Greetings all. Sort of new to this sport. Quick back story: Been out a couple times many years ago on friends boats, had  a blast. Recently bought a house on a small lake (lake stickney) and have been itching to get a kayak. Ended up getting a free Jackson Mega Rocker last week, and even though I've just been dinking around on boring lakes, I'm loving it. Want to start getting into some light river runs.

Soreye,

Awesome to hear that your getting all jazzed up. The real beginner runs don't get posted to much, and to be real honest your going to have to do the leg work to get folks out there with you. Here are a few suggestions.

First try and stay away from even super easy runs that don't have clear nice banks. If you do flip over you don't want to have to wrestle through blackberries or other stuff to get your boat out etc..

Rivers that I would recommend. The lower Cedar River for sure. Check out the stretch from the Renton Carco Theater/water park down to lake washington. That is super calm and easy to get out from any place, not to mention close to town. Another one of course is the lower skykomish.

If your keen on meeting alot of people come out to the Ball in two weeks. Loads of solid boaters and even going down the river in a raft is going to help build the stoke and understanding of whitewater features and river reading. As a bonus often times a group will do a fun float in leavenworth which is a great stretch to learn on class I - III of course you can easily cut out the class III and make it shorter for just the I-II stuff.

Just Ideas, welcome and remember don't loose steam as you learn your roll, it all takes time, and is a blast no matter where your at!!!

218 290 1834 give me a call/text or PM when you've got all your gear and are ready to get out on the river.

The Ball link is here - http://www.professorpaddle.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10544.  I second the WKC (Washington Kayak Club) recommendation, that is how I got from II to comfortable on IIIs, and from there you'll find more runs on this site.

Ditto for me...828-337-4508...boating is mainly learned by doing and all you need is some company. Good boat to learn in and stay in, that rocker. Part of getting off to a good start is good early gear selection. There is a lot of variety on the market when you shop around, but there are some general standard items that many/most folks use. If you need any opinions or advice on gear selection, give me a call.

Jim

Soreye,

Also, another question (I'm just full of em!): Tonight I'd like to attend a pool session to practice rolls, however my spray skirt hasnt arrived yet. Does it make sense to go without the spray skirt? I'm not sure if I roll over, that I'll just be scooping up tons of water on the way out. Since I have a few business trips in the near future, tonight is really the only night I'll be able to go to the pool session so I dont want to miss out - but I also don't want to waste my time if my roll practice efforts are in vain.

Originally posted by Soreye

Would love reccommendations on a helmet if you have one. This may be a shot in the dark, but it would be nice to find a helmet that works great for both snow ski and kayak - not sure if such a product exits or if there is even much difference between the two.

 

 

Sweet makes both ski and WW helmets.