Kayak performance

I have a few questions that I need help with, I fish mostly in lakes and Puget Sound, I don’t think I ever go to ocean. 1. Too far from Seattle. 2. I am not a good swimmer, and the idea of go out for a mile or 2 is out of the question, I might not be able to get back even when I am not in the water (too old and weak to pedal back) LOL. So here is the question. If I want a kayak to provide comfort, stable, speed and space on the kayak. Which kayak should I get? May be you can help by answer the followings questions:

1. I know skinny and long kayak will go fast, but it will be easy to flip when you get hint by the side wave. Right? because your body center of gravity will not be in the kayak any more.
2. Tri-hull design will make the kayak stable, but how stable it is? Can it flip by the boat wave? does anyone know of any kayak get flip by boat wave? People said point your kayak to the wave, but if you don't have time to do that and got hint by the side wave. Most kayak test that I saw on the youtube, they never test that. Always on a small lake, no wind or wave.
3. I have a Hobie PA. I love the space and comfort it provided, but it did not go fast when you go again the current (i only can do 1.8 to 2.1 mph). I am planning to get a Sportman PDL 120 for small lakes (based on the review I saw on you tube and the price and weight) and use the PA for the lakes with engine boat and Puget Sound and add a trolling motor. The only one thing I don’t like about the Sportman kayak is that you cannot see the inside when you get on the kayak. I open my center hatch in PA to see any water get in for a few minutes before I pedal out, you cannot do that with the Sportman. Anyone have any comments or suggestions?
4. How stable is the Sportman PDL 120? Do you have one, and how much do you like it?
5. Suggestion for a kayak based on what I am looking for?

Thanks in advance for all the advises and answers.

Great questions.  Research "primary vs secondary stability" and it might help you discover some answers.  There should be YouTube videos on the subject.

It's always best to be cautious, but don't do a Tinker and overthink this.  The Sportsman PDL is 36 inches wide, your PA 14 is 38 inches wide.  Most of us are doing what you want to do in kayaks that are between 28-34 inches wide and we're not randomly rolling over or falling out (unless you fall asleep drifting on a river - but that's a different problem).  Ocean touring kayaks are even more narrow at 24 inches or less.

The question about taking a swell or a wake abeam rather than on the bow is solved by technique - you lean into the wave to keep your body weight sufficiently centered to ride it out, unless the swell or wake is massive - then all bets are off and you just cross your fingers and do your best to turn into the wave.  If you're wondering about recreational power boats, in my experience, they don't make the massive bow wakes that could cause you to lose your balance - not even those made for wake riding.

We have folks on the board who have a lot of experience with surf landings which are pretty similar to the worst possible case conditions you're asking about and they can certainly give you lots of advice about boat handling in tall water.  We'll see if anyone picks this up and offers some suggestions.

I have no experience with the Sportsman PDL and you're smart to look for one you can test.  It's always best to test ride any kayak before buying it and I hope you can find a dealer or someone nice enough to let you pedal theirs about for a while.

(And +1 to snopro's suggestion to look up "primary vs. secondary stability".  It explains a lot.)

Comfort and stability is fairly subjective with too many variables depending on one's physique and experience. Try to demo the kayak so you can make your own judgement on comfort, stability, space, and speed.

I have heard of people falling overboard due to a boat's wake. Those occasions were mostly due to inattentiveness and/or doing something that changes the center of gravity to the wrong side. Situation awareness is key to mitigation.

If you're open to looking at the Hobie line, the Compass is comparable to the Sportsmans PDL 120. The Outback is the next step up in features and price. If you're available this Saturday (June 27th), come out to Lake Ballinger and demo both the Compass and Outback from Outdoor Emporium. It's a free event.

I think the OP is actually focusing on the wrong questions and ignoring the big one.

It isn't a question of "which boat is stable enough to not put me into the water". You MUST assume you are going to end up in the water, and be prepared from there.

The REAL question, IMO anyway, is "how hard is it to right the boat and reenter, given X conditions and Y physique".

If you can't self-rescue in the conditions you plan on going in, please don't go at all. Do not rely on "my boat is stable enough that I don't have to worry about what happens if I end up in the water".

I think the OP is actually focusing on the wrong questions and ignoring the big one.

It isn't a question of "which boat is stable enough to not put me into the water". You MUST assume you are going to end up in the water, and be prepared from there.

The REAL question, IMO anyway, is "how hard is it to right the boat and reenter, given X conditions and Y physique".

If you can't self-rescue in the conditions you plan on going in, please don't go at all. Do not rely on "my boat is stable enough that I don't have to worry about what happens if I end up in the water".

This. Plan for the worst case scenario. Joking aside, if you're unable to rely on your swimming or pedaling for a mile the exact kayak model might be secondary. Maybe it might be more important to have other things in place, like a group to go with or something, then look at boats that best suits the need of the group (or whatever criteria gets you out there safely).