I can’t find an N frame kayak.
They make em. Just gotta find em
If someone asks me if they can help I will politely refuse. (If I can’t do it by myself then I’m done)
If someone asks me about my boat and wants to share about their boat then they will find themselves under a barrage of verbal diarrhea!! I love talking boats with people and since I travel with a Pakayak I get a ton of interest.
That thing comes apart in six sections and fits in the back of my Mini.
I also have this
So I’m used to people asking questions and I am a question asker myself.
My problem is with those who assume they are helping when they have no clue.
Keep paddling my friend!
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Nautiraid is a folding kayak and it must be a N frame that it is built on. Otherwise all I see on this thread is a SR frame …unless I missed something.
oops …also a S frame on this thread…my bad
I get those offers quite a bit from beachwalkers. I smile, thank them warmly (genuinely) and say, “I got it!”
sing
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My physical state is such that without help I can’t paddle and I’m still good once I’m in the boat.
Thank goodness for healthy friends who also enjoy paddling.
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@tealtraveler, my feelings exactly. If I can’t carry it, I shouldn’t be out there. I thought about a wheeled cart, but I still need to lift bit on the rack. Next I’ll need an electric shopping cart.
There’s nothing special or unique about my boat, but I’ll answer any question about the boat, the general price of boats, and the lure of kayaking.
Thanks for sharing.
@sing, nothing wrong with saying “I got it”, but I have no doubt you’ll be happy to share your experiences. Thats just being neighborly.
It doesn’t hurt to ask for help, if you want it or need it, and its kind of people to offer to help, which is a nice courtesy. I just prefer to do it myself, in fact, I usually carry a boat if it belongs to me and Ive loaned it to a person paddling with me. That’s who I am.
“Help” from the newby may cause one to be more likely to get wet than launching or landing by yourself. 
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Nothing worse than uninvited “help”.
I had returned to the original launch with my brand new Wenonah Odyssey, and a guy that I knew grabbed the bow & dragged it, fully loaded with tripping gear, up the gravel launch. It’s not a 1960 Grumman, you imbecile!
I had a 60-ish Grumman, and would never treat it like that even if it was as tough as it’s F6F Hellcat ancestors.
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These answers sort of surprise me because at our boat ramp in GH, everybody always helps everybody if they are alone, loading on top of their car.
I like it because I’ve met a few neighbors this way.
Also, using the carpet alone just takes longer and
sometimes it’s better for everyone if it goes faster because the parking area near the ramp
Is tight. Quite a few women, some older, come alone.
Yea, it’s almost standard operating procedure. Even in Austria where we go, other paddlers often offer a hand because you have to climb down a steep bank.
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Tired of grabby strangers messing with your boat? You need a coonhound!
Coonhounds are guaranteed to prevent damage to your unattended boat. Coonhounds are highly skilled in communicating with strangers. Coonhounds are fast-acting; you can expect visible results within 2 milliseconds of application.
Don’t accept substitutes!
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I like coonhounds a lot (beagles too). My neighbor in Maine has them. However, tough for neighbors in the city. Every urban raccoon, squirrel, rabbit, chipmonk… Coon hounds will do what they are bred to do. Chase and alert the owner of “game.”
sing
@paddlerNH, your comment about “biggest peeve” reminded me of why I feel the same way about unsolicited help. I hate loading and unloading, but I have a very systematic way of doing it so I don’t forget to pack something I need, leave something behind at the launch, or fail to tie the boat down.
Unsolicited help is an unneeded distraction, but I found that even help from a partner accompanying me can be more trouble than help. The only time critical items, like paddles got left behind was when I delegated but didn’t follow up with asking someone to get the paddles and PFDS. On one occassion, the paddles were left behind, on another occasion, the wrong halve of a paddle was packed. Once someone distracted me while unpacking and I drove off with an unsecured kayak that unceremoniously slid off the rack and down the hood of the truck (one reason why I don’t have nice things, and another reason why I dont like rudders when they aren’t nevesssry is the damage they cause sliding over car surfaces, as well as damage to the rudder when it falls off of a truck).
No means no, when you don’t want unsolicited help, and there’s a logical reason for the refusal. When I can no longer load and unload a boat by my self, I plan to be done with this part of my life and be glad of it. No looking back, except for recalling memories.
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It is kind of an unwritten rule among the community I paddle with that even after you receive trusted partner help loading your canoe on top of the vehicle, only the owner does all the tying down with straps and bow line. I also have a system to my methodology; the straps always go over in the same direction and order, and the loose strap ends get finish wrapped in the same way by me alone, every time. When I do it this way following a pattern, nothing gets forgotten or is either too loose or over tightened. No one else gets blamed for any possible disaster.
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@yknpdlr I like that, but I trusted my sister up until the second paddle issue. The toe down incident was actually my fault. She distracted me, but it was my responsibility to the follow through, like you pointed out. In my case there was no rope to finish tie the lose ends. All on me, so now I don’t stop or carry on conversations until the task is done, and if I designate a task, I check to make sure it was done.
People mean well, but they aren’t aware of attention deficits. For some, loading and loading may be less of a process to keep focused on.
One time I had set the canoe in the first pic down at a put-in and went back for my gear when I glanced over and saw a young man holding the bow of the canoe 2 feet in the air. I just opened the car door and Zoey was on him before he could drop the boat. He was still shaking when I walked up and said “she saw you touching her boat”.
Zoey didn’t just chase critters, she caught them. Then she would just bump them with her nose like a native American warrior counting coup.
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@yknpdlr I have a routine too. Once when I was launching at a new site, I was chatting with the owner of the on site kayak rental. When he saw me starting to load up my boat he actually stopped and said “I won’t distract you, that’s too important”. A+ for that guy in my books!
The folks I paddle with also have an unwritten rule that we generally all help carry and load boats but tying them down is up to the boat owner. That said I would trust most of them to tie my boat down if needed. Same thing with sailboats - most of us have our routines for setting up or putting the boat away, and while people want to help, especially if they are non sailors it would take longer for me to explain what needs to be done than for me to just do it anyway.
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Awesome.