bb wrote in message . ..
I'm still looking to purchase my first kayak. I'm kinda partial to
the CD Scirocco. I'll no doubt not have enough experience before I
make a purchase to reasonalby tell the difference between a fiberglass
craft and a plastic one as far as performance goes. To me, the price
difference is not that geat. I kinda like the weight difference for
loading and unloading off the truck. I'm told the plastic is much
better at taking the abuse of rocks and oyster bars. So, I'd like to
pose a couple of questions to those more experience kayakers:

Just how much difference is there in performance between plastic and
fiberglass? How fragile are the fiberglass kayaks to abrasion that
I'm likely to encounter kayaking in Florida estuaries?

Thanks for any opinions.

bb

Scirroco is a fine boat, The Gulf stream is a beauty too.
Like one poster said the performance difference in similar boats
between glass and plastic is quite noticeable.
Plastic scratches much more easily but glass does not like bumps.
Glass can be repaired with reasonable ease, Though my patches are
noticeable.
I own some of each flavour ( Glass and Plastic ) I use them all .
I paddle the plastic Capella most but when I am off on my own I like
the NDK . For speed the NDK has it but the Explorer is a foot and 2
inches longer so that skews things. The NDK Romany is very similar to
the Capella and has comparable rocker; it too is a faster boat than
the Plastic P & H Capella ; but not much.

We have lots of rocky beaches here in Newfoundland. I would start with
a plastic boat if you intend to do a lot of paddling here. If I could
count on a beach or slip most of the time I would go glass.

The only time you will see a speed difference is when you are paddling
with seasoned paddlers that are fast.
When I drop my plastic Capella from the roof rack I hardly swear at
all. I dropped the NDK last week , Glad Mom was not there. The boat
was not hurt.

Eddy Line seames to have come up with a boat that is the best of both
worlds and light as a feather. A friend of mine bought a Night Hauk ,
Now if they made a nice Greenland type craft I would look at it.
Good luck.
If they are close to the same price and you are carefull the glass
boat may do you a lifetime. But plastic can take the odd bang.