Plastic or Fiberglass?????

[Peter]

Ok I have been honing in on the kayak for me. I appreciate the helpful advice I have received so far. My last question (I think) is about materials. The salesman I spoke to today was pushing me heavily towards a plastic hull. I am not sure - those fiberglass boats look real nice. I don't plan on adding a lot of crap to my hull - trolling rodholders, depth finders, etc. I want to be able to travel fast and light out to Monomoy, out to Billingsgate, and to bring it to Ct or Maine to fish and explore there. I figure to carry a rod in the bungees, just a few flies and a water bottle. I think I will be getting out and wading as much or more than fishing from the kayak. I want a sporty fast responsive kayak that makes the trip out and back nearly as much fun as getting there. Am I crazy to be looking at fiberglass???????? Thanks

[notime]

The plastic is much more durable. I've had my plastic kayak fly off the roof of my car into the parking lot when a line broke and the only damage was a few scratches.

My two cents.

[Wes]

I have one of each. One required considerable investment, paddles really well, has great lines, fishes pretty good and needs some minor maintenance. The other was cheap, a pretty good paddle, gets dragged over dunes in the dark, banged over rocks, surfed, loaned, fishes real good, and presently has a wad of vaseline and duct tape inside the fore hatch that should get cleaned up.

They're different animals but I wouldn't part with either. The weight difference alone is significant, plastic is heavy.

You want a rod holder as a minimum, I would think, they are very handy and I think they help keep wear and tear on rods down.

I will always recommend SOT's for casual paddlers who don't want to put the time into practising self rescue often. There are pretty good perfomers in glass if you make the effort to seek them out.

[joev]

Plastic
First time you want to pull up on a rocky shoal you will know why.
First time you drop your yak you will know why.
Unless you plan on launching recovering and only getting out in sandy spots.
Plenty of good plastic touring boats out there.IF you just want to paddle it.If you plan on fishing in it you might want to consider something a bit wider to start off in.

JoeV

[FishHawk]

I would go with the plastic for a first yak. It can take a lot of abuse. However, it is heaver. There is no perfect boat. See how you do with the plastic and then go for the fiberglass. FishHawk.:D

[Peter]

Thanks - appreciate the good advice. Will start looking at plastic