Kayak suggestions?

Look for a nearby / local kayak rental, and test paddle - if she is uncomforatble at 10 minutes, try another style. best of luck

Like Lump mentioned, the Pungo is nice. A buddy of mine has the Pungo 120 (12'). The longer boats will track a little straighter in general, but they are heavier. Sit-on-top versions are even heavier than that. My friend says the Pungo has a decent V-hull so the shorter ones track well for a short boat. If you have an REI around, it may be worth it to rent a boat or two- they do that at some stores. But be warned: that same friend of mine rented two at once and bought both :) Yeah, I kinda wish I had the 12', but oh well. I have a roof rack and J-hooks too that fit on top of my truck (Ford Sport Trac) and I can haul it anywhere. I can get it up and down myself, but it would be difficult from someone smaller (I'm 6'1 and about 220). Plus my kids are small enough that I can fit them one at a time in the back cargo area for a little ride! :D

That will work fine but be advised some people we talked to had a Perception with a similur seat with the hinge like thing on the seat and it broke and they had trouble getting a new seat, I dont know if they got it fixed yet, I dont like the look of the Vapours seat. The 9.5 Perception Swifty has a simpler seat that is cheap to replace when it breaks and if you get out of the kayack and sit on the seat it will break in time. (the sit in kayaks are harder to get out of). Look up kayak seats breaking on google. Look for seat replacements and cost. The sit on tops have a molded in seat and also a generic seat of fabric that fits a lot of them.

Thank you for the responses. They are very helpful. I went over to ***'s Sporting Goods the other night and they have an Old Town Vapor (10') for about $300. It looks decent enough. Does anyone have any experience or thoughts on this model? In Kayaks, you will get what you pay for. I'd look on Craigslist for a used one or a specialty shop (some also sell used) before going to a Big Box retailer. You can always turn them around and sell it and do well on the back end of things too. Here is the view on mine:

Thank you for the responses. They are very helpful. I went over to ***'s Sporting Goods the other night and they have an Old Town Vapor (10') for about $300. It looks decent enough. Does anyone have any experience or thoughts on this model?

Thank you for the responses. They are very helpful. I went over to ***'s Sporting Goods the other night and they have an Old Town Vapor (10') for about $300. It looks decent enough. Does anyone have any experience or thoughts on this model? Geeky - my experience is that there is a direct correlation between the length of the boat and the speed at which you can paddle. We have three sit on top kayaks, which we take to Lake Tahoe (among other places) every summer. The big two are Wilderness Systems Tarpon 140s (14'). The little one is a Wilderness System Ripper (8'). Our kids learned to paddle at age 5 in the big boats. They found them tough to turn at first, but liked the straight-ahead speed. The little boat turns on a dime, but is very squirrelly to paddle straight and fast. The Ripper cost us about $300 (season end sale) and the Tarpons about $650 each (ditto on the sale). They are all indestructible, and as long as you care for the hull a bit each year (we use Aerospace 303 spray). I don't know about Old Town boats, but Wilderness are fantastic.

Thank you for the responses. They are very helpful. I went over to ***'s Sporting Goods the other night and they have an Old Town Vapor (10') for about $300. It looks decent enough. Does anyone have any experience or thoughts on this model?I don't know this model, but if price is the main consideration, that sounds good. You can always resell and not lose much money. In the event that she doesn't like it (for comfort, too wobbly, etc), she'll know what she wants in another boat. I don't think you can go too wrong with a $300 boat, in other words. Oh good, Lump posted his boat. This was mine a few years back- sold it because I was a bit too heavy for it and am still dreaming of another some day.

I love my Folbot Citibot! It assembles like a tent........frame then cover, and for someone who lives in a 2 bedroom Hollywood apartment with a husband, roommate, and two cats and drives a Nissan Versa, the portability can't be beat! I keep it in the trunk of my car for the most part, always on call should I find myself at the beach with someone to paddle it. There is a bit of a learning curve on the assembly, but after awhile it takes about 10 minutes to assemble and less to take it apart. Its small enough to pack on a plane and weighs 24 lbs, which means I can take it with me no matter where I'm swimming. Seeing as how you can spend a couple hundred dollars on kayak rental for a long swim, I think its well worth the money. I blogged about my kayak last week, complete with pictures for the curious. mallorymead.com/.../

Update - I ended up buying the Old Town Vapor. It was in the right price range, but most importantly, it was free shipping and no tax on Amazon. I had it delivered directly to the lake house, which is pretty much in the middle of no where. It took all of 10 seconds to master it. It was also extremely easily mastered by children from ages 8 to 12. In fact, my 12 year old escorted me for an hour after a 10 minute lesson. The handles are robust. The seat is probably the weak part so I fully anticipate it will suffer some from all the kid use. But, the hull is obviously indestructible and it has a cup holder. You can easily hang on the back of it on the handle and not disrupt the person inside when you take a break. I don't know how good this would be for the ocean as it isn't a sit on top and has a relatively flat bottom. But, it is perfect for lake use.