The Human Probe and Sassy the Wonder Dog running Buttonhook on the Kipawa:
http://my.tbaytel.net/culpeper/Buttonhook.html
The interesting thing about Sassy is that she learned how to lean the boat for ferries, eddy turns and side surfs.
We don’t carry the illusion in stock at my store, so I don’t have much experance with it… However, Perception and Wilderness tend to make boats very similar, so I imagine it to be very similar to the Tarpons. You are correct in looking for boats at least 12 feet in length. Its a good all around length, long enough that you can take it into bays and the ocean, but not so long that you can’t do creeks and lagoons. Also it should be alot easier to get up to speed vs a 9 foot boat, but you sacrifice some of the easy turning ability. Also anything shorter then that tracks horribly.
awwww, Sassy is totally cool!
she’s way too big for what I was thinking about.
I work for a company that has a new rec-boat (sit-in) that sounded like it might be something you might consider. 12’6" long, roomy cockpit 39" x 18.5", good for calm water… um lets see, a liftable 40 lbs… but I don’t see Sassy being comfortable in the rear hatch, although from the looks of the pic’s she could just balance on top!
Yep, you need two kayaks.
If you are handy and like a project, you can always build one
http://hosting.acegroup.cc/~brianm/kayak
My 17’3" kayak weighs about 40 pounds and eats tupperware boats for breakfast!
Not very good for a dog tho (unless you did something in the rear hatch area).
Brian
Well, Sassy is in the link Muffin provided – and a fine looking dog too! I’m amazed at those pictures, Muffin! What’s Sassy standing on for footing??
I currently have two dogs that might be candidates for kayaking: Ivan (Australian Shepherd mix, 42 lbs and abt 20" at the shoulder) and Bouncer (Australian Shepherd, 48 lbs and abt 23" at the shoulder.)
N9IWP, I’ve decided that I’m not going to have enough time to do that kind of building in this lifetime, alas. Your boat looks awesome. I’m very impressed!
[hijack] BTW, N9IWP, we had a storm pass through north Georgia tonight. I was out in the car listening to Sky Warn net helping to keep the weather service folks up to date on conditions in various parts of the city. Ham radio is still cool.
[/hijack from N4KMX]
The Human Probe’s great ponderous . . . well, you know.
She would sit in the cockpit on top of the spray skirt, with her front paws on the front of the cockpit rim.
In the FWIW catergory…
I just bought my first kayak after researching for quite some time. My situation was similar to archergal’s in that: I want to use it on the calm river near my house AND in the semi-open water “down the (Jersey) shore” and at my house in Maine; I needed to be able to carry it myself (40-ish female); I didn’t want to spend a fortune (composites, etc.). Only thing, I don’t have a dog (at present) so that wasn’t a consideration.
Here’s what I bought (Perception Carolina 14.5), and why:
- long enough to track reasonably well in calm water and be stable in choppy water
- light enough for me to carry short distances and lift onto my car
- both fore and aft hatches/bulkheads - good for storage and flotation
- can accomodate a rudder kit (don’t have this yet, but will be nice for rougher water)
- other nice accessories such as grab handles, deck rigging and thigh braces
- as a “year old” model, it was on sale - only $550.
Basically it seemed a good all-around novice/intermediate boat.
The shortcomings are:
- Though it’s very stable once you’re inside, getting in and out are tricky (true with most sit-ins)
- The cockpit might be too narrow for a larger/wider person (but works for me)
Also, didn’t Perception recently buy Wilderness Systems? So I would assume that their boats are similar, as Mr. Barry states.
wireless, I’ve read some good review re the Carolina, and they’re pretty easy to find locally, I think. And they’re purty too. 
Next week when I’m at the beach, I’m going to check out any kayaking places in the general vicinity and try as much as I can.
Another thing: transporting the beasts on the car. Am I going to have to shell out another couple of hundred bucks to get a car top rack (e.g. Thule or Yakima), or are there reliable but less expensive solutions? Neither of our cars has a factory rack.
The Caralina is a very nice boat, but I haven’t recommended it because it’s a day-touring boat, not a rec boat. The touring boat doesn’t really have the roam for the dog to chill out anywhere. Otherwise its not quite as stable as most rec-boats (who tend to be extremely wide, being made for first time paddlers). Still its not so bad that you can’t put a beginner in it. A big benefit to getting the caralina is this: when you buy a rec boat, it’s like buying a bike with training wheels. Ones you can’t really remove. With the caralina’s you get a boat that you can still use as a beginner, but it well grow with you as you get more into paddle sports. If you get one, get it without the rudder, that well easily add $150+.
Peception has recently bought Dagger. Pretty much the only boats that Daggar makes now that are worth while are the ones that are identical clones to Peception. With those two companies it’s really become a Dodge vs Plymouth. Wilderness is still it’s one company but for them you can say its a Ford vs Dodge thing… they make alot a car similar to each other, designed to compete with one and other.
Racks make for easier loading, but generic fitted foam pads will do the job if you are careful in how you tie down the boat. An old blanket will do in a pinch.
