NS Kayakers

grown-ninja

grown-ninja

Active member
Looking to get into white water kayaying this year, I've only kayaked a few times on flat water in larger boats. I'm thinking about getting a creekboat-some people have said look at river runners too. Can anyone give me some advice.

These pictures are near my house, what type of boat would suit them best. Being new to this how do people progress. Is it possiable to run stuff like the pictures I attached within your first year once you know how to roll and so on? What are so good brands I should be looking at. Looking to spend about 500 max on a used boat.

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staircasechris.jpg
 
i cannot make sense of this photo, is it a house in the middle of a river? so confused
 
I once was a pretty accomplished whitewater kayaker and like to think I know what I'm talking about. That first picture you posted looks sketch. Flood levels with tons of strainers (underwater trees, etc.). If you're a beginner, that's not something you should even be looking at. The 2nd picture you posted is big water ledge drops. For something like that you probably would want a kind of do everything river runner boat. A creek boat will help you with stability, but they're much harder to maneuver.

What jumped out at me from your post is that both pictures look like pretty advanced kayaking. You're going to want to start smaller. Learn your roll in a pool or some kind of flat water. Learn from someone who knows what they're talking about and learn it on both sides. It's like learning to spin both ways, and it will help you tremendously in the long run. Find people to paddle with who know the local rivers. Learn to peel out, ferry, and eddy out before you start trying to run bigger rapids. If you don't know what those things are, look them up. There's tons of instructional info out there.

Basically your first season kayaking is going to be frustrating. It's hard to take a flatwater roll to whitewater, and takes time to learn how rivers work and what to look for. Like I said, start small and don't skip any learning steps and in time you'll be a master of the river. The only reason I'm taking this much time to write all this is kayaking is a very dangerous sport. Much more so than skiing.
 
I would recommend seeing if you local pool as roll sessions. Get a solid,bomb proof roll,and you will feel much more comfortable on any "creeking" as far as a creek boat,I would check out the Jackson Kayak Hero series,great boats,tons of volume and the best costumer serivce..ever. I would recommend starting off paddling in some mellow class II-III for your first season,then work your way to class IV-V. It can be super gnarly and the more experince the better. You may find that you want to stick with III for a while.

If you live in a place where there is a whitewater park,go and work on surfing your boat,your roll in the hole and paddling hard,all these things will come into play while creeking.As for the first picture,it looks hella sketch and I would probably stay away from it!

Also,check out mountainbuzz.com is is like the NS of the kayak world.
 
Seek professional advice.

Your jump from flatwater kayaking in big boats to running the creek in your picture in a creek boat is like the jump from only skiing Blues on the east coast (because thats the best you can do) to skiing lines up to the status of Seth.
 
thanks guys, i have no intention of jumping into anything craz at first, of course i have to work on basics. I was jut curious about progression levels, didnt realize those pics were that gnar, shows how much i known ha. what is the price range i should be looking at for a desc used boat. Is my 500$ rage ok?
 
What river is that. I spent 4 years in New England doing 2 rivers a week and paddling daily in boarding school. It's not Freight Train is it?
 
near bulls bridge pretty sure were the housatonic and 10 mile meet in kent ct, right iver the ny boarder. mrchevy pm comming your way
 
ChrismoJBEATS paddles a bit...

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You should be alright getting something cheap for $500. Remember, you have to get a helmet, PFD, Paddle, Skirt, and Flotation, too. That stuff gets pretty pricey.

And yeah, that shit you posted above is super gnarly. Stay away from shit that's above flood stage.
 
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