Kayak seats get too hot

I have two Old Town Loon kayaks. The seats get way too hot in the sun. I’m talking blistering hot. It doesn’t take long either. If we beach on an island for even a couple minutes we have to splash water on the seats to cool them off before we can sit down. is there a seat cover we can get to reduce this problem?

I carry an old towel for whatever. I think it would be a good seat protector.

@string said:
I carry an old towel for whatever. I think it would be a good seat protector.

I’ll keep that in mind, though a seat cover would be nice. I’ve yet to find one that looks like it will fit these kayaks.

Throw your PFD over it when you are not in it.

The black shafts of our paddles do the same thing when left sitting in the bright sun

I put a cockpit cover on the boat on stops. Keeps sun, insects and lizzards out. You could also just turn the boat over.

http://www.cloud10gear.com/kayak-overseat
or
http://www.cloud10gear.com/seat-cushion

See you on the water,
Marshall Seddon
The River Connection, Inc.
9 W. Market St.
Hyde Park, NY
845-229-0595 main
845-242-4731 mobile
Main: www.the-river-connection.com
Store: www.the-river-connection.us
Facebook: fb.me/theriverconnection

@JackL said:
Throw your PFD over it when you are not in it.

I don’t wear one…for many reasons.

Why not?

@Doggy Paddler said:
Why not?

I can swim.
I have life guard training.
It limits movement.
If one of my kids goes over I can get to them and back to a boat or shore much faster without it.

That said, I do make sure everyone in the family has a life jacket on.

@Doggy Paddler said:
It limits movement.

It’s not a paddling jacket is it?

@naviathan@gmail.com said:

@JackL said:
Throw your PFD over it when you are not in it.

I don’t wear one…for many reasons.

I don’t either, unless I deem it necessary, but Coast Guard Regulations call for a PFD for each person on a boat, which includes paddle craft, so I don’t leave shore with out one on the back of my yak or in the stern of my canoe, or under the bungees of my paddleboard

@Overstreet said:

@Doggy Paddler said:
It limits movement.

It’s not a paddling jacket is it?

I wasn’t aware they made a jacket specifically for paddling.

@JackL said:
… but Coast Guard Regulations call for a PFD for each person on a boat, which includes paddle craft, …

I was not aware that rule applied to paddle craft. I’ll have to stick something in the stern from now on. Thanks.

You can always turn the boat over while it’s on shore to shade the entire cockpit, and drain it as well.

Re the pfd, all of your statements make sense. But people sometimes get bonked on the head while capsizing (on a rock, a tree stump, the psycho jet-ski that made you capsize, etc.). For this reason it’s important to wear a pfd while paddling alone.

@naviathan@gmail.com said:

@JackL said:
… but Coast Guard Regulations call for a PFD for each person on a boat, which includes paddle craft, …

I was not aware that rule applied to paddle craft. I’ll have to stick something in the stern from now on. Thanks.

You’re also required to carry a sound producing device,

"All vessels are required to carry an efficient sound-producing device, such as a whistle or horn that is audible for at least one-half mile.
“Reference: Title 33 CFR 83.33 Equipment for sound signals”

https://sweetwaterkayaks.wordpress.com/coast-guard-requirements/

@Rookie said:

You’re also required to carry a sound producing device,

"All vessels are required to carry an efficient sound-producing device, such as a whistle or horn that is audible for at least one-half mile.
“Reference: Title 33 CFR 83.33 Equipment for sound signals”

https://sweetwaterkayaks.wordpress.com/coast-guard-requirements/

Thanks for the link. Guess I’m packing a bag just for the CG next time I go out.

Someone I know was fined $150 for not having a whistle.
I did a good bit of free diving in the ocean when I was younger, some surfing, lots of swimming in the lake we lived on, and brought up a body from 10’ deep of a man we tried to save who died from drowning anyway. I am a very confident swimmer, I wear my PFD most of the time even when fishing and sailing. I like having the pockets with snacks, camera VHF etc. on me. I feel it is the wise thing to do, and if I needed to swim fast I can slip it off, but it is very hard to put one on when you are already in the water. A good choice for comfort and lack of bulk are the inflatable PFDs.

@castoff said:
Someone I know was fined $150 for not having a whistle.
I did a good bit of free diving in the ocean when I was younger, some surfing, lots of swimming in the lake we lived on, and brought up a body from 10’ deep of a man we tried to save who died from drowning anyway. I am a very confident swimmer, I wear my PFD most of the time even when fishing and sailing. I like having the pockets with snacks, camera VHF etc. on me. I feel it is the wise thing to do, and if I needed to swim fast I can slip it off, but** it is very hard to put one on when you are already in the water.** A good choice for comfort and lack of bulk are the inflatable PFDs.

This reply deserves a BUMP…

@naviathan@gmail.com said:

@Overstreet said:

@Doggy Paddler said:
It limits movement.

It’s not a paddling jacket is it?

I wasn’t aware they made a jacket specifically for paddling.

Yep… I cannot imagine paddling in a Type 1 horsecollar… The Type III dont restrict motion and if you get one that fits right you wont’t even notice its there… It is a help when you have a situation that demands all your attention… Like getting the kid hanging on to the boat and paddle etc… Or even an inflatable PFD… Sounds like you are in hot country. I wear my PFD all the time mostly because its COLD … Today it is again 50. Water temp the same… And I can’t swim against tidal currents.

So anyway check out a paddle shop or NRS https://www.nrs.com/

@naviathan@gmail.com

More on CG regs. Also a white light or similar signaling device and a foghorn (you can get simple ones you blow) if paddling coastal areas prone to fog. Maybe not what you do and honestly my husband and I, and now I, have never been asked to show all that I is in the boat. (like the day hatch) I

But - the CG boat slowed down to look us over more than once over the last decade plus, and again with me once in the last few years. What they see is a spare paddle on every boat, apt clothing, charts on the deck, paddling PFD’s with pockets and lines indicating the likelihood of whistles and compasses. And more recently a visible VHF.

I think they did ask us once about fog horns. But usually they correctly surmise that what they see indicates the rest of it is OK.