Hello,

I am recently new to kayaking, but have many hours in canoes on
Florida rivers and Everglades Wilderness Waterway. I just bought a
Perception Eclipse 14.5 and had to order it. Should be here around the
10th of this month.

I have been searching the Internet for paddeling technique tips
showing how to roll and other paddeling strokes. Are there any URL's
geared towards beginners
on paddeling there new kayak?

I am mostly going to tour with it. But would like to try it out in a
surf zone or two.

Carl

Carl,

Welcome to an awesome sport. There are many good books on kayaking you could
get, but better yet, find the local club and get involved. Not only will you
learn faster, but you will also enjoy it more. If you really want to get the
information from a website, the one that I recommend is Mariner kayaks.

Consider getting professional lessons. It is not necessary if you have a club
that can teach you, but your learning curve will be steeper.

I strongly suggest you not try surfing your decked kayak until you are
competant in your other kayaking skills. I have seen people rip the coaming
out of the kayak on a surf landing. That's not to say you should never do it,
just you need to learn more about boat control, exiting, and rolling first.

Trust me, you have plenty of other things to learn now if you want to be a good
paddler.

Brian Blankinship

You can start here....

www.recreationalkayaker.com

Lots of links to Newbie stuff.

Wade


"Carl Buehler" wrote in message
om...
Hello,

I am recently new to kayaking, but have many hours in canoes on
Florida rivers and Everglades Wilderness Waterway. I just bought a
Perception Eclipse 14.5 and had to order it. Should be here around the
10th of this month.

I have been searching the Internet for paddeling technique tips
showing how to roll and other paddeling strokes. Are there any URL's
geared towards beginners
on paddeling there new kayak?

I am mostly going to tour with it. But would like to try it out in a
surf zone or two.

Carl

Thanks Brian and Wade,

I appreciate the advice Brian. I will search around for a local club.
Also my sales person who sold me my Perception did mention that one
free lesson came along with it. So I will check into that. Next time I
see her I will also ask about local clubs. Point well taken about not
playing in the surf zones, thanks.
Wade, Thanks for the URL.

Between Kayaking and flying Sailplanes, my weekends are pretty busy
:-)

Carl

"Wade Norton" wrote in message news:kSXeb.20291$%h1.11230@sccrnsc02...
You can start here....

www.recreationalkayaker.com

Lots of links to Newbie stuff.

Wade

I just bought a
Perception Eclipse 14.5 and had to order it. Should be here around the
10th of this month.

I thought the Eclipse was only a 17' kayak. I've paddled it several times. It's
a fine kayak. Do they also make a 14.5' Eclipse?
Lynn

LLutton wrote:

I just bought a
Perception Eclipse 14.5 and had to order it. Should be here around the
10th of this month.

I thought the Eclipse was only a 17' kayak. I've paddled it several times. It's
a fine kayak. Do they also make a 14.5' Eclipse?

They do now.

--
Steve Cramer
Athens, GA

in article , LLutton at
wrote on 10/2/03 6:19 PM:

I just bought a
Perception Eclipse 14.5 and had to order it. Should be here around the
10th of this month.

I thought the Eclipse was only a 17' kayak. I've paddled it several times.
It's
a fine kayak. Do they also make a 14.5' Eclipse?
Lynn


Perception is going through a restructuring of their sea and rec kayak
lines. In addition to adding new boats a couple at a time, they are also
simply re-naming some of the existing boats. Likely capitalizing on the
more popular names in the line such as the Eclipse, the Acadia and the
Carolina of which there are several versions of each now.

There are many good books on kayaking you could
get, but better yet, find the local club and get involved.


I would be very cautious about joining a club in order to learn anything. I
too had been a big proponent of kayaking clubs in the past. I have some fond
memories of my own club experiences from many years ago. However I had been
hearing some rather disparaging comments about clubs on various newsgroups, as
well as reading some alarming trip reports from the local group, so I decided
to go back to our local club and see what's up. It was disappointing, to say
the least.
The last couple of club paddles I joined were little more then chest
pounding contests to apparently try to establish who was the alpha male in the
group. It was fairly humorous, while at the same time very sad. The macho
paddlers took all kinds of unnecessary risks in a display of leadership and
skill which I can only describe as pathetic. It set a very poor example for the
novices in the group.
Perhaps your local club is better then the one here. I don't know. But I
would highly recommend professional instruction. Get some good books on
kayaking, check out the articles in "Sea Kayaker" and "Paddler" magazines and
put in the time and energy required to figure it out. Trying to learn anything
from people who themselves are fairly clueless is only going to frustrate and
discourage you from what really is a great activity.

Scott
So.Cal.

The Eclipse 14.5 is the boat that used to be called the Corona.
The Sole has been replaced (in name only) by the Shadow 14.*

I find the new names sort of dorky. I'm sure that it helps in making a
logical connection between models and lengths (Eclipses are for bigger
paddlers, in two lengths, while shadows are for smaller paddles, in two
lengths) I simply think the older names sound better, and look better on the
bow of a boat.

I was paddling a Wavesport T3 (whitewater boat that comes in 4 sizes, T1-T4)
and had someone ask me, "Is that the replacement for the T2?" Clearing
thinking it was akin to a movie sequel, and not a different size of the same
boat.

Geoff

"LLutton" wrote in message
...
I just bought a
Perception Eclipse 14.5 and had to order it. Should be here around the
10th of this month.

I thought the Eclipse was only a 17' kayak. I've paddled it several times.
It's
a fine kayak. Do they also make a 14.5' Eclipse?
Lynn

I had a choice going to my local outfitter. They had an older model
(the Corona)
there, and the price was around $899.00, but comes with an optional
rudder.
The Corona also was two years old and had not sold. I decided to go
with the newer Eclipse 14.5 because I am 196 lbs. And it had quite a
bit of storage.
I also wanted the newer model concerned about warrenty issues! I did
not ask but I was sure there was no warrenty on the older Corona being
a 2001 model.
Also the newer Eclipse 14.5 comes with the rudder as standard
equipment.

Another reason I decided on the 14.5 over the 17.0 was that space is
at a premium were I live. Not an experinced paddeler I just liked the
idea of a smaller kayak with the same features of the Eclipse 17.0.

While were on the subject of the Eclipse 14.5, I did notice there is
sufficiant
padding for the seat, but my thoughts were is there enough padding for
along touring trip? Do any of you use any type of extra padding for
your kayak seats?
Do retailes stock any additional thin seat padding?

Carl Buehler


"Geoff Jennings" wrote in message et...
The Eclipse 14.5 is the boat that used to be called the Corona.
The Sole has been replaced (in name only) by the Shadow 14.*

I find the new names sort of dorky. I'm sure that it helps in making a
logical connection between models and lengths (Eclipses are for bigger
paddlers, in two lengths, while shadows are for smaller paddles, in two
lengths) I simply think the older names sound better, and look better on the
bow of a boat.

I was paddling a Wavesport T3 (whitewater boat that comes in 4 sizes, T1-T4)
and had someone ask me, "Is that the replacement for the T2?" Clearing
thinking it was akin to a movie sequel, and not a different size of the same
boat.

Geoff