"skip" wrote in
:


"Radu Tenenbaum" wrote in message
...
snip

I live on a five mile long lake which also has extended back water
areas. I've never kayaked before, but it looks like it would be fun.
I'm 50yrs old, 6 feet, 180lbs and am only moderately fit. I'd like a
kayak that has touring qualities for when I want to cruise up and down
the lake, but can also go into the backwaters where I can get close to
plants and water fowl. Not interested in fishing, but I'd like to
bring a camera along at times.

I've done some reasearch and I've narrowed my interest in three boats:
Perception Sonoma 12
Perception Acadia 12.5
Wilderness Systems Pungo 120


Also, what is the advantage of the smaller cockpit of the Acadia, and
is that smaller cockpit still easy to get in and out of, and would it
give me easy access to a camera bag?

The primary advantage of a smaller cockpit is that it provides better boat
control in that you're able to maintain body to boat contact easier. A size
of the cockpit affects the ability to get in and out of a kayak only when it
is so short that you can't put your legs in after you're already seated.
Even then, it's not really difficult to enter/exit, but just requires a
different technique. The ocean cockpit on my Skerray is probably half as
long as the Acadia and I've never had a problem entering/exiting.


I have an Acadia 12.5 and use it regularly exactly as you intend to do.
I'm your size plus 20 pounds and find the Acadia very comfortable. I
have no trouble getting in or out of it. I carry a camera and
binoculars without a problem. As an added benefit the Acadia is also
maneuverable enough to handle a class l-ll rivers with moderate rapids.

The ability to handle classs I-II rivers is more of a function of paddler
skill than the craft you're in. Even with less than a years experience a
friend of mine handled his 16'6" Prijon Seayak on a class I-II river just
fine. A class I-II river, by definition, doesn't require much
maneuverability anyway.

This maneuverability will help you in the backwaters to get close to
the plants and waterfowl.

I've regularly paddled my 18'6" long CLC Northbay in narrow backwaters. Any
kayak can be turned around in it's own length with a series of sweep
strokes. Unless those backwaters are less than 18' wide or so most kayaks
will work fine in backwaters. IMHO, recreational/light touring kayaks don't
provide a manueverability advantage that can't be achieved with basic
skills.

The primary advantage of the Acadia/Sundance/Pungo is that the higher
initial stability provides a more stable platform for taking pictures, and
they the're less espensive than a general touring boat.

Skip said:I've narrowed my interest in three boats:
Perception Sonoma 12
Perception Acadia 12.5
Wilderness Systems Pungo 120

Of those, I like the Sonoma best (13, not 12 right?) I didn't like the 10 foot
version though. If you plan to be scraping over logs and such, you might want
to go with one of the other boats as the Airlight material in the Sonoma is not
the most durable. Having said that, it is a really fun little boat.

Brian Blankinship

FWIW-- I was in a Dick's Sporting Goods store today, and they still had Pungo
Classics at $399 (which may have included a cheapie paddle and pfd, but I'm not
sure). These did NOT have the Phase Three seats, but the ones in the boat
looked OK

******************************
Got wood?
Check out my exotic hardwood pennywhistles at fair
prices...http://www.Busmanwhistles.com

(Blankibr) wrote in
:

Skip said:I've narrowed my interest in three boats:
Perception Sonoma 12
Perception Acadia 12.5
Wilderness Systems Pungo 120

Of those, I like the Sonoma best (13, not 12 right?) I didn't like the
10 foot version though. If you plan to be scraping over logs and such,
you might want to go with one of the other boats as the Airlight
material in the Sonoma is not the most durable. Having said that, it
is a really fun little boat.

The original author corrected his first post and wrote that he was
considering the Sundance, not the Sonoma. As far as the Sonoma goes, I was
at a demo day last year that had the full line of boats from Perception,
Wilderness Systems, and Old Town. It was primarily beginning kayakers but I
saw more people tip over in the Sonoma than in any other boat...by far. When
I tried it I thought it had unecessarily low initial stability. The
airlight material seems like a good idea but I thought the seam construction
looked shoddy. Eddyline, with their carbonlite material did a much better
job in construction. If someone is looking for a very light recreational
kayak I'd look at the Lincoln Quoddy Lite and Chebeague.