TT Kayaking Club

“Hey, they were there when I made the link. I even checked it by clicking on the link myself. So :-P”

“sale on kayaks & accessories

lots of good stuff on sale”

“I wish i could afford a kayak but i am a poor college student with a job as a chef.

Not alot of money

Plus i live in the desert!

Maybe i will get one when i move to alaska in 5 years!”

“REI has most of their kayaks on sale on their website.”

“Received my October issue of Sea Kayaker magazine yesterday.

There is a great article on 'Cat & Deer Islands, Coastal Islands of Mississippi'.
I had met Scott Wiliams, the author of the article, at a kayaking day in Ocean Springs a few months ago.
He had told me he was going to be published in Sea Kayaker.

I've been to Ship, Horn, & Petit Bois Islands by boat, but haven't been to either of the two in the article.

We may just have to get up a TT kayak trip if anyone is interested.”

“If you had an option for the same boat for the same price, one a 14.5 with rudder, or a 16 foot without rudder, which would be best?”

“What kind of water do you intend to paddle on?”

“Rivers, lakes (Shoreline mostly, but the occasional crossing would be done)...”

“The Tennessee would likely be the largest river, and the associated lakes would be the size lake...some of them are LARGE.”

“SS, I just compared REI's sale vs outdoorplay.com sale and because of taxes I can get the same items cheaper through outdoorplay.com. It also includes free shipping”

“Go with the 16, faster, easyer to paddle. You can always add a rudder later for $200 or so.
A rudder is only needed for crosswinds on longer crossings.”

“Kinda figured, but wanted the expert opinion...now the thing is, are they both still at the store?...will see after lunch...”

“A 16ft kayak without a rudder can be mighty hard to turn...”

“when I was in Savannah, Ga. we went kayaking on the intercoastal waterways. Our kayaks didn't have a rudder or a skeg. The 16' I was in was hard to turn esp. with the wind blowing. There idea was to get you use to turning without one in case something happened to the skeg or rudder.”

“Once you learn the proper turning stroke, it's not hard.”

“it is official, I am a member of the TT kayaking club.

I got the Perception Carolina 14.5 red/yellow (that is all the wall space I have), paddle, skirt, PFD, roof carriers and safety kit.

what is nice is no taxes and free shipping from Oregon”

“I did enjoy this last weekend, I could get into this Kayaking lark.”

“Congrats!”

“Y2,it is addicting. I did enjoy the kayak/camping trip I went on.

thanks dhutch.

time to call up walkindude and get him out on the river”

“I will let anyone give me a kayak u dont even have to ask me to pay for it!!!”

“Ewker ya Rat...well, great minds think alike...

I am the proud owner of a 2004 Carolina 14.5...W/rudder. BBBBBBRight Yeller! (Gonna Name her Ol' Yeller)
could not pass up the deal at $699,
and they ate the taxes to boot...

I had the option for the 16 ft without rudder, decided after all to opt for a rudder.”

“supertroll, that is an AMAZING deal!!!! Good for you, I hope you love it. Me and Sass have the same boat ours are yellow and red. Are you taking any classes?”

“I didn't get the skirt and PFD or a safety kit thrown in tho...

I did get a carbon fiber feathered paddle tho...:-)

now all's I gotta do is learn the basics...there's a class in B'ham I can take, or maybe the Huntsville canoe club has someone that will take pity...lol. I'm no stranger to a canoe, but rollin', self rescue and stuff sure sounds important...(No laughing here now!)”

“Supertroll, you got a better price on the kayak than I did. Go back to where you bought it and see if they will give you 15% off on all of the other items you need.

I can see a TT kayak/camping trip taking place down south.”

“I will have the essentials by tomorrow...I have the paddle, an air horn, helmet, and a car carrier kit...I still need a bilge pump, paddle float bag, skirt and PFD(Although I can use my old PFD from the canoe for a few days...)Go figure, the place I got the boat is one of the most expensive in N. Alabama so i doubt they will discout much..thankfully there is a lot of shops in Ala that have this stuff...the same boat in blue/white and red/yellow in the Decatur area was $979 (mere 25 miles away)...I gotta figure the smaller Huntsville store needed the space(Remodeling) and the yellow was a slow mover because of the color...dunno...I just know the price was right and for that the color didn't matter!

oh, and HECK yeah! bring the kayak and the camping gear, this part of the state is super wet, Lakes Rivers, and cool backwaters galore....”

“I can see a TT kayak/camping trip taking place down south."
Ewker
08:42:57 PM
08/27/04

there are lots of fall winter opportunities DOWN south...such as the one stovers is suggesting..also..
Floridas nature coast...big bend saltwater kayak trail..
cut and paste

http://myfwc.com/whatsnew/04/paddlingtrail-st.html


this looks interesting for winter time....the only trouble is....only 8 campers in 4 tents allowed per camp per day.(perhaps i could have a heart to heart talk with the rangers to "up" that a wee bit if they know its some lnt backpackers.
i am going to check this trip out sometime in october...or sooner :)”

“Yellow is good. It's very visable.

