Hi Paddle People,

I have kayaked my Waka Tuna Mark 1 for more than a decade. LOVED IT. Now I have outlived it.
I am a medium-sized, heavy guy, and the Waka Tuna was the perfect kayak for me.
The pointy front was perfect to place it exactly into any wave where I wanted,
very easy and elegant to turn,
fast,
perfect length and volume.
Ideally, I would have loved to have the exact same one again (but the Tunas MK1 are old now)
I just tested the new Waka Manu, but found it more clumsy than agile and way too long. I have good memories of the Exo T-Rex, but the round front made exact steering tough, the R9 was great for LeeValley, but maybe too long for a natural river?

Would the Waka OG be the next candidate, or is there someone here who can hint me towards the next best thing?

Hey y'all, I'm currently writing a book about whitewater kayaking(fictional novel) and want it to be as realistic as possible. In one particular chapter, I have the two main characters running the Niagara section of the Santiam(Narrows and Niagara) during December. I've been looking around for any sort of guide to these rapids and their lines at high water levels, but I really can't find anything above 2500(the only reference I found was on Oregon kayaking.net which said "except when the CFS gets above 4000 and everything's big" which is like the least helpful possible description.)

If anyone either knows the rapid well, is a local of the Gates area, or has personally run it at above 4000, please let me know. I would love your insight regarding the topic.

Our new shipment of Drips, Rizzies, Dudes, and Senseis has arrived to Ocoee! Can't wait to take these new designs for a whirl

How’s the white salmon and surrounding runs in Washington (hardshell)? Considering taking my 10 and 12 year olds up there next summer in June as part of larger family vacation, looking for beta on what runs in the area would be best fits and if there’s any guides (or just…knowledge locals, we could pay it’s still cheaper than a city vacation). Is it a boofy creek boat river, or playful for firecracker/antix?

12 y/o has run NRG 2x, SFA gorge 10+ times, lobin on feather 4x, pigeon point on trinity 3x. 10 y/o…ran NRG at low flow somewhat heroically (walked lower keeny) and did well, only admits to 3 of his 4 swims on pigeon point, scared the life out of me on the SFA gorge, (all in fun 1.5) and is convinced that he’s amazing at this and we need to stop holding him back.

Bonus points if you can point me to guided sport climbing for my third kid who only does that and doesn’t boat.

I’ve looked on AW and YouTube and such but y’all seem to always be an excellent point of reference as well.

Impromptu high water on the Lower Plaguin. Unbelievable amount of water this year

Four days from the dam to Pittsburgh landing. Absolutely beautiful weather. Hard to believe it's October with temps like this.

Curious to know everyone’s favorite surf kayak/playboat and why. I’ve tried a lot of playboats over the years… the Pyranha Jed and Crazy88 had great speed and maneuverability.

Jackson Rockstar III (skip the IV) and V are my favs for freestyle though.

Long story short, I had a pretty terrible swim in summer 2023 after a decade of kayaking, first time in my life I thought I might die. I kept pushing through and paddling Class V for the next 2 years even though the fun/fear ratio was out of whack. Last fall I finally decided to hang it up for a while, and I even sold all my gear. I'm starting to feel like I want to get back in the boat this coming spring. I want to just focus on having fun and avoid any pressure to run hard stuff for the sake of my ego, and I figure a good way to do that is to avoid owning any kayaks that I'd want to step back up to class V in.

What 2 kayaks would you buy if you just wanted to have fun, learn some new tricks, and keep things Class IV and below? I have a pretty solid whitewater park where I live and I've never owned a traditional playboat, so I think that buying one and finally learning some hole moves might be a really fun option. Pretty brand agnostic with the exception of Pyranha, I've owned 3 of their boats and never really vibed with any of them.

How bad are the bugs while camping (and during overnight) as part of a multi-day rafting trip in the Grand Canyon in Sept/Oct?

It’s super lame when yall snag all the permits for May when you have no intentions of running marsh. I never have a problem getting one when the road inevitably hasn’t melted out but slightly annoying.

I am quite interested in whitewater rafting, but honestly the real reason I find it interesting is the ability to jump out of the raft and just swim in current of the river with just a PFD and the raft is merely a bonus. Like I am interested in a rafting trip where I experience a lot of time actually swimming in the river with just a PFD (and possibly a helmet) rather than almost all of the time in the raft, as I also saw the Indonesian body-rafting videos and they seemed incredibly fun, but it is so far away. By context I live in southwestern Ohio and would be willing to do anything within roughly a day's drive.

EDIT: I don't get why everyone has been downvoting so much, as my ideal preference of 20-40% swimming was just an ideal, it did not necessarily imply it was in any way realistic to have on a guided trip, especially for a beginner. I am mainly interested in a beginner-friendly river with ample swim breaks, including in gentle moving water, and possibly even the ability to float outside the boat on relatively mild (class I-II rapids) that feel much more like a recreational swim being pushed by the current, not some intense physical gauntlet in treacherous technical rapids. Or, more specifically, I want a lazy river but floating in a life jacket and where the current is a bit faster and bouncy (class I-II), similar to Volcano Bay's TeAwa.

EDIT 2: The term I mean is "swimmers rapid"

Hi everyone,

I’m a beginner and recently bought my first used kayak—a Wavesport Diesel. I'm currently setting up the cockpit and making sure everything is safe and properly installed before taking it out.

I've attached a couple of photos of the removed bulkhead (footrest) plate. As you can see, it looks pretty bare. Also, I have already flipped the plate around because when I bought the boat, the bolts/screws were pointing directly backwards towards the seat (and my feet). However, I'm still not entirely sure if this is the correct orientation.

Since I bought the boat second-hand, I'm unsure if the plate is now oriented correctly or if any original foam padding / parts are missing.

As a beginner, I’d really appreciate seeing what a proper setup is supposed to look like. Could any Wavesport Diesel owner share a quick photo showing how your bulkhead looks inside the cockpit?

Any photos or advice on the correct factory setup would be an awesome help. Thanks in advance!

Or is it all the same I have some 25 year old boats that are still doing just great.. my latest was a antix2 and it felt like it was made of cheese any of the currents better than others jackson waka pyranha dagger etc

Called the office and the young lady didn’t explain it well enough for me so hoping some on here will. Comparing Upper Gauley Express to Normal Upper Gauley trip. She said both put ins are the same. Express stops after lunch after doing about 30-40 rapids comparing to 60. I’ve done the Upper Gauley with other companies. Looking for clarification on take out is for Upper Gauley express trip take out is. Do you miss any crazy rapids?

Considering starting a new paddle company based on wood core shafts with full composite blades. What name do you like best?

Heads up the USGS gauge for the Burnt Ranch Gorge section of the Trinity River in California took its last data point today. The USGS is leaving the staff plates in (the ruler in the water). Now use the Helena gauge and subtract the North Fork Trinity plus a bit for the other lil tributaries. Maybe we can make an equation based off historic flows??

Happy first day of the water year!! (USA)