Add to your Repair Kit...

Figured I would pass on this piece of advice. Something to add to your “on water” repair kit: spare bungee cord. I would not have considered that before my experience a couple of weeks ago. I was paddling in fairly heavy surf. I got trashed in a wave pretty hard, to the point where my spare paddle on my back deck got torn off and broke the bungee holding to the deck.

The surf was too big to reliably hold the paddle in place on the front deck (it got pulled off when trying to launch through the surf) and so I had no place to carry my spare. I tried putting it in my hatch, but my play boat is short and the paddle splits would not fit into the hatches.

I had no real way to paddle back to my launch site without risking losing my spare paddle so I had to walk back

Adding some extra bungee and some need nose pliers to pull it through the fittings is something you should consider.

Sure there are probably some that find the front deck suitable for their spare, but I have never found this to be the case in big breaking waves

Matt

Bungee cords are essentially worthless for really securing something to your deck. Replacing them with polyester deck cord and Greenland-style sliding tensioners is far superior way to go. In addition to providing much better security, they don’t go slack as they age the way bungee does.

On my own boats, I keep exactly one strand of bungee cord across the foredeck that I can use to secure a hood, pair of gloves or similar item temporarily, but I never use it for anything critical and I always secure items under the deck cords or inside the boat when heading into rough conditions. To do otherwise is just inviting a “yard sale” on the water. Trust me, I’ve been there and learned the hard way.

@bnystrom said:
Bungee cords are essentially worthless for really securing something to your deck. Replacing them with polyester deck cord and Greenland-style sliding tensioners is far superior way to go. In addition to providing much better security, they don’t go slack as they age the way bungee does.

On my own boats, I keep exactly one strand of bungee cord across the foredeck that I can use to secure a hood, pair of gloves or similar item temporarily, but I never use it for anything critical and I always secure items under the deck cords or inside the boat when heading into rough conditions. To do otherwise is just inviting a “yard sale” on the water. Trust me, I’ve been there and learned the hard way.

Do you have a photo you could share? I bet you do.

Jon
https://3meterswell.blogspot.com

@bnystrom said:
Bungee cords are essentially worthless for really securing something to your deck.

I would ‘generally’ agree, if going in and out through surf, unexepected overfalls, or other strong water forces across deck, items under a bungee should be considered expendable.

However, I’ve used olive cleats (clips) on bungee to secure my spare paddle.
Been through many heavy surf launch & landings with no problem.
Also use the olive clips for many other reasons, eg: securing deck bag (when going through surf, the bag is stored below).

I’ve been meaning to put a tutorial on my website, but I don’t have one up there currently. You can get some of the idea from the way I rig my skin boats, shown in this unrelated tutorial: https://briannystrom.com/kayaking/tutorials/a-simple-a-frame-kayak-storage-rack/

On my glass boats, I use a single strand of bungee right in front of the cockpit, with a couple of balls on it to lift it off the deck for easy access. I use sliders on pairs of cords, forward of that. I also do the same thing on the aft deck.

@bnystrom said:
… Greenland-style sliding tensioners …

Pic or link?

A google search for “Greenland kayak deck rigging” produced these images. There are also links if you care to search. The Inuit didn’t have bungees, their rigging didn’t stretch. If you notice how the lines are pulled together this allows you to tighten them by sliding them along the lines.


@bnystrom said:
I’ve been meaning to put a tutorial on my website, but I don’t have one up there currently. You can get some of the idea from the way I rig my skin boats, shown in this unrelated tutorial: https://briannystrom.com/kayaking/tutorials/a-simple-a-frame-kayak-storage-rack/

Brian,
Superb tutorials on glass and gelcoat repairs. Perhaps the best I’ve seen in terms of keeping it simple without making me guess. How about access to other links on your website?

Jon
https:3meterswell.blogspot.com

Thanks, I’m glad you like it.

That’s all stuff that I’ve been planning on finishing for quite a while now. It’s all content that was originally up on Webshots before they screwed all of their loyal users. There’s a lot more too, plus a lot of cycling content, but I don’t know when I’ll actually get any of it done.

Something I have added to my kit is a roll of the Flex-Seal tape. Can be applied in the water (if the yak isn’t slimy) and makes a great temporary fix.

My greenland storm paddle stays under the front bungee just fine in surf as big as 9 feet on the great lakes. Euros reversed so the two big ends (split paddle) is near the cockpit I have seen on others stay there just fine . Maybe you need better bungee cord if they wont stay put. Nothing that stick up high will stay. my strorm is very low which doesn’t stick up at all.

I’ve seen - and experienced - enough instances of gear that was “secured” by bungee cord being ripped off of decks that I don’t trust it anymore. The quality of the bungee has nothing to do with it; I maintain my boats well and use good bungee cord where applicable. The problem is that the property of bungee that makes it useful - it stretches - is also its Achilles Heel when things get rough.

If you feel that bungee is good enough, that’s fine, it’s your gear at risk and I don’t have to help you retrieve it. :wink:

Like I said my storm paddle has never come off my boat in waves up to 9 or so feet. here is me last weekend with a wave coming at me. Not 8 feet but still pretty big, you can see my paddle on front of boat. .