Congratulations to you two new boat owners! Fun times ahead!


Not kayaking, but we should be getting out on the water today in our new (to us) canoe. It came with a kid sized paddle too so Abby gets to help out. Can't wait!”

“http://www.myfwc.com/recreation/big_bend/paddling_trail.asp


actually, the above is a better link

ps...congrats EWker...that is a fine boat!”

“The kayak you choose is going to be a study in compromise. No one kayak can do it all. Get a narrow one and it slices thru the water effortlessly, but is a bit rockier. It also has to be longer to maintain some buoyancy. Get a shorter one and it has to be wider to maintain bouyancy. It will not so much slice thru the water as plow thru the water. Sort ones are easier to turn. Long ones will track straighter. Hi techs, like carbon fiber will stay smooth and slip thru the water better, but may not stand up to the rocks and abrasion as well as the poly kayaks do. White water kayaks will give you a short narrow manueverable kayak, but sacrifice bouyancy and ease of propulsion (Remember they count on the white water for propulsion.)

There is also weight to consider, storage space, one or two person (or as is the case I saw today, a man and his dog.)Some kayaks have fairly level keels and others have keels that rise at the front and back to make steering easier, but at a cost to tracking.

If I were to advise anyone on a kayak, I would first educate them about primary stability and secondary stability. What you will rely on, by far, the most, is the secondary stability. Primary stability has sold many a kayak, and then you hear the purchaser saying things like "Wow, what a workout that gave me to get across the pond". If you want a work out, go to the gym. If you want to effortlessly enjoy God's waterways, get a boat with great secondary stability, and you'll still exercise your muscles plenty, and I'll wager, far more often also.

Primary stability is when you first get in the kayak and get out of the kayak. If they have great primary stability, it means they are wide, and fairly stable to get in and out of. Being wide also means that they will plow thru the water, as opposed to slicing thru the water. And you'll have to lean or reach some to paddle, which means you'll be rocking the boat. Also refered to to as poor secondary stability.

Secondary stability refers to how stable the boat is when you are sitting in it and paddling. If it is narrow, you don't have to reach or lean to have the paddle hit the water right. And you will be slicing thru the water, as opposed to plowing thru it. Also you are probably sitting on the bottom of the kayak, which helps to make it very stable. The widest of the kayaks and some "sit on tops" may not be able to achieve good secondary stability. Although there are now fishing kayaks, built for you to stand on and fish from. Those sound pretty stable to me, but I'm not sure I'd want to paddle one of those. I have yet to see one or try one out. Looking forward to it.


Then you have to consider where you will be paddling. In the ocean or across lakes, a nice long one. In streams, a good short one. A little of both, as narrow a medium length as you can get.

Always, if you have a chance, try out all the kayaks you can. Try a friends, many outfitters have access to a pond for use for serious buyers. Make sure you fit in it. Make sure it basically does what you want. Keep away from high pressure. If they need to sell it that bad, Why?

Anyways, I see many people considering buying a kayak, and many already have. Thought I'd share this with everyone.”

“Great info monkeyboy. When we bought ours 2 years ago we got em cause of the deal. We were fortunate to have made a fairly wise choice for our all around needs. We have talked about what our upgrades will be someday,and I am of the opinion that I will keep my carolina for a loaner,river use and adventure racing (durability issues) and get a second boat for big water (16-18ft). BTW when I say "fortunate" it should be read as "lucky".”

“Gonna post and then go crash...I bought the things I was missing today, the skirt, a bilge pump, an extra nalgene to dry store small things like cellphone and headlamp, duct tape..etc...maps of the local lakes and Tennessee river, and reflective tape for the paddle shaft (I wana find it in the dark if I have to...LOL)I'm planning an early morning drive to the local boat dock to fit the kayak (Adjust the pegs, back and seat...etc), and get a feel for the boat. According to the maps, water depth is less than 5 feet, and for the first trip I will stay in the backwaters with a few friends to simply get acquainted with the boat...

I don't plan on staying out for more than a few hours, just long enough to christen it, and maybe take a few photos...If the pics show it upside down, well.....”

“I see many of you have the Carolina and some have mentioned the Catalina. If memory serves me right, those kayaks are less than 24 inches wide. I would pretty much aim for a kayak that is 24 inches or less wide. Long ago, I coveted a Carolina, when I worked at EMS. If I remember, they are 49 lbs. A fairly light kayak when you are talking 14 and half feet long. And does it slice thru the water nice.

