Kayaking

[skittledoo]

Who here does it?

I absolutely love to kayak. Used to kayak ALL the time when I was in High School. I've done oceans, lakes, rivers, you name it. I loveeeee whitewater kayaking the most. I hadn't kayaked in a few years because well... life happened. Decided to kayak last weekend at the lake out here. They rent their kayaks out at this place for only $3 an hour so I was like, "ummmm heck ya!"

I didn't realize how much I've missed it until I got out in the water. It was amazing. I haven't felt that kind of peaceful feeling in such a long long time. It was nice to be out there all by myself completely away from other people. I paddled for a couple hours and found a secluded little spot where there's long weeds growing up through the water. I just sat there occasionally running my hands through the water and I just felt so relaxed. Nothing in the world to worry about at that moment. I'm seriously planning to go do it again this weekend.

My mom snapped this photo right before I went out. Mind you, my hair isn't done, no makeup and I'm squinting like crazy so I look terrible, but hey I was out doing outdoorsy stuff so what do you expect? lol

Anyways... this makes me really really want a kayak. When I move back to VA I'm not going to be able to find a $3 kayaking deal like this. This deal is only for military families out here and they let me take advantage of it because my step dad is stationed here. I'm not going to buy a boat right now, but maybe by the time next summer rolls around? You can find them really decently priced.

Now the question is going to be do I want more of a recreational style or more touring style? I love the touring style kayaks because I can really get some speed in them, though their turning radius isn't as great as in say a recreational one. But then again... if I find the right recreational one that I can fit one of the dogs in with me that would be awesome. I know some of the fishing kayaks have quite a bit of extra space in them that I could let one of the dogs ride with me.

As much as I would love a white water kayak... I feel like I'd be doing more lake kayaking than white water so I'd probably stick with a recreational or touring kayak for now.

 

[Dizzy]

I luffs kayaking don't do it much though. Will buy one one day. I just like bimbling about in them. Did a 10k kayak in France a few weeks back.

 

[skittledoo]

I luffs kayaking don't do it much though. Will buy one one day. I just like bimbling about in them. Did a 10k kayak in France a few weeks back.[/QUOTE]

That is SO awesome. I would have done that in a heartbeat

 

[MandyPug]

Mum got her Kayaks from Costco when they had them on sale there, got a pretty good deal. I think they're just recreational ones, i'm absolutely useless at kayaking so i can't say how good they are lol.

 

[skittledoo]

I found a recreational fishing one out here at Dicks Sporting Goods that was only about $400... it was pretty nice too. They had a touring kayak for about $800 that looked so fun... but then again I wouldn't easily be able to put one of the dogs in the kayak with me safely with that one

 

[skittledoo]

something with space like this is sorta what I'm thinking

 

[Shai]

Yep, love it. Mostly rivers and lakes. Canoeing is good too but I prefer kayaks. Best trip was 10 days in the BWCAW/Quetico back in 2002...did about 120-130 miles of canoeing/portaging. Was incredible--would go back in a heartbeat.

 

[Dizzy]

[QUOTjE=Dizzy;1828041]I luffs kayaking don't do it much though. Will buy one one day. I just like bimbling about in them. Did a 10k kayak in France a few weeks back.[/QUOTE]

That is SO awesome. I would have done that in a heartbeat

It's along a gorge.... gorgeous haha

 

[Ridgeback Guy]

I love kayaking too. I used to kayak in the intra coastal waterway down here in florida almost every day when I was in high school. Its been far too long since Ive gone. But alas, my little brother left the yack on the dock and some jerk stole it.....

 

[Katkoota]

great picture of you kayaking I can tell that you enjoy it so much.

I tried it not too long ago and also enjoyed it so much. Gotta go kayaking one day soon

 

[JessLough]

I love kayaking We once drove out an hour and a half from home, camped out there, and then over the next few days kayaked home (we had about 20 8-10 year olds with us)

 

[PWCorgi]

I want a kayak SOOOOOO bad. I mean, I live in the state of 10,000 lakes, how could I NOT want a kayak??

 

[Kat09Tails]

I'm the one on the right.

These two kayaks are Old Town Angler Kayaks. They're really nice to paddle and are super stable so you can fish from them.

 

[Psyfalcon]

For fishing and dogs I prefer Canoes. But you will get passed by all the skinny boats. I've got an old fiberglass monster that is older than I am.

(For a displacement hull, the length determines top speed, how wide it is however is largely responsible for how hard it is to get to that speed.)

 

[blue]

I had a Dagger for a number of years. I think I used it twice. I prefer my rafts.

On long week ends when we would float the Little Susitna River we would see a guy in a Dagger Zydeco pulling his gear behind him in a small inflatable raft and his dog either swimming or running on the bank. Twice that I can remember the dog has seen my big raft and swam towards towards me looking to hitch a ride.

 

[Blue_Dog]

I haven't been kayaking in years but I absolutely loved it when I was younger. I've actually been on the lookout for a kayak for some time now (like 2 years) but when ever I find a good deal on one I just don't have the money to spare. One day though.

And you look pretty happy in the picture.

 

[AndrewF]

Just got into kayaking last year. I enjoyed it enough I've bought a kayak for general paddling and some touring on Georgian Bay come this fall.

I was out last weekend and paddled 12 mile bay and around Killbear Provincial Park last weekend. If all goes well, I'm hoping to get out again this weekend, but work's doing it's best to keep me around. We'll see how it works out.

 

[adojrts]

I'll let you know in a few weeks, we are going to Utah on vacation and one of the things we are going to do is going Kayaking on the Colorado River near Moab, UT.