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Author Topic: Paddle Fiend Finds Friends  (Read 1346 times)

muchoshotts

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Paddle Fiend Finds Friends
« on: July 27, 2009, 03:57:24 PM »
Kayked for the first time in the Bahamas last year and started doing it in Memphis this spring. Now I'm hooked! I am from New Mexico, so the idea of being able to get to the water in less than 10 minutes is very exciting.

I rent from Mud Island and tool around in the Harbor on the weekends and have taken a class with Outdoors. Now I'm ready to get my own boat so I can go out whenever and wherever I want. Besides enjoying the freedom and a day outdoors, I really like the excercise and look forward to the comraderie. Any advice for someone who is very new at this is welcome!

Also, I'm looking at the Perception Tribute 10' because of the size (light weight and would fit on the MINI Cooper), would fit my current skill level but is something I could use as I advance, and it's a good price point. Any advice on this boat, other suggestions, considerations, etc?

Katie
« Last Edit: July 27, 2009, 04:06:01 PM by muchoshotts »
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mhoward

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Re: Paddle Fiend Finds Friends
« Reply #1 on: July 27, 2009, 05:01:42 PM »
Welcome Katie!

You picked a good place to live.  I have been on the Island for about 10 years now.

As for the boat, It sounds like you are looking for something to paddle around the harbor and the MS river?  If so you might not want to limit the size of the boat by the size of your vehicle.  The shorter the boat the slower it is going to be.  The longer the boat the faster it will be.  Your car would look great with a 18ft boat on top.

Some of the other guys that are more into touring boats can tell you more about them.

You should pick up an old cheap whitewater boat and come out to Shelby Farms and play BoatBall with us on Tuesdays.


Michael
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fendrstr22

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Re: Paddle Fiend Finds Friends
« Reply #2 on: July 28, 2009, 11:46:56 AM »
Welcome to the group!  I paddled the ghost section of the wolf for the first time last night after work, and it's my new favorite local spot to kayak!!!!
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DrSonny

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Re: Paddle Fiend Finds Friends
« Reply #3 on: July 28, 2009, 11:49:29 AM »
Welcome Katie:
     As Michael mentioned, there are a lot of factors to consider when picking a boat....the size of your car is not really one of them.  Of course, it would be nice to have a boat you can handle by yourself, but longer is faster.  If you anticipate paddling on the Mississippi, you will not be happy in a 10' boat.  If you live on Mud Island, you should hook up with Michael or Elmore and try some different types of boats before you decide.  It is not prohibitively expensive to keep your boat at the marina, which would make it easier to deal with a larger boat.  There are a lot of folks in this group who have long touring boats if you would like to try a few of them.  As Michael also mentioned, there are a lot of paddlers who play boatball at Shelby Farm on Tuesday night if you would like to try out a whitewater boat.  Another resource would be Elmore's wife, Martha.  She keeps a boat at the marina and paddles in the harbor a lot.  She has a group of "chick boaters."  I'm sure she'd love to recruit you to the group.
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Elmore

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Re: Paddle Fiend Finds Friends
« Reply #4 on: July 28, 2009, 12:32:59 PM »
     In fact, Martha and I keep several boats down at Harbortown Marina, and you're welcome to try out any and all of them.  Click on the e-mail envelope at left if you're interested.
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shamen

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Re: Paddle Fiend Finds Friends
« Reply #5 on: July 29, 2009, 02:44:15 PM »
Welcome Katie:
You have been given good advice. To give you an idea about size and speed on MR. I started in a 10' Dagger on the MR and it would take 70+ minutes to paddle from southern tip of Mud Island  up to mouth of the Wolf River, and it is basically 3 miles. Got a 16' foot plastic and was able to cut it to 55'. Got a 18' composite and cut it to 38'. Got a 21' carbon/kevlar and cut to 29'. Depends on what you want to do and how much you can spend.
Come out to Patriot Lake on Tues. it is a lot of fun.
Peace vincent/shamen
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muchoshotts

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Re: Paddle Fiend Finds Friends
« Reply #6 on: July 30, 2009, 11:29:43 AM »
Thank you guys so much for your posts and advice. I'm so lucky to have all this great advice, as it is clear I have no idea what I'm doing! I really appreciate the input- keep it coming. I'll keep asking questions. Really looking forward to meeting everyone and getting into the paddling community! Thanks again-
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mooney

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Re: Paddle Fiend Finds Friends
« Reply #7 on: August 07, 2009, 10:26:40 PM »
hello!
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