How to begin river-rafting/kayaking?

In the sping most colorado companys offer a guide school that is open to private boaters. This is a great way to learn.

Highly recommend that you get rid of the tadem kayak.

Get a Hyside Mini max or paddle cat both are AWSOME 2 person rafts. Way more stable than a tandem ducky, and not a lot bigger or heavier when rolled up.

In a mini max you will be able to run class III-IV in a very fun 2 person team boat. You sit side by side, so it is so easy to talk to each other. Because to boat is much wider it is signifcantly more stable, yet due to it's design it still turns very fast.

You might also look at taking swiftwater rescue class, a great way to learn about saftey on the river.

Paddle on


shreder scott

Becasue you are so new and because there are so many different ways to enter river rafting/kayaking, you will get all sorts of advice. It may narrow a bit with more back and forth from you.
I will mention one path because you are already sort of on it (own an inflatable kayak). If you have $, you can take a commercial river trip (couple of hours or multi-day) typically in the company's IKs, often double, sometimes single. This will give you a chance to experience say class III whitewater under the protection of professionals. You might then decide that you are safe by yourselves on class I and II water. This may be all you need to have a blast, at least for awhile -- you will see what you crave or don't. You did not say if self-guided multi-day trips are a goal. If you have $, a multi-day commercial trip where they cook for you is a great way to get a lot of experience in a hurry. I'm sure there are opportunities for this in Washington/Oregon.
Of course, some will tell you this is not the right path -- only you can decide.
Personally, I'm amazed at how stable inflatable kayaks are -- "wow, did we really just go through those huge waves?"

If you are going to the Portland area I'd recommend the Clackamas river, from Mciver State park to Barton county park. The distance is about 6-7 miles, and there is camping at both parks. It is a good entry level run with plenty of water, and there are always people boating it.
If you are looking for classes, eNRG kayaking in Oregon City has several types of classes, and Sam Drevo (The owner) is very knowledgable and personable. If you seek more thrills, you can head to the Deschutes river in Central Oregon and either take a guided trip or try it on your own. There is a very popular day trip there, and you can drive along the river to see all of the rapids before trying it. There is a permit fee and now a launch / takeout fee if you use the improved boat ramps. The White Salmon river has a popular day run on it, and has several raft guide companies running it. I'd recommend a guided trip on that river, but is very fun and very worth it.
My Dad got me into whitewater at a very young age, and so I grew up in a group of kayakers and rafters that are now in their 50's. Some of them still go on a regular basis, some have stopped. I am a lifer, I'll go until I cannot. Post up when you are in Oregon, and maybe we can meet up.

shredder-scott said:

Highly recommend that you get rid of the tadem kayak.

Get a Hyside Mini max or paddle cat both are AWSOME 2 person rafts. Way more stable than a tandem ducky, and not a lot bigger or heavier when rolled up.

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Nah-keep the Sea Eagle, it'll fill a good niche in your future boat quiver. That 380x is actually a pretty good tandem IK (I have one) for class II, once you get to class III it's a bit of a pig w/ 2 people though. It's only 12.5 feet long and does really well solo as well (thing will carry a ton of gear)....ultimately the boat does a lot of things well but none of them great. My tandem and solo time is about 50/50 in mine although I'm in my other boats much more often.

I'll never get rid of mine, but would like to add a minimax to my boat collection (I have several other round boats) for some bigger but more technical water than the SE is up to...to me they won't really cover the same duties on the water.

The SE is a good boat to cut your teeth on. Use it for a year or two and get good on some class II floats and then you will probably want to upgrade to either a) another IK (or two) that is a little better in whitewater so you can each solo or b) get a raft/cat