Kayak

My wife hated my canoe. Sold it and bought a used necky manitou II tandem for me and my daughter. Wife still likes her Wilderness 12' Pungo best. We carry both on the Exped roof on a pieced together used Thule rack and used Malone Gullwing cradles. The Necky is a little too big for the J-style cradles we tried.
As you can see I buy USED every chance I get. Around here there are always used boats on craigslist. Rack parts can be found on eBay and CL. I needed a way to be modular so I set up an old Jon boat trailer or accept the parts as well.
One day I'll sell the tandem, give my Pungo to Doodle, and I'll get back in my BOB (big Orange boat - necky elaho). It misses me.

Here is our set up, Me, wife, girl 11, girl 13,
We kayak exclujsivley on Ozark rivers and streams. I guess I bought the kids their own yaks when they were about 10, they couldnt handle their own before that. I have a tandem sit on that I carried the kids on until they got their own. Ill probably get rid of the tandem this year and get a solo fishing yak.
We prefer the sit on, I think they feel more stable, and its easy to roll on,roll off to take a dip, they dont fill with water, so no bailing. They are heavy, but my Dodge 3500 dont care. I usually haul two on top, and 2 in teh back, except for long trips, then I take the trouble to mount 4 on top. Quite a site with yaks on top, and 4 bikes mounted on the front of the truck.
The shorter ones are more maneuveravble on the swift streams, the longer ones track better in slow water or lakes. You dont have to spend $700, unless you are going to get realy serious. I got an 8 foot sit on top on sale for$100 at Dicks last year, (just after I bought the same one for $199 about 6 months before) so watch for sales at Dicks...

Here is my opinion.

You really need to decide on a couple of things before you start, or just leap in and then replace the kayaks when you get some experience.

A few things to consider.

* You will likely have to spend $750+ on a kayak if you are the least bit serious on doings some half day/full day paddles.
*There are a few different types of keels/or shapes that are out there. You choice is dependant on what you are going to do. A short kayak will do well in moving water and short paddles, but will be all over the place trying to paddle a mile across a lake. There are other ones that will track very well, but are difficult to turn, so they are great for lakes and not twisty streams. Mine has a round bottom with a skeg (a non-moveable rudder at the back) that can be put up or down on the fly. This gives me the best of both worlds. I can easily manouver in streams and I track well in open water. There are those that have rudders, but I don't have any experience with them. I think they would be more bother than a skeg.
* A 'sit-on' may be more stable in the water as it is usually quite wide, but expect it to be heavey and take about 50% more energy to move through the water. This is OK for short paddles, but on an all day outing, you will be very tired indeed.
*Try to take as many test paddles as you can and talk to as many poeple as you can. I spend a fair amount of time in winter in Florida kayaking and most vendors are a wealth of information and let you try their models out before you purchase.
* YTry to join a beginners kayak group. The RV resort I stay at in Beverly Hills Florida (Sandy Oaks) has a beginner club and a more experienced club. We have had more than 30 kayaks out on a single paddle.
* If you go cheap, you may not enjoy your first experience and give it up before you decide to get the right equipment. Like anything else, if you want to enjoy the sport, you need to be safe and comfortable.

Good luck. A great hobby!

I have a Kevlar Winona Solo Plus that my wife and I use. It is a large solo or small tandem however you care to classify it. It weighs 45 lbs. so it is easy to wrestle on top the truck.

The light weight is nice but unless you do a lot of portaging, a used Royalex or fiber glass is easier to come by.

We travel with two Old Town 10' kayaks (see our profile). Note that the TV has been updated to a 2009 Pathfinder. We attach the boats with Malone Downloaders racks, and load with Malone Lift Assists, since spouse and I are both altitude-challenged.

We use Thule rack and Thule canoe carrier bar ends. We only run the two blue thule straps doubled back and have battle tested it.

one minor, and one major accident and the canoe had not moved. That was on a k3500 crew cab with fiberglass hight top cap, installed replica rain gutter base, and thule hitower rain gutter feet. Oh how I miss that truck.

HappyKayakers wrote:

cooper841 wrote:
...The sit on top kayak or more safer than the sit in...

That's just wrong.:R

As far as as I am concern it's just let you get enough water in there you will see.

MisconductOIB wrote:
Ok question for everyone out there. I am new to camping and this will be my first complete season and I was wondering do any of you guys travel with a Kayak for fishing or exploring? It would mostly be me and my 8 year old son and on occasion wife and 11 year old daughter. I am just wondering what would be some good models to look at and carry on top of my Expedition tow vehicle?

We have something completely different from everyone else who responded so far. We have a Sea Eagle FastTrack 385ft Pro Package. Fits anywhere - in the trunk of a car, bed of the truck, etc. - moves fast enough, is very stable (or else my wife would not feel comfortable going outnon the lake), has a deadweight capacity of 635 lbs. and also good for up to Class II whitewater.

I made some supports from wood 2x4s and fastened securely to the side roof rails. Using nylon straps to secure the kayaks down & side to side, and bungee rope for front to rear. Have used the arrangement for several years without any issues.