I had opportunity to try out a bunch of kayaks, including a wide surfinf sit on top kayak. What a lot of work that sit on top was. When we visit the Caribbean, that seems to be all they have. Glad we aren't in a rush there. As I tried out all the kayaks, I quickly noticed that the narrower boats paddled the easiest. While it is not really all about speed, it certainly is about ease of paddling to me. If I'm going to be doing it for 6 or 8 hours on the weekends, I want one that moves along fairly easily.

I used to own a 14 foot Lincoln canoe, fibreglass, very heavy, 80-90 lbs. It was so heavy my wife couldn't be of any help at one end, I was better off to carry it in the middle on my shoulders. My brother now has that canoe.

We ended up getting a couple of Walden Vista Expeditions. Long thought we would get a couple of Carolinas. The Vista Expeditions are the same as the Vistas, except that they have the storage hatch. They are 12'6" long,”

“The Vista Expeditions are 12'6" long and 24" wide. It weighs in at a svelt 39 lbs. These are short enough that I can go anywhere I used to go in my canoe and then some. The draft on these is something like 3 inches. We don't need much water to float these.

As I said before, they are a study in compromise. I was looking for narrow, light and some length. Poly was important, as we live in Maine, now New Hampshire, and there are plenty of rocks to bump into and scrape on.

The next thing I looked hard into was the paddles. While I worked at EMS, I learned the value of a lightweight paddle. After an hour and a half with a standard paddle, I thought my arms were going to drop off. Then they handed me a lightweight paddle. It was like I was just starting the day off.

Only thing is, when I looked at paddles, I could find an all carbon paddle (a couple hundred $$ or more), or a standard paddle with poly blades (for less than a hundred $$). In Maine, I am a bit leary of the carbon blade actually standing up to all the rocks.

Last spring Kittery Trading post had a big fling at UNH Durham. And they had a show special paddle. It was a two piece paddle with a carbon shaft and poly blades for $100.00. Yup, we showed up and got a couple.

While we were there, they had every vendor and model there. We tried on quite a few life vests and asked if they could set "our" kayak on the floor so we could try out the life vest in the kayak. After trying several on, we got some nice comfy ones that worked in our kayak.

We had to leave or we'd have bankrupt ourselves there. Next spring, we'll visit again, of course.”

“I've been looking at the tandem kayaks. My daughter and I used an Eddyline 16ft touring boat down in the Keys and it was awesome. Our guide said the price of the boat was about $3000. Yikes!

Anyway, does anyone here have any experience with the tandem kayaks where the front seat slides to the middle so it can be paddled solo? I was wondering how those would work out. I'm not planning on any serious kayaking or lake paddling...just floating down rivers, etc.”

“you won't find a faster kayak at the store...

...you'll find it at the gym.”

“The 14.5 Carolina is 24.5 inches wide and 66#s. Not too light, lol. (I wish it were 39!)”

“The carolina is actually 56lbs in plastic or 48-49 in airlite.”

“Used once...Killed the owner. Took his money, then killed him slowly through slave labor while roasting him in the sun, what wasn't burned was sauna'd (Steamed slowly) under a skirt from hell...after cooking him slowly all day, it is no wonder the meat fell from the bones...

Okay, so much for the trip report for the first trip in my first kayak, and Rad has it nailed...I wasn't even trying for fast, and the whole gym thing kept knocking at the door all day...

Went out this morning, had the boat in the water by 8...was intending to do a few hours, see how she handled, then go read the Sunday paper and chill...but DID I? NOOOO....I did 9 1/2 hours...and while it was hot and tiring, I had a BALL! I know I still need lessons, and even on a still calm day I was lucky, but I'm HOOKED fER LIFE...”

“row row row your boat
gently down the stream
merrily merrily merrily merrily
Life is but a Dream~~~~~

ah....yet another soul who appreciates a good paddling....trip.”

“MDSHiker...I have a tandem that I paddle solo all the time. The seats move easily to accomodate just one or more.”

“Oh, but I've done mostly lake kayaking with it.”

“Some of us see the good in a paddling, AND a kayaking trip ;-)”

“Super Troll, glad you had a good time in your new kayak. I can't wait to get mine. It was shipped Friday to me.”

“I wonder how many of us have the same model yellow and red Carolina 14.5?”

“2 here”

“mine is, so that is 4

we can be the TT Carolina Kayak Club, have to have the yellow/red one to be a member”

“Is this a "Sneeches" situation? "with stars upon thars?" lmfao

I'd like to get a picture of you all in your identical yaks though! We need a major flotilla trip. Somewhere big.”

“I may "MOD" my yak with the New Krylon FUSION paint...I could be a match with a little work...lol.”

“Post the pics I sent you here will ya?...Cross Lake would be PERFECT as a site for a kayaking trip...LOL”