boat recommendation

[wgonfan]

I'm looking for a pair of Sit in Kayaks for Myself and my GF. Our main use will be local flat water and occasionally some Class I-II river stuff. No serious whitewater or creekin'. This all started because She's bored and unmotivated with running and cycling and is looking for a more entertaining/interesting way to get outside and exercise and I've talked her into kayaking. I'm thinking something around 6' - 8' would be just about right. Something a little more advanced than the Old Town Otter kayaks. I do want to be able to teach her to roll in this boat just incase we get more advanced at some point. We are both 5'6" 140lbs.

So.. I need y'alls advice. Can you recommend a boat, and/or tell me what kind of specs I should be looking for? Also, if anyone has any used boats that would be a good fit I'm certainly interested.

I've looked at thePelican Pursuit 100 and the 80 DLX 8' . Does any one have any opinion on these two?

I'll admit, i'm looking for some cheap boats.I'm not completely worried about comfort because we wouldn't be paddling more than an hour at a time right now and if comfort becomes problem i'm confident that I could rig something up. I really just don't know how long she will stick with it so I don't want to invest too much right now. We can always upgrade later if this goes well.

[Edgar]

Well I started last fall in a 10.5' Dagger and my son in a 11' Ventor, they were great boats to learn in. We recently got into a Liquid Logic CR 125 and a Liquid Logic XP9, we love them both.

[Cowper]

Our main use will be local flat water and occasionally some Class I-II river stuff. No serious whitewater or creekin'.

I'm thinking something around 6' - 8' would be just about right. Something a little more advanced than the Old Town Otter kayaks. I do want to be able to teach her to roll in this boat just incase we get more advanced at some point.

If your main use is flatwater and Class I-II, I'd suggest a longer boat, probably 9 feet or longer. Short boats turn easily, but don't track as well and thus are not as good for longer float trips. On the other hand, the short boats are usually lighter and easier to load. There are trade-offs either way you go.

I rarely say things are "impossible", but I've never heard of anyone first learning to roll in a boat like the Pelican or the Otter. There are two major problems:
1) The large, user friendly cockpits are good for a purely recreational boat, but do not allow you to "lock in" to the boat with your knees, which is a "must" if you want to roll the boat. With the larger cockpit, you will simply fall out as soon as the boat turns over.
2) The "recreational" designs are wider and more stable than the classic whitewater boats. This makes them BOTH a) harder to turn over, and b) harder to roll back up if you do turn over (and impossible if it is a "giant cockpit" design)

Since one boat can't be BOTH extremely stable to the same degree as a recreational design, and easy to learn to roll, just decide what you really want for right now. It sounds like you're actually already done that, so just recognize that if you really want to pursue learning to roll later, you may need a different boat when that time comes.

You didn't say where you were located. If anywhere near LR, and you're really interested in learning to roll, drop by the Wednesday night roll sessions at UALR, watch a few folks working at it, talk to some, and maybe jump in a borrowed boat for a little bit. The sessions are open to anyone who is 1) Student, staff, or employee of UALR, or 2) Arkansas Canoe Club member. A very small percentage of folks can "teach themselves" to roll; the vast majority of folks learn much faster if they have someone to hold their hands and walk them through the process.

[wgonfan]

Thanks for the input. After getting an up close and personal look at the Pelican I quickly realized exactly what you are saying about the cockpit and inability to roll in it. It's got a real shallow lip too so it doesn't look like it would even hold a skirt well. I think I'm probably just going to drop a little more cash and go with something like the LL remix, I think it will work out great for us. Still hoping I'll find a killer deal on a used boat.