Paddling.net is a good site. There are good reviews on kayaks that may interest you.

 

Sweet... Thanks! Now I have another way to avoid getting any work done tomorrow!

 

Folbot kayaks is another option you could look at. I have the Greenland II, which is a great kayak. Extremely durable and I can throw the two bags in the back of the JK. They make single seat models that are great as well.

 

My thought here is any boat that is purchased just for one thing is not worth having. Now if all you want to do is go down the river then hey do it but if you think you might want to fish a bit too look at ones that are designed with that in mind. They will also be more stable because fishing requires a bit more movement than just paddling down the river. As soon as I lose more weight I am going to get one myself just to save gas and still have a boat to fish out of.

 

Just a bit of an update... I went to a dealer today and looked at the kayaks. I sat in a few Perception and Dagger kayaks and am pretty much settled on the 12' Dagger Blackwater. Not terribly expensive, but featured nicely and should work for my uses. It has a spring loaded drop skeg, which sounded like a good idea for tracking.

Looking forward to picking it up and hitting the river...

 

I have 2 Old Towns, a Cayuga 160 and a 10' Otter. The Otter is for my gf and anyone else that wants to go. I did alot of reseaarch before I bought and from reseacrh and personal experiance I can give you some info.



Sit in vs. On top:

There seems to be some confusion concerning the stability of these in this thread. First, you need to understand primary and secondary stability. Primary stability is how stabil the kayak is when it is sitting flat on the water. Secondary stability is ow stabil the kayak is when it is rolled on its side. What does this mean? Well, a sit-on has more primary stability and less secondary stability. This means that it will feel more stabil, but if you ever do get it off center, you will flip it easier. A sit-in kayak has less primary stability, making it feel more "tippy" when you get in, but as you roll to the side it gets harder to keep going.

Basically, I would recommend a sit-in based off stability unless you plan to do alot of fishing or diving from the kayak. In those cases, you can stand (fishing) on a sit-on plus a sit on is easier to reenter from the water (diving).

Also, the sit-in will be better if you decide to take it out in cooler weather.


Size: You seem to have a grasp on this. I have a 16', and prowl swampy mangroves were you think turning around would be a pain, but I get by. Then again, the peopleI take along with me don't seem to have a huge problem keeping up in the 10'. To be honest, for your situation, I would go bigger for more storage capacity if you want to go camping or something.

 

I found a cheap motorcycle trailer on craigs list and had a friend weld on a couple extra feet to the tongue. I just had to attach my old yakima cross bars and kayak rack and that was it.

Photo attached.... all said, I spent about 400 bucks for the trailer set up.

 

I bought 2 Pursuit 100 at Academy for $199 ea. Not the best, but they should be good for us. Paddling around the slough, and day trips on the Brazos. If we really get into it, we will upgrade, and let the nephews play with these

 

WOW, I leave tomorrow for the brazos. Here's my set up. Ocean Kayak Scrambler-Angler Edition. 350lb weight limit for $350. It's a sit on top. I purposely flipped two kayaks( sit in and sit on) at the lake and it was way easier to get back on the "sit on top" than back in the "sit inside" without touching the lake bottom. That what helped me make my decision.

 

I just bought a 12' blackwater and it work good for me. I'm 6'4" 220 and have plenty of room in it. I've taken it in a couple of slow rivers around here and into 1 lake. it's got enough room for an overnighter too. I think you will be happy with it.