

My sister and her husband rave about how much fun they have with their kayaks. They discovered them about 3 years ago on a vacation and bought their own the following summer. We live too far apart to go together but she has me intrigued. She says they're easier to handle than a canoe. Have you tried them?

[wvbreamfisherman]

I do both canoeing and kayaking. I don't know if I'd say kayaks are easier to handle. They are different types of boats for different purposes. For fishing or camping or a long trip, I prefer a canoe.

For rougher water, for just dinking around, or for a nice day trip, a kayak does the job nicely.

I may be a little prejudiced since I grew up with canoes and only recently got into kayaks (having built a 15 foot skin-on frame model last year- I have a picture album on here showing the construction), but one big limitation of a standard kayak is it can only carry one person. Kayaks tend to be a little more limited in canacity and are tougher to load and unload.

Having said all that, I enjoy both, and my advice to you would be to think about what you'd be doing, and then try out boats that fill those requirements. I'm sure a lot of folks here can gve you good advice from both canoe and kayak perspectives.

Hope to see ya on the river!

[bsmit212]

I also have both a canoe and a kayak. Now my kayak is much more responsive on the water than my canoe, but that has more to do with the type of boats individually rather than a stright comparsion. I have a big flat water canoe that I use for slow rivers, lakes, and camping and then I have a small whitewater Kayak which is much more responsive b/c of its size and purpouse more than the fact it is a kayak. The ease of paddling difference between two flatwater or two whitewater boats would be less noticable.

As far as which one I like better, I can't say because I use them for two different things, so I can't really compare them. I will say though that it is a personal decision as I know paddlers that love kayaks and hate canoes and I know paddlers that love canoes and hate kayaks.

The best way to figure out which you perfer is to try them both and make your own decision.

[ppine]

I built a sea kayak once, but never liked it that much. I prefer canoes. They carry more, are handy to put stuff in like pets and coolers, and are fast with 2 paddlers. When they capsize it is easier to get out.

[switchback]

I kayak class III/IV whitewater, the New River Gorge, Gauley, Ocoee, and a bunch lesser know rivers and creeks when there is enough rain to get them going.

[jason]

I have a sit on top I take out fishing when I can. No fish yesterday but got to watch 3 different dolphins.

I would try them both and see what you like. Everyone is different.

[back2nature]

I guess that I should have said what I wanted to do when I posted. We were thinking of this just as exercise and getting out on the water paddling down a stream near my house. From what you guys have said, kayaks would be fine for this purpose.

[wvbreamfisherman]

Either one will do that job nicely. At the risk of being repetitive, I'd still advise trying out different boats until you find one that suits you. Also, there are tons of different styles and shapes of canoes (and especially kayaks), so that's another reason to try them out. In general, I'd say kayaks tend to be more specialized in design than canoes, which are more generalized.

[love2hike]

Call me inexperienced if you like, but I've never been in a canoe OR a kayak. However, I have been wondering what the difference it between the two, so thanks to wvbreamfisherman and bsmit212 for highlighting some of the different uses for each. As someone who has pretty much NO experience on the water, I think I'd rather start with a canoe than a kayak, since a canoe seats more than one person, and then maybe work my way up to using a kayak after I become more comfortable on the water!

[Purdey]

Well I am a seakayaker and I have a couple of friends who kayaked around Iceland a few years ago, try that in a canoe.