The only real way to know is to paddle it and decide for yourself but yes you will notice your boat is much deeper in the water and it could be squirrelly.

 

Being that far over the weight range will wreck the boat's performance as a playboat and a river runner. You also have to factor in that you add quite a bit of weight with helmet, pfd, etc...
As a playboat, you don't have enough volume to get any "pop." As a river runner, you will be SLOW, and yes, your edges will be very susceptible to getting caught.
You should look into a new boat (or drop 40 pounds).

 

I can't help it.

YouTube - fat guy little coat edited

You're definitely going to be working harder that you have to with your braces, ferries, and attainments into eddies. Depending on how you can trim your cockpit, you might be sinking the stern or perling the bow. Downriver may not be too bad, and in fact it might feel a little more stable in crosscurrents, but in the end it's going to take more effort to get the boat where you need it to be.

 

why not just diet...its healthier anyway

 

Dropping 30-40lbs in a boating season would be a pretty monumental feat. Get a bigger boat and sell the 54. Even if you get back to your fighting weight - unlikely as you get older - you might want a different design by next season anyway.

 

First successful shape change to a bear over winter. Nice!

I paddled a playboat a couple weeks ago that I was about 30 pounds to big for. Constant stern squirt...

 

Almost peed my pants when I watched the video. What a funny man he was. Sorry about the weight gain, I've been there. You should try the boat out, but most likely you'll end up getting a new one. They don't perform so well as submarines. I know.

Kim

 

Heh. I haven't seen that in years! Thanks for the input;-)

 

Expect to sub out every hole and probably most bigger waves. You will be deep below where the water line is so you will also get pushed way more where the water goes. Still for some runs paddling under sized boats can be fun. Totally different design but people seek out squirt boats because they have virtually no volume for flotation. I would give it a try and see what you think.

 

Anyway. So i looked again and Playak.net says that my boat is rated up to 209lbs. is being 11lbs. over even a big deal?

 

I have a boat that's a little low on displacement for my weight which I bought used before I knew anything about kayaking. It's still a fun and reliable craft, but I really notice a big performance difference if it takes on just a little water. You should consider demoing a bigger boat with a similar hull design and then running your boat on the same stretch of river/creek. If you can, go with someone who can give you a bird's eye view of how you handle each boat.

 

I have paddled two boats with just my body weight at the very top of the weight range.

Felt like I was floating on a cork and had to throw braces almost constantly.