Monday photo feature

The boat I'm paddling in this photo is a Storm by Current Designs.  It's the boat I have been teaching class in this summer.

Students in class always ask what sort of kayak they should buy.  As in most other areas, you get what you pay for in this sport.  You can buy a kayak for a couple hundred bucks at places like Dick's Sporting Goods, but those boats are generally short and wide, and therefore slow and unwieldy and not much fun to paddle.  If a boat isn't fun to paddle, you're not going to paddle it very much.

The next step up is a polyethylene plastic touring boat, and there is a broad variety within this category. The boats can be anywhere from 13 to 17 feet or so; some have rudders and some don't; most have hatches for gear storage; and they can glide nicely or be slow as a barge.  The retail price of these boats ranges from maybe $800 to over $2000.

The nicest touring kayaks are made of composite materials like carbon fiber and Kevlar and are designed to glide effortlessly.  They are 18 feet long or longer, and retail for $2500 and up.

I have a fair bit of experience with these nicest boats: my ex-spouse owns one (a Looksha III that Necky used to make) and a number of my friends have them.  They are certainly a delight to paddle.  I have also logged many miles in the Storm pictured above.  It is heavier and slower than a composite boat, but one nice thing about it is I don't feel like I have to baby it.  Cramming it full of camping gear and dragging it over sandbars and gravel bars is no big deal.

I tell students and anybody else who asks to get the best boat they can comfortably afford.  At a minimum, get a decent polyethylene boat like my Storm.  It will reward you with many years of good times out on the water.  Remember that a longer boat is generally a faster boat, and a rudder is a nice feature, especially if you plan to paddle open bodies of water with a lot of wind exposure.

And I'll add this: please support independent dealers rather than big chains like Dick's and Bass Pro Shops.  You might--might--have to pay a little more, but you're more likely to have a salesperson who knows the bow of a kayak from the stern helping you choose the right boat.