learn to kayak

we will be kayaking and snorkeling.
Yay!

How much length and width do I need to place the kayak inside the car between the bucket seats and still have room for Frogette’s car seat and the box with the inflatable kayak and the accessories on either side?

Hello, 43T kayakers!

I am in the market to buy a small, used kayak that will fit inside my Honda Element when I take out the back seat.

Does anyone have any advice or suggestions? How much money do you think is reasonable to spend?

We are too heavy for all three of us to go in the inflatable kayak together, so I want to, despite our current unpredictable financial situation, break our budget and buy a used kayak.

The conditions are:
I want it to be small enough to fit in the Element. I know that the small ones are harder to steer, but I really don’t want to mess with securing a kayak to the top of the car when we already have the Element which will easily fit a small kayak inside.
Also, it has to be cheap, since even my willingness to make this out of budget expenditure is limited by the money we actually have. Even if I put it on a credit card, I eventually have to pay for it.

So, I need to start looking on Craig’s list or something like that.

Anyone reading this have advice to give me on brands or other factors for buying a small, used kayak?

Frog and I took the inflatable kayak out to the state park on the bay. The water in the bay looks so calm from the shore, but in reality, there was enough current to make it difficult for us to steer very well.

That was okay, though, since the current was carrying us towards shore. So we just let ourselves float and spin as much as we wanted to until we got too close to shore, at which time we paddled as hard as we could until we were in deeper water again. The rocking motion of the small waves near the shore was like a calm but fun amusement park ride, and it was a lot of fun to see the seagulls and terns flying at head level right past us over the water.

Next time, though, it’s back to the river.

When Frog heard what a wonderful time I had on the river kayaking, he reminded me that I had bought him an inflatable kayak many birthdays ago. So today, my last day of my week off from work, we pumped some air into the thing and went on a lovely excursion.

It is amazing to me that this entry point to the river is so close to our house. It is a tiny entry, right off the major street with noise and traffic, narrow and shallow and not very attractive: and then, you paddle under the bridge, and in less than a quarter of a mile, you are in quiet, green, cool, deep, birdy paradise.

The inflatable was so much harder to steer properly than the fancy kayak I used for my last trip. We kept on over-steering and narrowly missing low branches. But we had a wonderful time, very romantic, and I can’t wait to go again!

I went kayaking yesterday on the little nearby river with a small group. It was marvelous. We started just at low tide, so the birds were feeding everywhere. Great white egrets, cormorants, and American oyster catchers were just a few that were pointed out to me. The weather was wonderful, the companionship was fantastic, and I didn’t capsize even once! (My steering left a little to be desired, but there wasn’t too much out there that I could actually hit, so no problem). I’ve been invited to go again, and I can’t wait.

I’ve been invited to go kayaking on July 3 with a small group that has an extra kayak. I won’t be the only beginner either. I can’t wait!