Does anyone here kayak camp with a SOT kayak?
If you have:
-How did you like it? What did you like about it and what didn’t you?
-What kind of water (flat lake, flat moving river, cl2 rapids, see with 2ft swells, etc) did you go on?
-Were you able to stay dry/warm when needed?
-do you bring light raingear to put on for if you want to stay dry and warm?
I’m thinking of getting one for kayak camping. Not looking to go marathons with it; just cover 5-10mi and use it as a generalist: mostly flat water lakes and rivers but with occasional cl I-II rapids (just running them, not playing in the holes). Maybe even take it along the coast and island hopping on not-too-choppy days
I know there are a lot of tradionalist SINKers here that hate sot’s and always will, and I’m not really looking for your opinions here; just looking for people who have done it or actively use them.
I don’t but there are a lot of people who use SOT kayaks for river tripping on the Ozark rivers. Pretty much all Class I with a very occasional Class I-II.
I have paddled the ocean, run some class 1 , and camped out of my WS Tarpon.
It was just an overnight but I carried most of the gear and food for myself and 2 grandsons.
Tarpons have decent under deck storage room and the tank well holds a bunch, all in waterproof containers.
Cool good to hear! How do you like it? Are you able to stay warm? That’s one I’m thinking of getting, but leaning slightly more towards the Tetra 12 b/c it’s narrower, which should help on flat water and oceans, and slightly lighter. I’m also likley going to add thigh straps (for rougher water and cuz i’m a WW paddler at heart), and maybe even make a polyester sheet pull over my legs to keep out of the sun if I think i may start to burn, and maybe also add some warmth/protect against excessive spray/wind in larger swells. Also I’m thinking of buying or making scupper valves for those too just to help keep water from coming up into them in wavy days.
I live in SC, so warmth is an issue only about 3 months a year and I usually don’t paddle those.
I weigh 230 and water coming in the scuppers doesn’t happen in the Tarpon. The seat platform is elevated and drains well when water comes over the side. I’ve only thought about plugging the scuppers when I’m swamp paddling. Small critters have bubbled up in them.