Know Thy Paddle Craft

Sea kayaks. Recreational kayaks. SUPS. Canoes. Rowboats.

With so many kinds of paddle craft out there, it can be hard to know where to start, or which one can best help you achieve your paddling dreams. Read on to learn the difference between each type of vessel, and how and why to choose the one that’s right for you.

Kayaks

Kayaks are decked paddle craft in which the paddler sits low in the boat and propels it with a double-bladed paddle. They come in a wide variety of styles designed for different types of water, and can be single (solo) or double (tandem) seaters. Some categories of kayaks have a steering rudder controlled by the paddler’s feet. These days the most common kayaks are made of rotomolded plastic, though some are made of fiberglass, kevlar, wood, or other materials.

Sea Kayaks

P&H Delphin, a playful solo sea kayak

Sea kayaks (also known as expedition kayaks or touring kayaks) are long, high performance boats which have evolved from those first invented by Indigenous peoples, especially the Inuit of Greenland, for hunting whales and seals in often rough waters. They are fast, seaworthy, and designed to carry heavy loads. Sea kayaks can be used for both long, open paddles and island camping trips as well as for rough water play like surfing and exploring sea slots. Narrow, with rounded bottoms, they can feel tippy and unstable to beginner paddlers. However, this narrow shape allows experienced paddlers to hold them on an edge, making them more maneuverable despite their length, and able to react to waves and swell without capsizing. Modern sea kayaks are defined by a number of key features: length, rigging, compartments, and cockpit shape.

Length: 14 feet is usually considered the entry point for “true” sea kayaks. A solo will typically range from 15-18 feet, while tandem (and the rare triple) kayaks can be up to 25 feet in length.

Rigging: Sea kayaks typically have two different types of rigging on their deck for ease of use. The first is elastic bungees, which go across the deck and are used for holding down gear. The second is static line (aka rope) which forms a perimeter around the boat. This line is used in a number of different safety contexts: to help flip a capsized boat back over, connect a tow rope, anchor the boat in place, etc.

Seaward Legend, a fiberglass touring sea kayak

Hatches with sealed bulkheads: Sea kayaks are divided into separate compartments which provide both flotation in the event of a capsize (the boat flipping over) and space to store gear for camping trips. These compartments are separated from each other by waterproof walls called bulkheads, and are accessed via removable hatch covers. Sea kayaks will typically have four compartments, including the cockpit section where the paddler sits.

Cockpit Shape: Sea kayaks have cockpits (the area where the paddler sits) with an enclosed deck, which can be further sealed off with a sprayskirt, a piece of neoprene, vinyl, aquatherm, or other material worn around the paddler’s waste, which then wraps around the cockpit entrance creating a waterproof sealed area. This allows an experienced paddler to handle rougher conditions, put the boat further on its edge, and roll the kayak back up from a capsize without exiting the boat or causing it to flood.

Boreal Esperanto, a tandem sea kayak

Sea kayaks are used on all of Portland Paddle’s guided tours and lessons, and are available to renters with the capsize recovery and paddling experience necessary to use them safely. We offer both solo and tandem kayaks, and have kayaks designed for a range of experience levels, body sizes, and styles of paddling.

Recreational Kayaks

Old Town Loon, a recreational kayak

Old Town Dirigo, a tandem recreational kayak

Recreational kayaks are the most common kayaks, and they are what most people use when they kayak on a lake, pond or calm river. They are shorter than 14 feet, and have wide, stable bodies, and wide, open cockpits designed for comfort and ease of entry and exit. Some recreational kayaks have storage compartments for equipment, and they’re often fairly lightweight.

Recreational kayaks come in both solo and tandem styles at Portland Paddle, and are available at our East End Beach site, as well as for delivery for multi-day rentals. Recreational kayaks are great for paddling our “shore zone” (good for an hour or two of paddling) or in sheltered locations offsite, such as calm ponds and rivers, and marshy estuaries.

