"Keenan Wellar" wrote in message
. ..
Good luck picking out your
boats, let me know what you decide, always curiuos about what people
choose
and why :-)

Right now we're debating sit-on-top vs. sit-inside "recreational" tandems.

Anticipated uses: primarily will be used for short outings on Chesapeake Bay
and its tributaries
Anticipated occupants: 2 adults, 2 kids (ages 6 and 9, although it's
probably more relevant to say they weigh 45 and 85 lbs, respectively, and
are both in the bottom 10th percentile for height!). Possibly a little
crabbing gear and a couple crabs.

Whatever we get, flexibility in seating will be a plus--I'm not sure how
well it will work having one full-sized and one pint-sized paddler in each
boat. I'm thinking that something with a "middle seat" option will be the
way to go, esp. with the 6 yo.

The pros, as I see it, to the sit-on-top would be that it might be a little
more stable in semi-choppy water such as you can get on the bay, don't have
to worry about bailing if you do take some on board, could also potentially
be used on the ocean as well? The downside is that most seem to have about
zilch storage space, and I'm not sure if using it as a crabbing platform
would be feasible. I also understand they're "wetter" than sit-insides,
which might restrict the cooler weather use?

A sit-inside seems like it could also be used for short overnights, but BF's
argument is that we also have access to a canoe, and if we want to do a
paddle-in overnight camp, we could just take that instead of/in addition to
a kayak. The tandem sit-insides also "seem" a little faster, but that
probably varies a lot?

So, I'm curious if anyone has any particular additional insights or
considerations to add--especially with regard to the mis-matched paddler
question. I'm favoring the sit-inside alternative (something like the
Pamlico 135T?) and BF is favoriting a sit-on-top. That ultimately may be the
deciding factor (he's buying), but he's quite reasonable and open to
persuasion.