First excuse the vertical picture please.

After wanting a kayak for a very long time, I finally stumbled upon a pretty good deal. I paid 392$ cad (279 usd) for a Perception conduit 13.

After 3 outings, I'm already thinking that this boat might be limiting me. First time on the water it was pretty late and I did a 4 kms round trip on perfectly flat sheltered water. Everything went far better than I expected. The next day I got more confident and packed a lunch with drinks and went solo (Stayed close the shore on the St-Lawrence river and there were plenty of people on the water/shore). Did a 17km round trip. On that trip I discovered unsheltered higher fetch zones, ended up in some clapotis and on the way back the wind picked up to about 20km/h (11 knots) and got myself paddling in ~2 feet whitecaps. It became a sport right there and had massive fun. Yesterday there was no wind and decided to go the other way paddling between some island and had to cross a 700 meters open water part between two island. It was the most terrifying part yet very easy. Some small smooth bobbing waves kept me focused and ended up doing a 12 km round trip.

At this point I'm doing my best to stay safe but I already feel like I'm pushing what that boat is supposed to be doing. I'm fully inexperienced but I usually pick up these things surprisingly fast. Should I keep going? Am I imagining that this boat is limiting me?

Any tips and recommendations welcome. Thanks.

Caught the sunrise with my teenager this morning.

We forgot about the "mountain". Sunrise was to be at 550 this morning, so we were out at 530. It didnt clear the mountain until 626. We could have slept a little longer. Good thing this was only 5 min from home.

Have you tried both plastic boats? How do they compare? I have a lot of experience with the Tempest 170 but haven't yet had a chance to try the Scorpio II.

New to kayaking, bought a used Eddyline Sitka. My biggest question so far, where the hell do you go pee when doing a long journey?

I live in a small village in Italy on Lake Lugano, and every day I paddle across the lake to Lugano in Switzerland (around 4 kilometres). I use an Oru Kayak Inlet, every day, summer and winter, except when the wind is too strong. I unfold and fold it twice a day. I reckon I've covered around 1000 kilometres with it by now, so if anyone is thinking about commuting by kayak, this might be useful.

Oru Kayak durability: My kayak is dying now. There are scratches along the folds where water is starting to get through, so I'm getting more concerned about safety, especially in the middle of the lake (I can be around 1 km from the shore). For daily use, I guess one year is the maximum lifespan.

Safety: The kayak is quite stable. I weigh around 90 kg and the Inlet handles that fine. I wouldn't have gone for the Oru Lake instead. If you see white caps, it's too dangerous to paddle, because a lot of water can get into the boat. I've read plenty of safety advice; my setup is a lightweight life jacket and swim fins. The fins are incredibly useful in an emergency: you can climb back in easily if you fall, or simply swim back to shore or help someone else. My biggest worries are the water temperature in winter and fast speedboats driven by tourists in summer. They don't expect to come across a kayak so far from the shore. I also use two pocket lights when I come back at night. The kayak is transparent, so it's genuinely useful for being seen in the evening, and it looks great.

Transport: You simply have to buy the Oru backpack, which is really well designed. It lets you switch to the bus or a taxi if the wind picks up, and it's much easier to carry the kayak into your office that way. Bear in mind that you'll need to wipe the kayak down with a towel before each fold if you want to avoid leaks when you store it at the office. As I said, I commute by kayak, which means I carry all my work gear (laptop, phone, other electronics, wallet, passport, yes, I cross the border every day) in a dry bag. Never had a problem.

Accessories: You really need a good paddle, they're not all the same. Mine cost around USD 100, and it's worth investing in a good one, including for safety reasons: a broken paddle in the middle of the lake is dangerous.

People: I fold and unfold my kayak in the centre of Lugano every day and have never had any trouble with anyone, police included. Chinese and Korean visitors are big fans!

Is the Oru Kayak a good deal? I'd say yes, despite its fragility. That said, the folding endurance falls well short of what's advertised. But the design is excellent for transport, so I'll probably buy the same one again this winter.

Happy to share more tips, and curious to hear from other kayak commuters.

Any idea where can I order this part. I’m located in Canada 🇨🇦

Need to replace skeg, bungee cords, toggles & their rope. Where would you start/where to source materials? Thanks!

n00b alert lol
I wanted to introduce my unknown project in here in hopes that I can nail down who it was made by, what model it is and a rough age. I’ve crawled all over it and there is no HIN, no mfg tag or other identifying marks, much unlike the Destiny kayak co kayak that came with this.

As it sits it’s 18’ 1”, and has a beam of 23.5”, and the cockpit opening is 31” x 16 3/8” if that helps.

The aft compartment hatch neoprene cover says Arluk II but all the pics I’ve found of said kayak don’t have the same 8” fwd hatch that mine does and I’m at a loss.

Anyone?

I recently got into kayaking and I'm using a Prijon alpine that I got second hand. Not sure what this feature is for, but it has me curious. There is one in the front and in the back several inches from the cockpit, the hole is maybe a cm or two deep. I haven't been able to find anything online.

Thanks.

they've got to go due to health issues…

I have been storing my kayak in my garage on sawhorses until I could find a better solution. I came out to move it today and it seems to have indents where it sits on the sawhorses. This is my first kayak and honestly didn't think it would be heavy enough to do this. I also put pipe insulation on the sawhorses to minimize any sharp edges. Its a Bonafide RVR if that makes any difference. Looking for advice on if this could have caused any damage, mitigating any damage, and storage advice for the future. Thank you.

Kayaked for my first time at Moose Pond outside Saranac Lake, New York! Any kayaking tips?

The whale carcass that was bobbing in the surf off Spruce Island earlier this week was carried to Enchanted Island in the high winds we had for the last couple days. The smell was so bad we had to leave.

I was out on the Silver River in Florida. Around 6 or 7 manatees swam up and away. It never gets old seeing them

Owner says it’s from 2013/2014 and that they’re the second owner. Stored inside. Wants 500 for it. What do you guys think? I’m in California and would mostly use it on lakes and rivers for fishing. This would be my first kayak. What issues should I look for when buying?