Guest guest Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 I have been lurking here and posting on Paddling.net a bit. One of your members suggested I post this question here.This is my second season in my Rec boat. I will be looking to upgrade soon. I am having trouble deciding whether to take a small step or a bigger step. I live just south of Boston and my goals are to eventually paddle the ocean, mostly day trips with a possible overnighter on one of the harbor islands. Not a major speed demon. I know I am a few lessons and much practice away from these goals. In the meantime, I will be paddling local lakes and rivers and occasional harbor. I am struggling with purchasing a Cape Lookout/Carolina 14.5 type boat or hold out for the Capella/Eclipse size. I am not too worried about stability. I know that will come. I guess my question is will I be able to paddle the larger boat on my lakes and rivers while I am learning or will they be too out of place? And how much ocean can a Cape Lookout/Carolina handle? I am sure many of you have gone one way or the other. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suz Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 The difference between p-net and us is that p-net encompasses the broader range of paddling from rec boats, whitewater, canoeing and sea kayaking where we are a sea kayaking club. Most (OK some) of us tend to want to paddle exclusively in the ocean. So I would say, if you want to be in the ocean buy a sea kayak. It will be fine for other flat water venues, not tight fast rivers...I have never been a fan of the soft plastic Perception boats. They deform easily on the car rack (my kayak lives on the car) and the bulkheads leak and they don't hold their value so you do poorly when it is time to resell. Although, they do sell some kayaks now with that new plastic and even some fiberglass.. but I haven't looked into them. Maybe Perception is trying to make it out of the rec boat market. Another thing... why does Perception make the same boat - Carolina in two lengths - doesn't that make it hard to figure out which one people are talking about?? Basically if you want to be on the ocean, get a boat over the 16' range with two hatches (3- is better - day hatches are convenient). Make sure you have good contact with your thighs so that you can edge and lean. If you can't, you will never be able to control your boat.Sorry you had to get introduced to us when our message board is ill... Usually there is a wealth of stored information here... now there is nothing. How embarrassing... Come visit us again and you may find we are back to normal! BTW, if you are local, try and make it over to a skills session and you can chat in person to some of us about your upcoming boat purchase.Good luck!Suzanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dee Hall Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 I agree with Suzanne about the Perception plastic boats. P&H and VCP make much stiffer plastic boats. We have a P&H Easky as well as composite boats, and the Easky is a real pleasure to paddle. It's a bit on the short side (15'), but I have no trouble keeping up with level 3 trips in it.The Valley Avocet is also a popular boat with NSPNers who have both composite and plastic boats. Although it's total length is longer than the Easky, it has a lot of rocker, so it's effective waterline is not much longer.You should also consider a used fiberglass boat. Check out the other thread here from someone looking for a new boat. If you come to some weekday practice sessions on the lakes, you should have opportunities to try participants' boats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 As the proud owner of a Capella I can tell you that mine has seen more time on freshwater since I bought it than it has on salt. It can be used on most rives unless you are looking to play in the white water on the rivers. It does fine poking around the rivers around my house and has preformed well on camping trips both ocean and freshwater. In my humble opinion buy what you want for the long run and then you don't have the boat holding you back. I just let my lack of skill and coordination hold me back can never blame the boat.Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 As a former Carolina owner,I can tell you that you will outgrow the boat quickly. They are nice boats,really stable,but you won't be able to keep up with the serious sea kayaks.(Still have the vision of Mike Crouse looking over his shoulder in amazment as we struggled to keep up) Start out with a good sea kayak,17ft or better,new or used. You will be able to develop your skill that much faster in a longer,less beamy boat. When my wife and I decided that we would get serious about paddling,we decided to jump right into high end boats,and avoid a few "next boats". When we bought our boats,I told Bill Zeller what I wanted to try,and not to give me prices till we both landed in the boats that we wanted. I didn't want my decision prejudiced by price. Linda loves here Ellesmere, and I really enjoy my Explorer. I think we did it right. Same advice goes for buying a paddle. A good paddle can help make you a good paddler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Leonard Posted June 19, 2004 Share Posted June 19, 2004 I agree with the others, skip the carolina. If you are outgrowing your rec baot after two seasons you will outgrow the carolina very quickly as well. Yes, there will be a bit more of a leaning curve with a full size sea boat, but the performance is much better and you will not be limited by the boat. I had a capella once and it is an excellent boat. I eventually decided that the cockpit was too big for me, but otherwise I thought it was great. The avocet is also VERY nice. Of course I may decide to sell my low mileage, excellent condition pintail :-) John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 Thank you all for your help. Now I have to convince my wife that this is a necessary upgrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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