Barry,
There are creekboats, playboats and river runners. For a beginner
whitewater paddler the safest route to go would be a river runner but with
your height and weight a creekboat would work well for your first boat.
River runners do a little of everything such as play waves and holes along
with running rapids well. Creekboats don't play much but run rapids and
punch big holes great. Playboats play great but depending on what type of
playboat you have may limit you as to what type of rapids you may want to
take it on. Some rapids will play more with your playboat than you'd like
them to. There are so many boats to chose from. A good source to check on
used boats is a site called BoaterTalk. Other good places are your local
paddling club and the paddling stores around you. Check out the
manufacturer web sites as well for new boats such as Pyranha, Wave Sport,
Dagger, Perception, Eskimo, etc... Pay some attention to the weight limits
but not full attention. Basically, if you're higher than the recommended
weight, the boat will be more playful, lower and the boat will be more of a
river runner or creeker. I hope I have helped you. Also there are other
paddling newsgroup called rec.boats.paddle and rec.boats.paddle.whitewater
that will have many more whitewater kayakers on it to help you further.
Courtney
"Barry" wrote in message
. net...
Matt...
I'm looking for a creekboat/whitewater boat...with lots of volume. I'll
check on the kayak you mentioned.
Thanks
Barry
"Matt Langenfeld" wrote in message
ink.net...
I'll take a limited shot at this one.
What are you looking to do on the river? There are 3 kinds of "river"
yaks: whitewater, creekboat, and playboat. As I understand it, ww yaks
have the most volume and aren't meant to sink as deep in the water as
say
a creekboat. But with your size, you may need something with more volume
anyway.
I've heard Wilderness System Diesel is pretty could for big boys.
Hope that provides some info and didn't make your choice harder.
--
Matt Langenfeld
JEM Watercraft
http://jem.e-boat.net/
Barry wrote:
I've really been bitten by the kayaking bug. I have taken several long
trips and many shorts ones off the coast of Northern California...and
had
a lot of fun. I continue to enjoy the ocean kayaking but I don't want
to
limit myself to just the ocean. I have a house on the banks of the
Smith
River in Northern California (in Hiouchi). I can literally walk to the
river with my kayak. I have my old kayak...which I purchased before I
bought my ocean kayak. It's a true recreational kayak but is short
enough to allow it to be used in the river. I have taken a few trips
down the river in that kayak and have had a lot of fun...but it's not
really a "river kayak". As a result, I'm limited as to what I can do
with it. I'm going to buy a river kayak...and there are many to chose
from...for the average size guy. I am 6'3" tall and about 260 lbs. I
played football and wrestled in college...and lifted weights (which I
still do on a regular basis). While I can lose some weight and get
down
to my "fighting weight"...I'll still be about 235 lbs. That limits
what
I can use as a river kayak. I've tried a few and found that not only
is
my weight a problem but I have short legs (for my height) and a long,
large torso. This puts more of my body weight above the cockpit level.
To some extent, that's an advantage as I can leverage my kayak a bit
better by using my body weigh i.e. snapping my kayak upright etc.
BUT...it also means that I don't have the stability that a "normal"
sized
person might have.
My question: What river kayaks are available for big guys? I live in
a
remote area. I'm going to drive to the bigger cities in Oregon
(Hiouchi
is near the Oregon border) and also visit the Bay area (San Francisco
area) in California...on a search for a river kayak. However, I'd sure
appreciate some suggestions. While I like composite kayaks, I've been
impressed with my old plastic boat and its ability to withstand the
abuse
of river kayaking. The Smith river has a lot of large boulders that
I've
already encountered "up close and personal". I can read water pretty
well as I fly fish and have had a drift boat(s) for twenty years.
Your thoughts? Advice?
Barry