What kind of water and weight is my kayak made for?

Question

ok I just bought a perception dancer pro kayak from craigslist in great shape. I only taken it out on a choppy lake so far. when i paddle sometimes it seems it go in the compleatly oppisite direction. but do to my inexperiance it is probally me My other concern is my kayak also seems to sit alot lower in the water than most all kayaks ive seen. is this because my weight ( im 6 foot tall and 200 lbs) or is that how this type of kayak is. Im just wanting to know if i bought the wrong kind of kayak for me. I wanted a general purpose kayak that would be good in alot of differnt types of water

Answer 1

First, the Dancer is a whitewater kayak; in no way, shape, or form is it a general purpose kayak. General purpose WHITEwater kayak, yes.  So, yes, unless you intend to paddle class II/III/IV rivers and / or surf ocean waves, then you bought the wrong kayak.

A boat that is general purpose for a lot of different types of water doesn't actually exist.  Figure out what water is closest to your home, because that's where you'll be MOST of the time.  Buy a boat for that water.

The Dancer is made to turn easily for maneuvering in rapids.  If this is your first kayak, then call this one a learning experience.  The reason you can't control it is because of the amount of rocker this boat has.  I would suspect that only a very highly skilled paddler could make this boat go in a straight line on flat water.  And do agree with the previous poster, if you have the regular version of the Dancer, not the Dancer XT, then you are on the heavy side for it.  (It is rated for a max paddler weight of 198 pounds).

Is this you?  

http://www.paddling.net/message/showThre...

Looks like a really similar question if it isn't you... but the people on the message board tried to explain it all...

Good luck.

Answer 2

You are at the heavy end of this kayak's rated capacity. The next time you are in it, have someone note the 'balance'. Is it nose heavy or nose light? It should run slightly nose light. You may have to move the seat. One rater suggests it is good for through Grade II Whitewater. I think you need a bigger kayak. There is no reason for the kayak to not track except that it is out of 'trim' or subject to unskilled paddling. I suggest you take some lessons.

Answer 3

we had the perception dancer for many years! it is a kayak built for smaller people about 170 lbs at the most which my effect it. also do you have airbags or float bags? as for the multi puropse you chose a great boat. when you go in an  opposite direction it is probably becasue you lean to the other side when you are paddling. Before you do any major boating I would recommend a strokes and concepts DVD they are a great help in al aspects of boating.

Answer 4

it's hard to say. we have a couple of dancers in the club that we use for lng distance races.

the boat should support your weight. however the waterline shouldn't go more than halfway up the side of the hull. if there is water on your deck then you'd be too heavy. it's normal for the water to come over the top of the deck when paddling but if you start to pearl (your nose digs into the water) then it's a sure sign that its the wrong boat for you.

in terms of keeping the boat strsight. because its such a long boat it's harder to turn. but it's also hard to stop it turning. if your turning in the opposite direction of where you want to go, it's likely that you are leaning on the wrong edge of your boat. if you lean the boat towards the inside of the turn and are travelling fast enough it will turn itself. try to lean the boat but keep your upper body vertical. i.e. use your hips.

hope this helps you

Answer 5

we are using a double kayak and go every where in the ocean but keep close to the shore and wear our life jackets so cannot get into too much trouble. Also watch the weather and pick really calm days as our kayaks were on the basic side. We take only one if we are heading along the open coast line and after 6 hours of rowing (paddling) you do get a bit tired. Last trip I was so tired I didn't eat my share of the pizza ---now that is tired ! but lots of excitement helps when there are 2 of you. My camera really good as water resistant and not expensive so can down load pictures of our trip and check them out. Saw a colony of seals last trip so that was awesome. Our kayaks were just inexpensive but serve our purpose just fine---they are just the most basic perhaps will upgrade in the future but seem really tough so not a necessity