Carrying in a backpack or towing behind a bicycle will probably not be very practical. Inflatables are the most compact boats, and even they are fairly heavy and fairly bulky. Aire (www.aire.com) makes very good inflatables. Stay away from cheap inflatables, they don't last.
If most of your paddling will be on the local creek (flat water, I assume), why not try to find someplace on or near the creek where you could keep a boat? That way you could bike there, use the boat, and bike back without having to transport the boat. If you want to paddle on different bodies of water, you'll probably end up with a rack. There's a very inflexible relationship connecting hull length, speed, and tracking (the ease of keeping the boat in a straight line). The shorter the boat, the slower it is and the harder it will be to make it go straight, though rocker, or the curve of the bottom, has a lot to do with this as well. Slow means more effort for the same distance. White water boats are short, short enough to fit inside cars, but they are very squirrely to paddle and are really purpose-built for rapids. Most useful flatwater boats will be too long to fit in a car, unless you go folding or inflatable.
It's always a good idea to talk to people who paddle on the same water you'll be paddling on, and see what compromises they've reached. Certainly if you will only be paddling on the Pacific once in a while, it would be better to rent a decent sea kayak for those occasions. Just be sure that you're comfortable with the basic self-rescue and safety procedures, and don't go out on rough water alone.
If you want to take kids out, open canoes are great. Even a very stable kayak can get awkward with an active child on board.
Whatever you do, don't save on the paddle. Cheap paddles are horrible things and will make paddling a lot less fun. Get a good one and enjoy. |
