Hey elliot,

I'm a 16 year old gear freak, and I'v been working at a small kayak shop for 2 years now. I have personaly had to custom fit a TON of skirts to home built boats brought in by customers. The most versatile skirt I'v found is a snap dragon neo/nylone skirt. The deck is standard neoprene, and the tunnel is adjustable nylon. This gives you the cooler feeling nylon against your skin for summer paddling and the water proof deck of neoprene. your legs really never touch the skirt, so it's not that big a deal. The full neo skirts are a bit bothersome, in that they are hot. But if you are planning on surfing, and rolling alot you wil want the full neoprene for dryness. the neo/nyl that I mentioned has a strip of tubualar nylon sewn to the edge of the neoprene, with a bungie running through the tube. it makes the skirt VERY adjustable, and it will fit most any boat I have found. They make sizes from XS to XXXL and can make custom skirts to ANY size you need. I bet they could custom fit a canoe if you wanted.

Gear wise, if you are on a budget, look at a nice paddling jacket, and a wetsuit. Semi dry tops are VERY nice for sea kayaking, because the neck gasket on a dry top gets a little unerving. You'lll find that a lot of gear is really not needed. and you can pick it up over a season or two as needed. as your skills progress, you will want more gear to satisfie the new activities. seeing as the water where you are is almost always cold, you will deffinatly want a farmer john wetsuit "the standard suit for paddling", a dry/semi dry top, a nice skirt, and probably a light neoprene or fuzzy rubber top for hot days when you have a chance of getting wet. Don't cheap out on your gear, and TAKE CARE OF IT.

Oh and one more thing. I always figure it's a good idea to wet down a boat for a day or two a week. just put it in the water, maybe jump in it, and paddle it all day

if you click the link pelow, go to the gear section and check out there web pages. you can get an idea of what you might want to get. and check out the NRS webpage for prices they are all retail. their URL is www.nrsweb.com