Sit On Top Kayaks

Old Town Twister, a sit on top kayak

Sit-on-top kayaks (SOTs) are a variation of recreational kayaks in which the paddler sits directly on top of the boat. There is no deck on a SOT and no cockpit, which makes it easier to enter and exit the boat. On the other hand, SOTs generally involve a wetter ride for the paddler, since there is no deck to protect from paddle drips and waves. SOT kayaks are the widest and flattest kayaks, making them extremely stable in their normal position, but unable to be put on an edge for performance paddling. The stability and ease of access to gear makes them ideal for activities like birding and photography. But they are heavier and a bit more awkward to carry than regular recreational kayaks. Recreational sit-on -ops should also not be confused with surfskis: extremely long and narrow, high performance sea kayaks which also use a sit-on-top cockpit method.

We use sit-on-top kayaks at our Crescent Beach location in Cape Elizabeth! Our youth-specific kayaks are also sit-on-tops, and are available at both Crescent Beach and East End Beach, as well as for delivery.

Lifetime Wave, a youth-specific sit-on-top kayak

Hybrid Kayak

Old Town Sorento, a rec-leaning hybrid kayak

Hybrid kayaks combine elements of recreational and expedition kayaks. They typically range from 10 to 14 feet in length. Befitting their hybrid nature, they may have an encloseable cockpit like a sea kayak, a semi-open cockpit (which offers some of the benefits of a recreational-style cockpit, but can be covered with a very large sprayskirt), or a fully open cockpit. Hybrid kayaks often have some of the deck rigging and compartmentalization of a sea kayak, and are great for those who typically paddle in the calm conditions and short durations appropriate for recreational kayaks, but who want to start dipping their toes into longer distance paddles or paddles in rougher conditions, without committing to the cost, length, weight, or tippy-ness of a sea kayak. Longer, touring-oriented hybrid kayaks are a great alternative to sea kayaks to fit a wider array of bodies.

Old Town Castine, a touring oriented hybrid kayak

Portland Paddle has a few hybrid kayaks at our East End Beach location, which we mix in to both our rental and guided tour fleets when appropriate.

Other Types of Kayaks

There are a number of other specialty kayaks out there, including traditional Greenland-style kayaks (lower volume with sharper angles compared to other modern sea kayaks), whitewater kayaks (meant for use on whitewater rivers and other roughwater situations), surfing kayaks (built like a surfboard including fins, with a seat and deck on top), fishing kayaks (often sit on tops, with rod holders, tackle compartments, and even pedal motors), surfskis (a type of high performance sit on top), and flatwater sprint kayaks (used for high intensity, short distance races, including in the Olympics!), to name just a few.

Non-Kayak Paddlecraft

Stand Up Paddleboards (SUPs)

Paddleboarders on a sunset tour at Portland Paddle

Stand up paddleboards, often shortened to SUPs, or just paddleboards, owe their heritage to longboard surfboards in Hawaii. In the 1940s, some of the earliest modern surf instructors and pro surfers, such as Duke Kahanamoku and the Ah Choy family, would use canoe paddles to get out beyond the surf break. This allowed them to stand up as they paddled out and waited to catch a wave, which let them keep a better eye on their students. It is likely this practice was done on longboards in Hawaii even earlier than the 1940s, and in this way, modern SUPs evolved directly from the two Polynesian sports of surfing and outrigger canoeing.

Another claim for the invention of modern SUP comes from Australia, and intersects with the creation of surfskis. Around the same time as surf tourism was growing in Hawaii, Australian oyster farmers commonly used long, flat boats to haul in their catch, while early rescue “surfskis” were beginning to be employed by lifeguard clubs at area beaches. These early surfskis resembled a surfboard with a seat, and a wide flat area for a rescued swimmer to hang on. Australians began racing both of these crafts in and out of surf breaks, as well as challenging each other to stand up as they paddled through the surf zone. These activities led to the creation of modern surfskis (incredibly long and narrow, sit-on-top racing boats), and waveskis (high performance sit-on-top machines meant for doing tricks in the surf zone), and are also believed by some to be a source of inspiration for modern paddleboarding. Duke Kahanamoku, as well as a number of other Hawaiian surfers, made several trips to Australia during this time, and it is impossible to know exactly how these two ocean and paddlesport cultures might have influenced each other.

