Thanks John! That was very helpful. I'll start browsing shops. I was
considering the tandem plus 2 singles as well. I won't be running anything
over class 2 - pretty much looking at doing the same things with kayaks that
I did with my canoe but have more available speed and easier portaging.
Thanks again!

Shrink


"John Fereira" wrote in message
.. .
"Shrink" wrote in
news:OQ8Ff.178886$km.42875@edtnps89:

I am a pretty experienced canoeist (I am in my early 40's and have been
canoe tripping since I was 7 years of age) and most of my experience
has been on lakes and tame white water. I did the majority of my
tripping in Ontario (Algonquin, Temagami, Quetico, Kippawa in QC) and
then moved to Alberta where I wound up switching to hiking. I had my
30+ year old grumman with me in Alberta but had to leave it there when
we moved. In the past few months my family and I moved to Halifax, NS
and am debating canoe vs. kayak. I have no experience with kayaks and
would like to continue tripping. My children are 8 and 10 years of age
- both of whom have had some experience kayaking up at summer camp.
Since I am so near the ocean I would love to be able to do some trips
along the coast but realize we would need sea kayaks. All that
backround covered, here are my questions:

1. For those ex-canoeists who are now ardent kayakers - do you miss
it? What limitations will I experience switching to kayaks vs canoes
and what advantages will I have?

2. Sea vs. river/lake kayak - with 4 of us, I envision either 2 X
2-men kayaks or 4 single person kayaks. Should I assume that if I want
to do both sea and lake that really ought to just spring for the sea
kayaks from the outset or by lake/river kayaks and just rent when I
want to do any ocean trips? Since I don't plan on major whitewater, I
am not concerned about the maneuverability of the sea kayaks on lakes
and rivers unless they are worse than a canoe (which I doubt).

A sea kayak would be appropriate for sea and lakes but less appropriate on
rivers beyond a class II. Rather than thinking of a kayak for the sea an
d
lake/rivers you shold be thinking of kayaks for sea/lakes or a river
(whitewater) kayak. However, these days "sea kayak" covers a wide range
of
models, many of which would not be appropriate for bigger waters. Whether
or
not you'll be able to paddle a sea kayak on your local rivers as well
depends on how technical the river is and your experience.

3. Would you suggest 4 single kayaks, 1 double and 2 singles, 2
doubles? Pros and cons of doubles vs. singles?

Most here will probably suggest 4 singles. For a family of 4 I would
recommend at least 2 single and a double, but it would be worth renting a
couple of times to find out what your preferences are. Given that you're
considering buying a seat for all four family members the 2 singles, 1
double might be a good option as it might provide a good upgrade path as
well. I'm not going to get into the doubles vs. singles debate again (we
just had one) but there are advantages to both, and only you can really
decide which is best for your situation.

4. Lastly, can anyone give some suggestions as to mid-range brands of
boats to consider/avoid and if you know of any retailers in Nova
Scotia?

Don't know any retailers in Novia Scotia but that should probably be your
first task so you can see if you can rent/demo a few models before buying.
Since you're considering up to four boats you'll most likely be looking at
plastic boats initially. There are lots of good models that would serve
your purposes. I'm somewhat partial to the Prijon boats due to the
quality
of their plastic or one of the Brit manufacturers (Valley or P&H). The
used
kayak market is a good way to get started and often you can find a good
fiberglass boat for about the same price as a new plastic boat. On the
other hand, rocky shorelines can be much harder on a fiberglass boat than
plastic.

It's difficult to make any specific model recommendations without knowing
more about the conditions you'll be paddling and what you really want to
get
out of it. Check out any local shops and find out what is available and
come back and ask about specific models and we might be able to be more
helpful.