Buying a Kayak 101

You're in the market for a new or used sea kayak. Now what? Unless you're an entirely impulsive person, buying your first kayak can be an overwhelming process.

I'm a strong believer that, if you're new to the sport, the best tactic is to educate yourself. One place to start is a retail shop that allows on-water demos. Test-driving a kayak is as important as test-driving a car! Taking a class from a reputable instructional school is another way to learn more about sea kayak designs, and will help you determine what features and designs are right for you.

A few common questions that new buyers agonize over:

- Should I buy plastic or fiberglass?
- What features should I look for?
- How do I know if a kayak is well made?
- What should I look out for if I'm buying a used boat?



PLASTIC OR FIBERGLASS?

Sea kayaks are made in a variety of materials: wood, canvas, plastic, fiberglass, kevlar, carbon-kevlar. Since plastic and fiberglass are the most common materials, I'll limit the discussion to those two.

Each has it's benefits and drawbacks. Plastic is relatively inexpensive, recyclable, and has tremendous impact resistance. On the other hand, its less stiff, deforms and weakens with exposure to heat and UV, is heavier, and is difficult to repair. Even all plastics are not made the same. Single-layer polyethylene boats tend to be less stiff. Several companies, including P&H and Valley Sea Kayaks make 3-layer polyethylene boats, which sandwich a foam core between two layers of plastic, resulting in a stiffer, lighter, and repairable boat. Most recently, thermoformed plastics are now being used for kayaks. These can be molded into more precise shapes, and are very lightweight but lack the impact resistance of polyethylene.

Many new paddlers shy away from fiberglass boats because they believe they're less durable than plastic. Spend a week with paddlers on the rocky coasts of Rhode Island or Maine and you'll see how false that is! Fiberglass boats can take a beating...but most importantly, they can be repaired easily and effectively with materials that are readily available to every boater. Composites are lighter, stiffer, and can be molded into finer entry lines than their plastic counterparts, which makes for a faster, more responsive kayak on the water.

8 FEATURES TO LOOK FOR

For a sea kayak, the following features are a must:

1) Good Bulkheads. At least two bulkheads (foam or fiberglass walls that divide the boat into compartments...this keeps the boat afloat after capsize and aids in draining the boat of water during rescues.) Bulkheads can be made of foam, welded plastic, or fiberglass.

2) Does it have a day hatch? The day hatch is a small third hatch accessible just behind the seat. As the name suggests, it's a place to store items that you might need quick access to, e.g., flares, first aid, GORP, or a camera. This is a feature that I have decided I can't live without!

3) Recessed deck fittings (RDFs). Deck fittings secure the deck lines and perimeter lines in place. These should be recessed into the deck, rather than protruding out from it.

4) No screw holes! One mark of a well made boat is that all the fittings are connected to molded brass inserts...there are no bolts coming through the kayak. Bolts can snag and tear dry bags. But they also can come loose, allowing water to enter your boat.

5) Skeg, Rudder, or None? This is the classic "less filling v. tastes great" debate of sea kayaking. Without getting into the relative merits of skegs and rudders, let me tell you that anyone who says that a rudder is necessary to turning doesn't know a thing about paddling! The truth is, both a rudder and a skeg are used for the same thing: to "trim" the kayak when paddling in a beam wind. This keeps the kayak on course. Turning is effected through proper paddle strokes and boat edging. Remember, 90% of the time, your skeg or rudder will not be deployed. With that in mind, it's up to you to determine whether during that 90% you'd prefer to have your stern end adorned with a sharp metal mechanical device rigged with steel cables or a nice skeg which won't slice and dice you like a tomato during rescues and surf landings! Any guess which side I'm on? ;)

6) Good hatch covers. This is what keeps the water out of your boat. If a hatch cover comes off too easily, that's not always a good thing. You don't want it popping off if a wave breaks on it, or if your scrambling up the side of your boat during a reentry. Kajaksport and Valley hatches are the best. See if pressure on the center causes the edges to pop off, or if you can accidentally pull the hatch off...if so, you may want to look at another boat. You can also check the seal buy putting water IN the hatch and tipping the boat upside down...if it leaks out, you've got a poorly fitting hatch.

7) Toggles. This seems simple enough, but this is one area where well-made boats stand out. Bow and stern toggles should run through the end of the bow and stern, rather than being bolted in with a fitting. A toggle running through solid plastic, or in the case of a fiberglass boat, solid resin block in the ends is less likely to fail. Toggles are used for hanging on to the boat during rescues, but they also end up being used for carrying the boat, tying off bow and stern lines, etc. You want a strong connection there.

8) Outfitting. You should feel like you're wearing your kayak, not sitting in it. To that end, thigh braces are a must. However, remember that outfitting (seat, thigh pads, etc.) can usually be adjusted to fit you or retrofitted with closed cell foam. Bolt-in (rather than molded in) seats can be removed to provide a lower center of gravity; back bands can be swapped out; hip pads added in. In other words, buy a kayak based on its hull, not how cushy the seat is. This is the least important part of your decision making!


USED BOATS: BUYER BEWARE

Buying a used boat can be a great cost saver. A kayak is a pretty simple machine...there's not a lot that can go wrong with it. However, there are some things to keep an eye out for.

Plastic boats
1) Look for deep gouges and excessive wear on the hull.
2) Examine all the bulkheads. If it's a foam bulkhead, it can easily be resealed with marine-grade silicon caulk.
3) Check for "oil-canning." These are permanent bulges on the hull of the kayak, usually from years spent cranked down on a rack.

Fiberglass or composite boats
1) Shine a flash light through the hull to look for thin spots or evidence of repairs.
2) Check the seam (where the deck and hull are connected by a piece of 2" fiberglass tape) to make sure it's intact.
3) Check the gel coat for chips, gouges, and cracks. Spider(star-shaped cracks) and hairline cracks are common in the gelcoat of fiberglass boats. This occurs when the boat flexes under stress (from loading, surf, or the weight of a paddler doing a jig on the back deck) and the gelcoat, which is less flexible than the fiberglass under it, gives. This is common over the bulkheads. However, a spider crack in the middle of the freeboard may suggest a collision, so be sure to inspect the glass behind it.
4) Check to make sure the bulkhead glass is intact.

All boats
1) Check the hatch covers. Rubber hatches should be pliable and fit tightly on the rims. If they appear cracked or are very loose, they are UV damaged and need to be replaced. If so, be sure the hatches are still available for that model. Most British boats use standard covers from Valley or Kajaksport, so that's easy. Many American manufacturers make their own hatches, so that could be tricky.
2) Check all lines for fraying. Deck elastics should snap tightly against the boat. Lines and elastics can easily be replaced.
3) If the boat is equipped with a skeg, make sure it deploys fully. If it has a wire skeg, examine the skeg cable both at the slider and at the skeg for evidence of past kinking. If it has kinked once, it's bound to do it again in the same location.