Design

The primary concern for most beginners is capsizing. Unplanned swims are worth thinking about, but should not be the only criteria. You also want a boat that will not be difficult to handle. A high performance kayak may be a little skittish - always trying to head off and do its own thing. This is because high performance boats respond to the slightest input, even if the inexperience paddler doesn't even know they did it. A well behaved boat for a beginner will not respond as quickly to inadvertent motions including those that might send you for a swim.

This means that boats that less maneuverable will tend to be easier for beginners and novices. For some people, a rudder will help compensate for less skill with steering strokes. But this points out one of the potential downsides of a "beginners" boat; since it does not require the skills to use it comfortably, it may slow down your learning process. This is fine if all you want to do is enjoy a little time out on the water without any aspirations for really becoming skilled. There is really no need to become a highly skilled paddler if you take care to stay clear of conditions which are beyond your abilities. If you intend to work on improving your skills, you may choose not to start out with a beginners boat, instead selecting a design that may be a little over your head at first. After all, you are only a beginner for a little while.

There are two ways of being larger, you could be tall and have trouble fitting into most kayaks, or you could be heavy and need a design with more displacement for efficient paddling. Tall paddlers may have trouble getting in and out of small cockpits. This can generally be mitigated by making the cockpit larger. If you are making your own boat, you can control the size of the cockpit opening. The other problem tall people can have is foot room. Big feet at the end of long legs can jam your feet down into the smaller part of the boat. Generally the kayak gets narrower and lower the farther forward you go. Long legs can make the problem of large feet worse as your feet end up in this smaller part of the boat.

Several of my designs are suitable for smaller paddlers. Which boat is really suitable still depends your experience level and what you want to do on the water. Generally you will want to look at the shorter boats, these boats will be lighter and easier to handle on and off the water. The shorter boats will be easier to maneuver.

Smaller paddlers will also more comfortable with narrower, less stable boats. This is because it is easier to reach the water if you don't have to get out beyond a wide beam. Also for many advanced techniques where leaning is desired, a lighter weight paddler will not have the mass to get a wider boat up on edge. Since a smaller paddler has less weight a boat designed for lower displacement will be more efficient and easier to handle.

This is probably the most frequently asked question and unfortunately, it is the hardest to answer. The right boat for you will depend on you. It depends on what you want to do, your experience level and your size. Before you ask for a recommendation you will need to think about what you need. Are you an experienced paddler who has gone out in all kinds of conditions, or are you someone who has never paddled before but want to build a boat? Do you like poking around in sheltered little ponds, or do you want to head out to an offshore reef?

One of the most important aspects of kayaking comfortably and easily is your paddle. An efficient kayak is of no use if the paddle you use is inefficient, or if you use your otherwise efficient paddle in an inefficient manner. A good paddle can make the worst boat seem better and good technique will get the most advantage out of the worst paddle.

The goal of the paddle is to push against the water so that the boat goes forward. This rather simple principle is not as simple as it seems because the water is a fluid that doesn't want to be pushed against. The act of trying to push against water tends to make the water move away from the force. And again, the goal is to make the boat move forward, making the water move backwards is a waste of effort.

"Tracking" has become a somewhat nebulous term when used in reference to sea kayaks. For most people it has something to do with how easily the kayak turns. In this context a boat with "good" tracking is one that is hard to turn and one that doesn't track tends to be easy to turn. Unfortunately, this tends to make people think a boat that is hard to turn is "good" or at least somehow better than one that is easy to turn. However, unless they are doing Olympic style sprint racing, most people do occasionally want to turn, and they would really prefer if it weren't too hard to do. When people talk about tracking they really want to know if they will have a hard time making their boat go where they want it to when they get caught out in a wind. If they have to struggle to maintain their course they think it is "bad", if it is easy to go where they want, it is "good". This quality of being easy to control in difficult conditions is only loosely related to how easy the boat is to turn.

The word "baidarka" is actually a Russian word. It is the diminutive form of "baidar" which means "boat" so "baidarka" means "small boat". In modern use in the United States, it has come to mean a skin on frame kayak of the type made by the Aleut peoples of Alaska. This usage probably stems from George Dyson's excellent book by that name Baidarka.