Wish I read this before posting my last reply… The roof racks can be really expensive, but worthwhile. If you do other sports besides kayaking (skiiing, fishing, biking, etc.) each company makes a wide range of kits. The bare racks for each company (Thule and Yakima) run in the $200-$300 range. If you shell out that money, comfort yourself buy knowing you can use it for other things as well. At the very least think of it as protecting your investment in your boat.
A cheaper alternative is a foam block kit. These work with or without a factory rack. At my store they’re only $56. This are good to use if you only move you boat every once and a while, but since I have alot of experance loading up boats with these kits I’ll let you know: they are an extreme pain in the ass, esp. in higher winds. IF thats still to much for you, try turning the boat upside down and put her on your roof. Buy some straps(for the Love Of All That Is Good, not bungys) and run them through the door frame.
Racks? We don’ need no stinkin’ racks! 
The fellow who paddled the ski hill with me had a Nissan pickup. Thanks to the creative use of some saplings, we loaded it for an hour long shuttle on the Kipawa with eighteen wild water paddlers, their eighteen boats, paddles and gear for all, a shuttle bunny, and of course Sassy the Wonder Dog. No one fell off.
When using foamies (which I prefer to avoid doing), I thread cord through them to belt them to the boat, rather than the vehicle, and then I mount the boat on the vehicle. That way the foamies don’t blow off, but I only have to tie down the boat fore and aft.
Ok, did anybody else think “clown car!” (or truck) when they read this???
Thanks for the hilarious mental image!
Yup, that’s what I was (erroneously) recalling. Thanks for clearing that up.
Also, thanks for the vote for the Carolina. I like it a lot. And even though I’m more “rec” than “touring” myself, I thought this was a good choice given the differing types of environments I plan to use it in and that I want to have it for a while. It seems most rec boats I would outgrow too quickly. Thought the same might be true for archergal, although only she can tell, of course.
I’m still using the little foam “rack” at present (less than $50 at kayak store I go to 
), but plan to buy the accessory for my Thule once I can get it shipped to me from Colorado. The foam rack works OK, but is a PITA to set up AND it deforms (temporarily) the boat if it gets too hot and it’s up there too long! (Fortunately I’m mostly going the 5 blocks from my house to the river, so it’s OK.)
5 blocks! Color me jealous!!!
Mr. Barry: I suppose you must work for the Jersey Paddler, eh? I don’t get down there very often, but I do make it to Paddlesports most every year.
Are you a flatwater boater yourself, or do you paddle whitewater?
Oh–I forgot to say–
I’ve loaded many a boat onto many a roof. As others have said, those foam blocks work, but they’re a pain. If you’re going to boat regularly, you’ll want a rack.
In either case, get yourself some decent straps. These are my favorites. Your local shop should have something similar.
I’m a whitewater paddler, but I’ve done my share of flatwater, too, so here’s some advice:
Sit-on-tops are fun and all, but performance-wise, they suck. You will always be sitting higher out of the water than a similar hardboat, and it also has to be wider. Wider is not better. Also, leg straps will never give you the same kind of control as the thigh braces inside of a regular kayak. (Make sure that you buy the boat from a store that will do custom outfitting inside your boat to make it fit right.)
Come to think of it, I’ve also spent a lot of hours in recreational kayaks. I guess I blocked out the memories. They’re just fine for the first-timer or someone who only spends a half-hour at a time in her boat. But beyond that. Gack! They suck! They’re so wide that you can’t paddle them without knocking your thumbs on the side. You can’t exert any control with your legs and hips. And they are slow and not particularly maneuvarable. It’s like trying to paddle a bathtub. I think someone like you (some paddling experience, wants to paddle regularly) would become frustrated with a recreational kayak very quickly.
I disagree that sit-on-top’s necessarily are wider. There is a great variety out there. The spud boats most retailers carry are wide and slow, be they sit-on-top or sit-inside, but there are also some terrific designs out there. Some sit-on-tops are high performance speedsters that have beams similar to Olympic sprint racing kayaks (e.g. about as wide as your hips) - - most about 17 or 18 inches, and some down to 15 or 16 inches. Check out what it winning surf ski races and you will see what I am talking about.
I also disagree that higher seats are a bad thing. For a beginner, a low seat is good, for the lower one is in the boat, the more stable one will be. However, for a more advanced paddler, a higher seat helps provide leverage for the forward stroke. Thus when I first put paddler in a sprint racing kayak, I first remove the seat entirely. As they progress, I sit them up on a PFD, and then on a seat with a low rise or a couple of inches, and then a seat with a high rise of several inches.
For folks who want a zippy boat, but who are either not able or not interested in developing god balance skills, outriggers should be considered. There are some delightful outrigger canoes out there. Outrigger kayaks are few and far between, but John Winters has designed a recreational outrigger kayak (e.g not a speedster) which uses two small amas.
The only thing I can tell you about kayaks is that you never, ever pronounce it ‘kooyak’ in polite Inuktitut company.