SUPs today come in many forms, including wide, flat, stable boards for beginner paddlers. Most of Portland Paddle’s SUPS fall into this category. There are also surf-specific paddle boards with different fin and hull shapes, long narrow boards for racing, center finned and hydrofoiled varieties for sailing with a wingfoil or windsurf mast, and touring specific boards which have a large number of bungees for holding drybags full of gear. SUPs are typically made of fiberglass, but there are also many inflatable models for ease of transport and storage.

Canoes

The Esquif Prospecteur, a large two person tripping canoe

As with most paddlecraft, many similar shaped forms have evolved independently in different cultures all over the world throughout history, and this is perhaps most true with canoes. Iterations of canoe-like watercraft have been used on every continent, and continue to be used today. They are typically propelled with either a single-blade paddle or with a push pole, with the paddler either kneeling, standing, or sitting on a raised bench. In Polynesia, canoes with outriggers were common, and these often also had sails. In the Great Rivers region and on the West Coast of North America, 30-60 ft long dugout canoes were common.

Modern canoes owe their heritage most directly to the birch bark canoes invented by eastern woodlands peoples of present day United States and Canada, such as the Wabanaki of what is now called Maine. When European settlers encountered these crafts, they quickly adopted them for fur trapping, hunting, timbering, and other forms of exploration, due to the birch bark canoe’s ability to handle a wide range of paddling conditions, carry heavy loads of gear, and be portaged easily from one body of water to another. Unlike kayaks, canoes are open boats with no deck or bulkheads.

A typical two person canoe – note the open space and the portage yoke at center

Modern canoes are built from a variety of different plastics, fiberglass, wood, or metal. They typically are intended for one or two paddlers, though most manufacturers also make three and four person models. Non-paddling passengers can also “duff” by sitting in the open area as if they were a piece of luggage. Canoes meant for more than four people are referred to by a number of different names, including voyager canoes, war canoes, Salish canoes, or simply big canoes. A canoe’s ability to handle roughwater can be further improved by adding air bags or temporary spraydecks to avoid the open boat getting swamped by waves.

At Portland Paddle we have several canoes available to rent. Canoes are generally tippy-er and require more skill to steer efficiently than a recreational kayak, so we find that most new paddlers prefer the latter. For the experienced paddler though, there is no better craft for exploring New England’s network of inland rivers and lakes.

Rowboats

Open boats of Mediterranean and European origin, rowboats are different from most other paddlecraft in that they don’t use paddles! Instead, rowboats use oars. The difference is that paddles (whether single or double bladed) are held entirely in the hands of the paddler, while oars are connected to the side of the boat via an oarlock. The rower holds a pair of oars in each hand (known as sculling or rowing), or a single oar in both hands in combination with other rowers (sweeping or pulling), allowing the majority of the oar’s length to stick outside of the craft. This means the rower must face backwards, instead of the direction they are headed, but this position allows them to utilize the larger muscles of their legs and back, as well as to take advantage of a longer lever created by the oar, in order to propel the boat more powerfully per stroke. Rowboats were historically used for a wide variety of purposes in Maine, including as lobster boats, for cod fishing, and for getting from ship to ship or ship to dock aboard the famous windjammer schooners. Modern day recreational rowboats can have either fixed benches in the traditional style, or the sliding seats seen on crew racing shells. They are able to carry large amounts of gear and passengers, but unlike canoes or kayaks, most cannot be easily carried overland or placed on top of a car.

FAQ: What do YOU use?

Portland Paddle uses a wide variety of sea and recreational kayaks from a number of different manufacturers, including Old Town, Necky, Current Designs, Boreal Designs, Wilderness Systems, and Seaward. We have used a number of different paddleboards over the years, and our canoes are from Old Town. Our guides’ personal boats span an even wider range of styles and manufacturers, adding NDK, P&H, Gig Harbor, Tiderace, Esquif, Jackson, Rockpool, and more to the list of boat manufacturers represented in the P2 family fleet!