Kayak and boat

KAYAKING

AND BOATING

ON THIS PAGE:

·	buying kayaks article

·	Table Rock Lake, Missouri

·	Nolin Lake, Kentucky

·	Honea Path, South Carolina

·	Pine Island, Gulf Coast of Florida

·	Playa Linda, Titusville, Florida

·	Key Largo, Florida

·	Finley River, Missouri

·	Flat Creek, Missouri

·	Wappapelo Lake, Missouri

·	Yellowstone River, Montana

·	Tie Hack Resevoir, Wyoming

·	Horsecreek Dam, Wyoming

One day we went to Sam’s Club shopping and noticed a couple kayaks for sale by the front door.

I looked at them and showed Mom and Dad. I thought they would be a lot of fun. Then we would have something to conquer land (4-wheelers, mountain bikes) and water (kayaks)! We went back home and I researched kayaks and kayaking.

I looked into Ocean Kayak, Hobie, Dimension and a bunch of other weird name brands. I realized something really quick, kayaks are expensive! Plus you have to choose between sit-in or sit-on, tandem or single, short or long, wide or skinny. We went to some outdoors stores and looked at some. We talked to some pros and got their opinion. This is what we found; maybe you’ll find it helpful too:

Sit-on

Pro’s- easy to get in and out of even while on open water

will not sink even when full of water

Con’s- tend to not have as much storage as a sit-in

you can fall off easier compared to a sit-in (which in some cases might be a good thing)

Sit-in

Pro’s- tend to have more storage than a sit-on

you won’t fall out very easily compared to a sit-on (which in some cases might be a bad thing)

Con’s- if filled with water they will sink

hard to get in and out of especially while on open water

Short

Pro’s- easy to maneuver

can be taken into tight places

Con’s- “sways” back and forth when you paddle

(When I say “sway” I’m talking about the movement of the bow and stern of the kayak when you paddle.

For example: when you paddle on the port side the bow moves toward starboard and the stern moves toward port.

When you paddle on the left the opposite happens.)

Long

Pro’s- better for long distances

doesn’t “sway”

Con’s- harder to maneuver

can’t fit into very tight places

Tandem

Pro’s- fit up to two adults and one child

Con’s- can be quite expensive

Single

Pro’s- can be very small if desired

Con’s- only one person at a time

Wide (some up to 35” wide)

Pro’s- very stable

good for fishing

Con’s- probably not good for someone wanting to do a lot of fast maneuvering because it hinders you from leaning the

kayak from side to side

Skinny (some as skinny as 28”)

Pro’s- can lean from side to side which helps in maneuvering

Con’s- not as stable as a wide kayak

My conclusion: A short skinny sit-on single person kayak would be perfect for Dad and I. Different people might need a different kayak.

A couple that are going on long overnight trips would probably want a long, wide, tandem, sit-in.

A guy that’s going on short trips up small creeks and just wants to have fun would probably want a short, skinny, single, sit-on (just like us).

The cheapest we could find (besides the one at Sam’s) was a $310 Hobie, without a paddle, from Dynamic Earth in Springfield.

We also looked at Ocean Kayaks from Ozark Adventure in Springfield. The cheapest one of those we could find was about $450.

We went back to Sam’s and got more info and looked at the kayaks again. They’re 9 ½ feet long, 28” wide, they weigh 34 lbs,

they are made by Dimension, and they come in red, yellow or sunset. They have bungees on the back to hold gear and have a very low

center of gravity so they won’t tip easy. They also come with good paddles! On top of that, they’re only $270. Also, we found out that

the same company that makes the expensive Ocean Kayaks (Johnson Outdoors) makes Dimension kayaks. So we bought two of them, a red

one for me and a yellow for Dad. Then about a month later we bought a sunset colored one for the girls to share. They are great! We’ve

had so much fun in them. We haven’t had any problems. We’ve taken them on nine mile trips up the Finley and James rivers in southern

Missouri. We’ve been through a giant lily pad forest at Lake of the Ozarks. We’ve been exploring through huge fallen rock slabs at Nolin

Lake in Kentucky. I’ve ran aground on a razor sharp barnacle-covered rock in a bay on the west coast of Florida. But even after all the

times we’ve used them and abused them, besides a few scratches in the hull, they’re still holding up wonderfully!

TABLE ROCK LAKE, MISSOURI

Table Rock Lake is a beautiful waterway. We tried out the kayaks for the first time here. Dad made us take the kayaks out over our heads and dump over, and then climb back in. There are quite a few boats on this lake, so we keep to the shore line. The lake is owned by the Army Corp of Engineers. The Corp doesn’t allow many boat docks on the lake. It is frustrating to see that regulation, but I understand why they have that rule. We took a trip up to Lake of the Ozarks and the lake is full of boat docks and people.

NOLIN LAKE, KENTUCKY

Nolin Lake is one of the prettiest lakes we have been on. The clear, calm water has numerous places to explore. We found a small canal that had bluffs on one side and a rock island on the other.

The younger kids enjoyed playing in the kayaks close to shore.

HONEA PATH, SOUTH CAROLINA

The guys enjoyed some rapids on the river, below the dam. Before the water was released from the dam, there were huge, flat rocks all over. After water was released from the reservoir, the rocks were deeper and we were able to kayak around more. Cody kayaked in a private pond at River Oaks Retreat Center, where he tried his hand at fishing from the kayak. He almost landed a sweet bass, but lost it.

Cody had fun Photoshopping this picture. The wave was actually only knee deep! He combined two pics into one. You can’t always believe what you see!

Riding the waves was awesome. Shae and Cody kept crashing through them, trying not to tip over. On one of Cody’s dumps, he slammed into the sandy bottom. Shae had his fair share of flips, too. Hanna attempted to
ride the waves in her kayak but got way too scared. Her story is below. Gabriel was so brave to ride the waves in the kayak and wanted to do it over and over. It was one of the best kayaking times we have had.

PINE ISLAND

EAST COAST OF FLORIDA

Nice, calm area to kayak. Water is very shallow at low tide. We kayaked out to an island towards the gulf. Cody tried to make a wind sale from our beach umbrella. It worked great!

SILVER LAKE

WITHLACOOCHIE STATE FOREST

Small lake with lots of alligators. We were told of a guy that had an alligator follow his kayak all over the lake. There are parts of the river to watch out for them. Heard stories of small animals disappearing a lot. Saw some people try to haul a bunch of camping gear on the back of their kayak and head down the river that leads out of this lake. They didn’t make it too far before they had to forge Not a place we’ll go back to. The mountain biking was nice though!

This was an amazing place to kayak. The sunset, manatees, mangroves, salty air, all made for an awesome week. We took turns heading out into the ocean, hoping to not see any sharks, which we didn’t. But, Sheri had a horrible experience with a couple manatees. Click here to read that story. It about gave her a heart attack. That is the picture of her on the right, after they almost tipped over her kayak when she was 7 months pregnant and Josie was in the kayak with her. We really did enjoy kayaking in the ocean, though. It really makes us feel how small we are in the grand scheme of things.

Cody had to kayak here. There was a flag up at the beach that meant dangerous sea creatures. He jumped in kayak and got soaked as he tried to ride the waves in the high winds. He had hoped to see some “dangerous sea creature”, but didn’t happen.

STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION