Getting back into kayaking
Discussion
Having seen the Olympic canoe slalom, then realised quite how many watersports centres there are within a relatively short distance of my house (I live in Cambridgeshire - it's flat and full of lakes, plus Rutland Water isn't far away either), I've decided I want to get back into kayaking. I used to do it quite regularly as a teenager, going to Sale Water Park in Manchester for lessons and races. It was a lot of fun and I can't quite remember why I stopped.
This time I fancy getting my own. Question is - how much does it cost? I've checked the price of new kayaks and they're a lot more expensive than I was expecting (£350-£500 for the most basic - I'm not talking sea or slalom kayaks here, just a General Purpose), seems a lot for a big plastic tube with some polystyrene blocks in it.
However, there are also now inflatable canoes available. Doesn't seem quite right to me (how do you barrel-roll them?), plus I'm not sure I'd want to skim a submerged rock in one. Anyone got any experience?
Or is it worth buying a second-hand one? Or is that a bit of a liability?
Please help! The water is calling again!
This time I fancy getting my own. Question is - how much does it cost? I've checked the price of new kayaks and they're a lot more expensive than I was expecting (£350-£500 for the most basic - I'm not talking sea or slalom kayaks here, just a General Purpose), seems a lot for a big plastic tube with some polystyrene blocks in it.
However, there are also now inflatable canoes available. Doesn't seem quite right to me (how do you barrel-roll them?), plus I'm not sure I'd want to skim a submerged rock in one. Anyone got any experience?
Or is it worth buying a second-hand one? Or is that a bit of a liability?
Please help! The water is calling again!
Just had a look at a few websites. God it's got complicated!
Back when I kayaked regularly, there seemed to be a few body styles. Slalom canoes were heavier at one side so you could lean into turns more easily, sea kayaks were flatter and shorter for negotiating waves more easily and situpons were the sort of thing you hired at the beach when on holiday in Greece. Then there were Canadian Canoes which were big open 3-seaters that you paddled around in circles much to the frustration of your mates.
But I got used to this sort of thing, which is what I'm after:
Nothing special, nothing designed to win Olympic gold or rocket down some rapids, but the sort of thing you get in, pull the spraydeck on and paddle away. I just like making vehicles move, frankly! And I see doing circuits of my local lakes as preferable to the rowing machine at the gym. It needs to be fairly light though, as I want to be able to carry it on a roofrack, bearing in mind I have an MR2 and there's not much room for said 'rack.
Back when I kayaked regularly, there seemed to be a few body styles. Slalom canoes were heavier at one side so you could lean into turns more easily, sea kayaks were flatter and shorter for negotiating waves more easily and situpons were the sort of thing you hired at the beach when on holiday in Greece. Then there were Canadian Canoes which were big open 3-seaters that you paddled around in circles much to the frustration of your mates.
But I got used to this sort of thing, which is what I'm after:
Nothing special, nothing designed to win Olympic gold or rocket down some rapids, but the sort of thing you get in, pull the spraydeck on and paddle away. I just like making vehicles move, frankly! And I see doing circuits of my local lakes as preferable to the rowing machine at the gym. It needs to be fairly light though, as I want to be able to carry it on a roofrack, bearing in mind I have an MR2 and there's not much room for said 'rack.
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