looking for a used boat

[absoluteZero]

Hi.

I am 5 ft 8 inches/ 135 pounds. Just starting to kayak.
Have the following questions:


What kind of boat should I be looking for?

What is the average life of a boat?

How much money should I ideally spend on a used boat?

Where can I look for used boats in San Francisco bay area?

Thanks

Cheers!

[JW Lester]

Originally posted by kayakrookkie
[B]Hi.

I am 5 ft 8 inches/ 135 pounds. Just starting to kayak.
Have the following questions:


What kind of boat should I be looking for?


In the beginning - whatever you can find. There isn't much choice since you'll be buying one off someone who is getting a new one. At the tournaments - especially the big ones like the US Nationals there is sometimes a little selection.



What is the average life of a boat?



Depends very much on who is using it and how hard you get hit. If you are playing hard in a brand new boat - probably 2 years or so until you want to get a new one. The boats can be almost endlessly repaired though - so as long as you don't mind the weight increase, you can keep fixing them up.



How much money should I ideally spend on a used boat?



This depends very much on what you're getting. Someone selling an almost-new boat that they didn't like might want $600-$800. A thoroughlly trashed boat in need of repair might go for as little as $200 or so. A well used, but well repaired boat in reasonable shape will probably be about $350 to $450 ish - but that is all just estimates - your mileage may vary.



Where can I look for used boats in San Francisco bay area?



We're the only group playing in SF, so finding someone from our group who's selling is really the only option here, but we have regular (about every 6 weeks or so) tournaments with the teams in Los Angeles and San Diego - and you might have some luck at one of those.

One of our players bought one on eBay once (off of someone who used to play in Sacramento), but I wouldn't count on that happening again!

Hope to see you at the pool.

Cheers,
John

[absoluteZero]

you won't see me today though as I am down with flu and should have mercy on the other healthy mortals...

I checked calkayak -- they did not return my call. Not wanting to postpone further, I just decided to get ahead shop around for my own boat and take the plunge.


Take care

hina