Hi Wayne, I'm glad you stated your intentions a little better. It's obvious there are a lot of whitewater paddlers on this list, which I think is good. Both sports benefit substantially from crossover. Your intention to improve your skill and reflexes will be admirably served by learning how to surf in a whitewater or surf-specific craft. There is just so much that can be learned from using a boat that is responsive to both good and bad technique. Sea kayaks are just too long and unwieldy in the surf for real learning, in my opinion. Although it is necessary to practice with them in surf, you will learn more in a shorter boat. Given your size, I would recommend one of two craft. An Ocean Kayaks Yakboard, which is a wide but nimble surf-only sit-on-top, is the best possible craft for learning how to surf in a kayak. Stable enough to have confidence right from the start, but nimble enough on the wave to really learn about edging, cutbacks, turns, and sidesurfing. This is the boat that George Gronseth uses in his surf classes. They are fairly cheap too, and probably can be found for around $400 used. But they are hard to roll, and don't require a roll anyway. This could limit your confidence, since one of the best reasons for getting into the surf is to develop confidence in rolling. Your confidence will be vastly improved after you get it through your head that you can just keep cool when capsized until the wave calms down, and *then* roll up. Any rolling situation on the open ocean is going to be a lot easier than a rolling situation in the surf. As far as whitewater kayaks are concered, if you go this route, absolutely buy a boat with low volume stern and sharp chines. Anything else is a waste of time in the surf, and your learning potential will be severely limited. You should look for a boat that is larger and fits your body well; you probably don't want to sacrifice comfort for performance like I do. There are so many whitewater boats that fit this billing for larger folks, but the most common are probably the Wavesport Z, Inazone 240, and Dagger Redline. You should pay around $500 for these used. An RPM, is probably the best option for a displacement hull. Cheers, Kevin ----------------------------------------------------------------- Kevin Whilden Your Planet Earth kevin_at_yourplanetearth.org http://www.yourplanetearth.org voice: (206) 788-0281 fax: (206) 788-028 ----------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Feb 28 2001 - 14:18:03 PST
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