Appreciate it. Definitely not planning on any white water, unless a squall pops up unexpectedly and even then I'm only a 100 yards from shore. But life jacket is definite. This is just to scoot around ponds/small lakes.
I've actually thought about putting a trolling motor on my inflatable pontoon, that would be slick and I might still do it. But a bit of exercise on the kayak is probably a better idea, I sit at a desk too much as it is.
Browsing through paddles last day or two. Holy cow is there a lot of options. Think I'll pass on the $250+ carbon fiber ones. Probably start off with a reasonable aluminum 96".