kayaks

Okay, this post is probably written for my own benefit more than anyone else's, to get me thinking and pounding out some thoughts. Actually, I guess that's true of anything I post. Anyway, been finding new and creative ways to spend lots of money lately. (Speaking of which, my next post needs to be one about decadence and lack of concern for the world in light of Philippians 4:18. But that'll be another day.) As it is, I figure between the guitar I'd like to buy very soon and the kayak I hope to buy sometime this spring, I'll be out a sizeable four-digit sum of money before I even start calculating up the vacation dollars. Somehow I'm not convinced that's a good thing, and so it may not happen quite like that, but we'll see. I do know that I'm in bad need of both.

So...been doing the kayak comparison shopping thing lately. Unfortunately it seems that used kayaks are few and far between, and used models of the (apparently) relatively new recreational kayaks I'm interested in are rarely if ever for sale. So it looks like I'll have to drop some serious change on a new one without having every seriously taken up kayaking as a hobby before and without knowing anyone who kayaks regularly. (Pretty hard to kayak much if you don't know any partners and you're not stupid enough to go out alone.) A slight risk, but at least I'd likely have whatever I bought for a long time so I'd eventually get my money's worth out of it.

There are some okay ones out there that might be passable for around $300 and up. The price is right, but the style isn't -- they're clearly not made as well as the next tier of boats and I'm not interested in spending good money on cheap junk I'd just want to upgrade out of in short order. For what I'm looking for I'm aiming at around $500 minimum and probably a bit more, not including gear. If I could get a good boat and gear for $800 or so then I'd come out happy. But methinks the chances of getting out of this having parted with so little dollars aren't good.

There are lots of boats out there from lots of manufacturers, and I bet plenty of them are decent and would probably serve the purpose of getting me out on the water so I could start learning and having fun. But most seem either basic and scaled down or not really as versatile as I'd like. I figure if I'm going to spend the money, I'll spend enough within reason to get a boat that's enjoyable and can handle a wide enough range of waters for me to have ample opportunities to take it out.

From what I can tell, the tops on the market is Necky's Manitou Sport. The intermediate 11' length is nice, not too short for bay stuff and not too long for rivers with currents, and its 44 lbs compares very well with similar boats and is a lot better than the 50+ of slightly bigger ones. It has plenty of deck rigging, which would help not only with stowing stuff on overnight trips (such as one coming up this July) but also for grabbing onto in the guaranteed event that I find myself in the water having to chase down my boat. I think the strap-down hatch cover is inferior to the locking ones I've seen on other kayaks, but it's still watertight so I can live with that. The molded skeg would help a lot with tracking, and I'll need all the help I can get to not zig-zag wildly from side to side like I do in a canoe. Best of all, Necky is a big-name outfitter I'd even heard of before I started seriously looking, and the Manitou Sport gets outstanding reviews and seems to be popular among folks who've been in a lot of different ones.

The only bad side? It's a hefty $679, a bit higher than some other boats on the market but still on the lower end when it comes to rec kayaks. So after a life vest, skirt, paddle, and car-top carrier, that's probably $900-1,000. Ouch! Not good, especially in a year that I'm probably already spending outside of my means for trips and outdoor stuff. So, I'm almost thinking this whole kayak thing may have to be postponed for yet another year.

So, yeah, if any of y'all see one of these on the side of the road then grab it. Or if you see any deals then let me know. I keep reading reviews of people getting them for less than MSRP and that may be my only hope of scoring a kayak this year.