The Kayak, Canoe and Small Boat thread.

[Drago]

Started work today on building the cradle to hang the yak from the garage roof. I need some more wood, which I will pick up on wednesday, bitmits coming along well.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

I have a cunning plan.

DIY packraft. That is all. Looks like fun

ETA
Btw Drago, takes me ages to get wood these days too. Don't feel bad about it.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

The lovely Mrs Bonefish pretending to do her bit yesterday in 17-6 of kevlar & carbon loveliness.

She was occasionally reminded that you have to actually put the paddle in the feckin' water

 

[Stephen Piper]

Azolla weed (never heard of it before), has made large stretches of the local canal unusable. People buy this invasive weed to use in their fish ponds and it is farmed for it's many useful properties, makes a great compost. I must have paddled through millions of quids worth of it, until I gave up and resorted to pulling it on the trolley along the footpath.

 

[Drago]

I've bought a new trolley that mounts in the scupper holes. That means I can invert it, mount it on thw scupper holes behind the seat and take it with me. Should make portage around locks a bit easier.

Getting impatient now waiting for my new ride.

 

[numbnuts]

I've bought a new trolley that mounts in the scupper holes. That means I can invert it, mount it on thw scupper holes behind the seat and take it with me. Should make portage around locks a bit easier.

Getting impatient now waiting for my new ride.

Sad tiding sorry, those scupper hole trolley leads to premature wear on the inside of the holes and can cause leaks in time.......how long it will take is another matter.

 

[Drago]

Thanks for the heads-up Jon. I hall keep a very close eye on that.

As it happens, the new yak is only 21kg, which is piffling for an Adonis like myself. It may be that if I can get a good grip that isn't awkward I may not use it at all for portage.

 

[Drago]

Good news! My new yak has been dispatched, sjould be here in a day or so.

 

[Drago]

And British Canoeing membership renewed so I have a waterways licence.

 

[Drago]

New yak arrived and safely stashed in the rack I made. Fortunately I was generous with the size because its larger than the dimensions listed on their website.

Bit of a busy weekend as its Mini D's 10th birthday, so Ive pencilled in next wednesday for an inaugural paddle.

 

[kayakerles]

Looking forward to hearing you had a blast, Drago. Pics too. Nothing like the feeling of getting out on the water, one way or another. I always preferred a nice big lake with an island to set as my destination. Lazy rivers were fun too. Never tried rapids, but I bet I would have liked it. I previously had a Hobie SOT 14-footer, a couple of 8-foot sit ins for me and the Mrs. and a giant purple blow-molded plastic kayak we called “Moby Grape.” I rented a 21-foot single fiberglass ocean kayak to papal Lake Interlochen in Switzerland once. That thing was a beauty and cut through the water like a knife. But those are so expensive, never felt the need for a fiberglass one. All said, have a great time! keep us posted on your adventures.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Real men have composite boats you know

...mainly because they're getting older and arthritis will take a toll

 

[kayakerles]

Real men have composite boats you know

...mainly because they're getting older and arthritis will take a toll

The great thing about the blow-molded plastic kayaks was they were inexpensive, (8' for $300 when I bought them) and indestructible. When we would paddle out in the Winter, we would power-paddle them right up onto a concrete boat ramp and not hurt them. We didn't even have to get our feet wet. Same for launching...put it low on the ramp by the water and “scootch it” down until you were floating. Off you go. The bottoms didn't hold their shape as well as fiberglass ones, but they were certainly fun little toy boats. Scootching not recommended for nicer kayaks! Also fun for grandkids to splash around in when filled with water on land. Multipurpose vehicle!

 

[Bonefish Blues]

The great thing about the blow-molded plastic kayaks was they were inexpensive, (8' for $300 when I bought them) and indestructible. When we would paddle out in the Winter, we would power-paddle them right up onto a concrete boat ramp and not hurt them. We didn't even have to get our feet wet. Same for launching...put it low on the ramp by the water and “scootch it” down until you were floating. Off you go. The bottoms didn't hold their shape as well as fiberglass ones, but they were certainly fun little toy boats. Scootching not recommended for nicer kayaks! Also fun for grandkids to splash around in when filled with water on land. Multipurpose vehicle!

I made sure I put some scratches on ours first time out It's only a boat!

 

[MichaelW2]

Oru seem to have expanded their lineup of origami corrugated plastic flatpacking canoes and kayaks. This solves the " How do I get my boat to the water" problem nicely.