The newest member's question: which is the best kayak?

Hi everybody, just have become a member or the forum.
I am pretty exited, it's lots of interesting stuff here.

I recently started thinking of getting into sea kayak touring, fishing and possibly crabbing. I found Hobie kayaks which, I think might do the job, Adventure or Revolution.
Are there any similar or even better ones?
Any suggestion or experience sharing will be very much appreciated.
Thanks

If you want to peddle your kayak and fish then the Hobies are the way to go.  Hopefully Zee will chime in on the various Hobie models.

If you'd like to paddle your kayak then look at Ocean Kayak, Wilderness Systems, Cobra or Malibu.  They all make a variety of models each with their own pros and cons.

Brian

The Adventure is all about it's legs. At 16' it can really cruise over long distances and through tough conditions. Real nice for big water and if you like to go fast. The Revo is 3' shorter and a little more all around. Not as fast but can maneuver a little better. Give 'em a test try and see which you like best. Most shops will let you demo one and you can find your nearest dealer here: http://www.hobiecat.com/company/dealer.html

Z

Thanks

Hi everybody, just have become a member or the forum.
I am pretty exited, it's lots of interesting stuff here.

I recently started thinking of getting into sea kayak touring, fishing and possibly crabbing. I found Hobie kayaks which, I think might do the job, Adventure or Revolution.
Are there any similar or even better ones?
Any suggestion or experience sharing will be very much appreciated.
Thanks

If you want to demo sit in sea kayaks etc., give me a ring if in PDX 503-285-0464 after 10am. We're moving our shop into the building next door, but should be able to help. Otherwise, what Zee said.

Jason

I tryied out the Revolution today.
Two things supprised me: how soon my legs started to hurt and how difficult it is to go strait when paddling. Is it just me? I consider my legs fairly strong, I ride dirtbike in mountains standing most of the time, every week and also ride mountain bike. The cocpit is a little short for me being 6'3".
Other than that it goes fast.

Frank

I tryied out the Revolution today.
Two things supprised me: how soon my legs started to hurt and how difficult it is to go strait when paddling. Is it just me? I consider my legs fairly strong, I ride dirtbike in mountains standing most of the time, every week and also ride mountain bike. The cocpit is a little short for me being 6'3".
Other than that it goes fast.

Frank

Maybe you missed an adjustment.  Zee is like 7 feet tall and rocked a Revo for a while.

As for fatigue, the urge to go fast in those will burn your legs up quick.  Luckily, trolling speed is a very slow kick.

Going straight comes with experience.   

Love my Revo!  Am a bit aged (68) bought it a few of months back.  In the trial stage before purchasing I thumped, bumped, dumped the demos and determined it was the way to go for me.  Regarding legs, once I possesed my own Revo and adjusted the seat properly and leg length, I peddled 10 miles the first day out in 4 hours including some stops and just plain enjoying. Was not sore the days afterwards.  Currently with GPS reading cruising is comfortable at 2.9 to 3.5, have had it up to heart pumping 5 mph -gps however at that rate I had to cut back to the comfort range.  Very stable boat.  Lots of fun to equip it with bells and whistles.  Realestate is slim but workable.
Holt

I tryied out the Revolution today.
Two things supprised me: how soon my legs started to hurt and how difficult it is to go strait when paddling. Is it just me? I consider my legs fairly strong, I ride dirtbike in mountains standing most of the time, every week and also ride mountain bike. The cocpit is a little short for me being 6'3".
Other than that it goes fast.

Frank

Pedaling a Hobie is a lot more akin to a stair climber than riding a bike, slightly different muscle groups. But I think you'd like the Rev with the Turbo fins a LOT better than the ones it comes with. I have an Adventure that had the turbo fins and it was like night and day compared to the standard fins it was shipped with. I used some standard fins last week and they just had no "bite" (kinda like a granny gear).
 
Straight lines come with just a bit of practice (less than you'd think)  and learning to move your chi lower in the boat.

My 2 cents on paddling an Adventure:

I've voluntarily spent a lot of time sans pedals lately.  It helped a lot to tighten the side straps to straighten up my back and correct my posture. I have a horrible tendency to slouch in my Hobie.  It helps me lots to rotate at the waist instead of all arm action.  Also important to end my stroke around my hip zone and not to take it too far aft.  Lastly, I take the drive out (but secure it) as it creates a tendency to track off one side or another (one "flipper" is always forward of another and the turbulence seems to create an unbalanced state)

After doing these things, I've found I rather enjoy paddling it.

anything 30 inches wide is going to create allot of resistance/drag in the water.

Boats @ <14ft don't have much glide.....so you paddle (peddle) paddle paddle , stop, and the boat stops.

Boats @>14ft have more glide....so you paddle paddle paddle stop and the boat keeps going.

This means that the boat with glide takes less energy to keep it moving, and a boat with less glide needs to be pushed through the water the whole time and is much more fatiguing.

This is one reason sea kayaks are 16-18ft and recreation boats are 9-14. "day touring are inbetween, around 14-16 ft.

You want fast, get a sea kayak. You want stable with all your accessories, go sit on top. The relaxed cruising speed of my new sea kayak (18x20.5) is 5kts, sprint is @8kts. My scupper pro SOT plains out at about 4kts in a sprint. any more than that and I'll have a heart attack, but it sure is nice for near-offshore on a rough day.

Different strokes errr pedals for different folks. Just have to figure out what aspect is the most important to you...going fast and far, or going slow and stable.

What FFTW and YM said.

You want fast, get a sea kayak. You want stable with all your accessories, go sit on top.

This is just the reason why I like the Adventure so much. For me it's both. At 27" wide and 16' long it's a lot of fun to pedal/paddle (@ 4-7 mph) and it's still plenty stable to fish in all kinds of situations and conditions.

Different strokes errr pedals for different folks. Just have to figure out what aspect is the most important to you...going fast and far, or going slow and stable.

Now that's some good advice right there. And how to figure it out? Paddle or pedal 'em and find which feels right to you.

Z