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As a reward for passing her GCSE's (yet to be confirmed) we promised my daughter a present. She's just finished the 1st week of her National Citizenship Service, surfing, coasteering and kayaking, and has announced she now wants a kayak.
Of course, I can't just launch her off into the sea on her own, so best I get one too 😉
Anyway, whats worth looking at - thinking sit-on-top type for a bit of paddling round the beaches near here. And what other kit is a)necessary (bouyancy aid) and b)useful.
Find a local canoe club and sign her up. They'll usually have a bunch of boats she can try out and work out what she likes, what kind of paddling she's in to (whitewater, touring, sea kayaking, racing, canoe polo etc) and then you can look at a boat accordingly. Same with kit, they'll be able to advise. Realistically a bounyancy aid and probably a helmet, but again, it'll depend what type of paddling she likes best.
http://www.canoe-england.org.uk/findaclub.aspx should help!
for splashing about and days at the beach yep a sit on top, if she want's the get into it then not a sit on top.
Drybags and straps for a sit on top for pick-nick towel clothes etc
An essential in my book as well as the BA would be a kayak trolley, lots of places it's a bit of a walk to the water from where you park and sit on tops especially aren't light. Two singles on one trolley or a tandem with kit will still be a job for Dad though.
I'd have let you borrow mine Allan but sold it a few year back just before we moved. We had some great trips on ours, we'll buy another one in a few years once the new garage is built and the little one's bigger.
not local but a good day trip I'd recommend would be Lulworth cove area out to Durdle door and just on a bit through Bats head for a private beach.
Enjoy, catch you out on a ride sometime. oh and btw possible bivy, purbecks in a few months is on the cards with the usual bivy guys.
oh and BCU 2* is well worth it, pretty much did mine on a weeks school trip at Woodmill.
Where abouts are you?
I've got two kayaks for sale (perception scooter & a perception arc) with all the gear - You're welcome to have a look if you're near Southampton.
I'm in the process of acquiring a couple of single sit on tops. We already have a Feel Free Corona barge as a double/triple, but the kids (10 and 7) are now going solo (Freshwater Loch mainly).
The perception scoot is a good bit of kit, if slightly oriented. Feel Free Move and Nomad are also worth a look, although.
I'd avoid the cheap chinese imports off eBay
yeah if you do go for a sit on top I'd go used and known brand.
I used mine for 3-4 years and sold it for a small profit 8) can't argue with that.
Perception Scooter is well thought of. Good at the beach, coast, rivers etc.
Ocean Kayaks Frenzy
Robson Kona
Emotion Temptation (not a surf boat but good allrounder)
woodmill although not the greatest kayaking have a great range of kayaks (to buy and hire) you can hire almost any of them - if you go on a quiet day they will let you choose what you have and try before you buy and maybe even swap halfway if you're nice.
The staff are really friendly and know their stuff.
brighton canoes is a much bigger shop - but i've never actually been there....
Chojin - interested in the Scooter 😉
Chojin, I'm in Ashurst so about 10 mins from you 😯
Drop me an email if you don't mind newforestknights(at)yahoo.co.uk
PMed you both.
Could be interested in the Arc if one of the above haven't nabbed it. dave-sweet(at)hotmail.co.uk
PM sent also 🙂
This place in Ferndown has some good stuff:
http://bournemouthkayaks.co.uk/
We are also about to replace a load of ours, thanks to a grant for some new ones, probably 10 single kayaks, various makes, perception mainly I think. Will post up here first if you want. You know where we are!
Cheers avontyrrell, let me know what you've got please.
You know where we are!
You know where I am too - you bought my Fausto Coppi a while back! Its a small world ain't it!
See you at the BBB 😀
I used to use a golf bag trolley, but that was pretty unstable. I'd recommend getting a proper trolley and a lock to secure it whilst she's out in the sea.
I started off with a couple of different fibreglass sea kayaks. I got fed up of hauling them around so i sold them and got a dagger medieval freestyle kayak. That was ace, especially when surfing at the beach. So then, i bought another fibreglass surf-specific kayak (sharp edges, flat bottom, fins) which i used exclusively for surfing.
I'd recommend that you go visit a local club, but if there aren't any local then get a cheap kayak and try it out (in a safe manner). That way, you can work out what you like on your own.
Dan - can you resend the info over to me again please as the original email has gone!!