necky spike?

Hi, I'm trying to buy my first kayak, something cheap (<$500) and seaworthy on calm days. I came across an old Necky Spike (12 ft) for a very good price. Would this be a good starter boat for a complete newbie? I'd be using it for ab diving/fishing/photography along the coast. Any other recommendations for kayaks to try? I'm about 125-130 lb, 5'4" with a low center of gravity, and prefer performance over stability.

Though it looks like it might work, there are most likely better options for that $500 & less price range. IMHO

You might want to consider something a bit longer & do consider stability of you plan on ocean and.or fishing from it.

In general, longer boats like a Ocean Kayak Prowler 15 or Wilderness Systems Tarpon 160i will be faster and offer you more storage space for fishing and diving gear. If those are too long or heavy, try Prowler 13 or Tarpon 140. All these boats can be bought used for cheap.

I wouldn't recommend a spike to most people but given your weight it's a good boat. They are however quite tippy and somewhat difficult to fish from because of this. My wife had a spike and I had a dolphin for a while and we really enjoyed paddling them.

My old school prowler 15 is however much better for fishing. The spike and dolphin paddle great and are plenty stable under power but get kinda twitchy when you are drifting. Not the end of the world and can be countered by throwing your legs over the side for stability.

If it's cheap try it out and if you don't like it you can always all it.

-Eliot

Thanks for all the advice!

I just picked up a Necky Dolphin with a rudder and seat, in good condition, for $200 off Craigslist-- probably should have demo'd some kayaks first but the deal was too good to pass up. I hope it's a good fit... going to try it out this weekend someplace calm.

Otter, do you think the Dolphin would work well with someone my size? Aside from being longer, is it pretty much the same as the Spike?

I know that Dan at the Headwaters kayak shop is a huge fan of the Dolphin. I think it sounds fantastic for a person your size. Great deal on a real sweet boat.

Thanks for all the advice!

I just picked up a Necky Dolphin with a rudder and seat, in good condition, for $200 off Craigslist-- probably should have demo'd some kayaks first but the deal was too good to pass up. I hope it's a good fit... going to try it out this weekend someplace calm.

Otter, do you think the Dolphin would work well with someone my size? Aside from being longer, is it pretty much the same as the Spike?

Yes the dolphin is a great boat it's just tippy. Actually the secondary stability isn't bad. I think it will be better for someone your size for sure. Take it out and get comfortable on it. Practice paddling reentry etc without gear at first. Once your comfortable add some gear by keep it minimal to minimize loss if you flip.

Better yet take one of the surf classes that are mentioned here from time to time.

Have fun and good luck!

-Eliot

Thanks for all the advice!

I just picked up a Necky Dolphin with a rudder and seat, in good condition, for $200 off Craigslist-- probably should have demo'd some kayaks first but the deal was too good to pass up. I hope it's a good fit... going to try it out this weekend someplace calm.

Otter, do you think the Dolphin would work well with someone my size? Aside from being longer, is it pretty much the same as the Spike?

Great price on that Dolphin!  I think I saw that on CL and was tempted to pick up another.  FWIW, I paid about $150 more for mine, and absolutely feel I got my money's worth. 

Given your size, I think you'll really like the Dolphin.  I'm 6' and am around 190lbs, and for me it's a wet ride.  A lot of fun, but definitely not dry.  I think if I were 50# lighter, it'd be pretty dry, and still fairly easy to paddle.  I'd looked at the spikes and the dorados, but figure they're too short for salt, and I'd probably sink 'em.  So far, for me, the Dolphin's been a good starter fishing platform.

Otter's right on the money about the stability: primary stability is pretty minimal, secondary stability is pretty good.  The only times I've actually gone over in it have been intentionally during a safety class, and once when my nephew was trying to climb onto it with me in it (he'd swamped his sit-in) during an assist.  Not hard to re-enter, either.  It's also a pretty quick paddle compared to many SOT kayaks, nearly as fast as my SIK, faster than any SOT I've been around, except for the Hobies.  Hard for me to keep up with the mirage drives.

Tip: the 6-pack style coolers sold at home depot fit the square cut-out above the tankwell nearly perfectly.

If you find it's not to your liking, drop me a line; I'd be inclined to take it off your hands for what you paid

My first fishing yak was a dolphin man i loved that boat.
I'm only about 145 (then), and my only complaint was hull slap in chop. That thing surfs the best of any yak I've owned (scupper, prowler, AI, some OK tandem)

Stability is fine, it's not some battleship for sure, but you'll figure it out. I never learned to hang my legs off the side, and it's probably because of that yak.

My first fishing yak was a dolphin man i loved that boat.
I'm only about 145 (then), and my only complaint was hull slap in chop. That thing surfs the best of any yak I've owned (scupper, prowler, AI, some OK tandem)

It's funny what difference the weight makes.  I find at my heavier state of being, there's no hull slap at all.  Of course, that just could be the hull not being able to lift out of the water

On the OK Frenzy I had for a couple of weeks when I first started (definitely the wrong boat for me), this thing's dead silent.  The Frenzy would drive me nuts within 5-10 minutes, even on a fairly calm lake.

So I took the Dolphin out for the first time at San Pablo reservoir this weekend, and wow it's a fun little boat! I get what you guys mean about the primary/secondary stability-- it felt a little wobbly at first, but I had to lean very far to actually tip the thing over, and had no problem re-entering. The seat was pretty dry but the footwells stayed wet. When my boyfriend (he's about 5'11, 165) tried it, he found it unstable and was almost knocked over by some small waves.

After I flipped the Dolphin a couple times (for testing purposes!) I noticed there was water in the hull, something between a quart and a gallon. I paddled it another hour or two, and I don't think it took on any more water. Is this normal? If not, how do I fix it?

I'm starting to get what you all mean with "welcome to the madness." I've been obsessing about this kayak... spent my weekend replacing bungees and broken fittings, fixing the rudder mechanism, building a storage rack out of PVC pipe, playing with the kayak itself, and now scheming about how to fish and crab from this thing.

newfuturefintage, thanks for the tip on the home depot coolers, I'll look for those next time I'm there!

So i'd put the boat on some sort of rack off the ground...then fill the boat with water.  Look for leaks.  Probably it was just from being flipped.  But even if from being flipped, it might be at a hatch.

if you don't see a leak you could also do the shop vac thing-- find a place to pump the air into the boat with a shop vac on blow, then put soapy water all over the boat and look for bubbles.

My old boat had a neoprene sleeve around the front hatch-- that thing was super old and worn out. I replaced it and was well.
There's also a little rubber gasket on the rim of that hatch, that was missing when i first bought.

Hopefully it was the hatch leaking. There's no gasket on either hatch, and the neoprene covers, while they feel soft, look worn and are not very tight. Also, when we turned the kayak upside down to car top it, a bunch of water came rushing out of the (closed) back hatch.

Cheap replacement.

If you are really cheap use a cut piece of blue tarp and some shock cord

Hopefully it was the hatch leaking. There's no gasket on either hatch, and the neoprene covers, while they feel soft, look worn and are not very tight. Also, when we turned the kayak upside down to car top it, a bunch of water came rushing out of the (closed) back hatch.

This is probably the issue.  The neoprene covers I have are still fairly tight and intact. After taking the kayak fishing safety class at half moon bay wherein we flipped our kayaks a bunch of times, and left them upside down for a while while listening to instructions, I think I had maybe a few ounces of water in the hull.

When I'm out in water that breaks over the bow, I'll get a couple tablespoons of water in the boat at most, and I'm sure it's all coming in through the neoprene covers.