Kayaking takes many forms and you probably see a lot about kayak fishing and all that goes along with the sport but there are lots of other great ways to enjoy a kayak. One of our favorites is adventure kayaking but it seems to get a lot less attention. We wanted to dedicate today's blog to the topic and provide some information to those considering purchasing an adventure kayak.
First let's talk about what it means to adventure kayak. The image above is a kayak that was used to travel over 200 miles down the Colorado River. You can see the kayak is loaded with all the essentials to live "out of the boat" for several days. Adventure kayakers typically start in one location paddling through the day and sometimes fishing as they go. They will then stop at another location to spend the rest of the day and usually overnight to start the process over each day until the final destination is reached. The kayak is packed with everything the paddler will need to survive along the trip. If you have a love of camping, adventure kayak might just be the best way to take that love to the next level.
An adventure kayak needs to be able to accommodate and hold all of the required gear to complete the trip. Our best adventure kayak recommendation is the Crescent Kayak Crew 2+1.
Crescent Crew 2+1 Specs
- LENGTH 13'
- WIDTH 35"
- WEIGHT 79 LBS
- CAPACITY 600 LBS
As you can see the Crew 2+1 is a fairly large boat which you need for all of the gear needed for adventure kayaking. This kayak was designed to be a tandem kayak that converts to a single seat kayak just by removing one chair and moving the remain one to the center seat position. This gives you the weight capacity and stability needed for a two-person kayak while freeing up a ton of space for all that gear. The 13' length ensures a true tracking kayak and the 35" width really adds stability. But its the 79 pound empty weight that really makes the difference. A lighter kayak is easier to paddle while allowing a maximum capacity for adventure gear.
If the thought of getting an adventure kayak in Southport, North Carolina does not seem to match up with a 200 mile paddle adventure down a river consider the various options you have locally. The ICW expands the entire east coast of the USA and is traveled by boats daily. A great adventure kayak route could very well be starting in Southport or Oak Island and traveling south while staying on natural islands or even campgrounds along the way. All you need to do is research places to stay and then plan how far you need to travel each day. If that seems a little too adventurous perhaps your adventure is just a week on a local island completely unplugged with nothing but your kayak and camping gear. We would be happy to just take our spouse along in the Crew for a picnic on an island with a hammock and sound of the ocean.
Your adventure awaits my friend.