I just got a Pelican Mustang 100X sit-in kayak. I have an issue with my hips that will make getting in & out harder. I’ll try the various methods I have seen on the web (one of them will work!) but I think they will all require that I tie up my kayak to my dock so it doesn’t float away or shoot out from under me. I have an old-fashioned auger dock and the deck is generally 2 feet above the water line. I can tie the kayak to the uprights of the dock or the ladder of my pontoon boat. I know what type of line and knots to use but I need suggestions as to how to attach the line to the kayak. The mounting point should be somewhere near the cockpit so I can reach it to tie up. The lake is calm with no tides. If it’s windy, I won’t be going out. I’m a little nervous to drill holes in my kayak to attach a cleat (traditional or should I use a zig zag?) so I thought I’d check with the experts before tackling this project. Also, need to know how many cleats I should use and where I should put them. Thanks, everyone!
A two foot high dock can be difficult for many kayakers. It generally takes a good amount of upper body strength, good balance and some sort of handhold on the dock to pull oneself up. The kayak can be held in place with your feet as you pivot to sit on the dock. For slightly taller docks you may end up basically crawling onto the dock, and will receive no points for style.
To fasten your boat to the dock, check to see if you can attach some loops to the fittings that secure your fore and aft bungees, Then run a line through those and around something on the dock. If the dock uprights extend above the dock, it might work better to have a cleat on the dock to form a handhold and secure your line, but not be in your way when getting onto the dock. If this method works, you can probably leave the line in place and tuck the excess length under a bungee. You could also tie off the lines to the for and aft carry handles.
Any method will probably require some practice. If the boat shifts or rolls, be careful not to hit yourself on the side of the dock.
I tie a line to the bow and more than long enough to reach the cockpit. I position the boat at a swim ladder and tie the loose end of the line around a small cleat near the ladder where I can reach from sitting in the cockpit. I tie the line off to keep the boat from moving forward while entering. Holding on the ladder adds stability. Reverse for exiting. Keep excess line in the cockpit with you…
I tie it through the carrying handle or lifting point. If you don’t have one you might be able to drill a small hole near the top of the bow…
@grayhawk There’s a carrying handle on a little rope at the bow. I might be able to get a 2nd rope through the same hole. Hadn’t thought of that! That would work beautifully. Thanks!! Screen Shot 2021-03-28 at 4.36.13 PM|290x240
I learned that you want to snub the kayak tight to the dock with a line near the cockpit. That line helps keep the kayak from rolling as long as you bias your weight toward the dock side of the kayak when getting in and out. Maybe there’s a screw where your seat adjustment strap mounts to the side of cockpit? You could add a webbing loop under that screw as a tie-off point.
Here’s a video:
Two foot drop to the water is going to be a climb getting out.
My Inner MacGyver is pondering something akin to a slightly submerged (4”) drawbridge sort of sub-Dock made of some plastic dock decking over a schedule 40 pvc frame. 4x6 should be enough for a 10’ boat. Lash the closest corners to the dock uprights with Prussia knots and the far corners tied off with lines to the top of the dock. This should allow you step down to the submerged deck get in your kayak and seal launch yourself off. Landing is just ramming speed to bump up onto the platform. You could even stow the platform vertically with an uphaul line
My Idea for a fun launch rather than a dock that’s above head height when landing.
See you on the water,
Marshall
The River Connection, Inc.
9 W. Market St.
Hyde Park, NY. 12538
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Wow, getting out on a dock 2 feet high would be an extreme challenge. You don’t have an alternative?
Best docks for kayaking that I’ve seen was a Lake Washington rental place with floating docks about the height of the kayak deck. It’s pretty easy to get in and out on something that height because you can sort of roll your way into and out of the boat.
An option for attaching a rope involves a tight noose around the coaming of your cockpit.
What Grayhawk says
Both my wife and I launch from his dock. (in sit ins, sit ons and paddleboards)
A ladder is an absolute must and some of the rungs need to go a minimum of a foot under the water surface.
The only thing we use the rope for is launching the yak from the dock.
After launching, pull the boat into the dock with the rope and have the cockpit right at the ladder. Climb down the ladder facing it and with one leg on a rung between six or ten inches underwater use the other leg to hold the yak snug against the leg/ladder. Then while hugging the yak to the leg/ladder slide your leg that has been holding the yak into the cockpit and drop your rump into the seat.
Next bring you other leg that is on the rung up an over into the yak and once it is in your good to go.
Just repeat the process in reverse to get out
Well, it was a problem at the Canoe Club. So we found one of these , extra from a local contractor, for $400. Some as hardware later I mounted it to the floating dock at the club. They also come with hand rails.
We had it tied to our fixed dock for a month or so.
Ok, so I was reinventing the wheel earlier. It’d still be fun to build.
If you would like ups to bring the dock then there’s this;
See you on the water,
Marshall
The River Connection, Inc.
9 W. Market St.
Hyde Park, NY. 12538
845-229-0595 main
845-242-4731 mobile
Main: [www.the-river-connection.com]
Store: [www.the-river-connection.us]
Facebook: [fb.me/theriverconnection]
Instagram: Instagram.com/marshall.seddon
I use a line from a small strap eye that is attached to the side of my yak near the forward end of the cockpit. It is explained and shown in point #12 of “Minimizing the Aches and Pains of Flatwater Paddling” that was published on this website and is still posted. This rig not only restrains the yak from moving away from the dock, but if your two feet are positioned about an inch off the centerline toward the dock, it will help keep the craft from rocking as you enter and exit.
If only there was a compressed air launcher…
I have done what Wolf said - running a line (in my case, the line on the bow, run into the cockpit) from the seat webbing to a cleat on the dock, just snug enough to prevent the dock side of the boat from rolling. Used the cleat to lever myself up, until I could support most of my weight on the dock, and then roll on to it. Not beautiful, but it worked, and I stayed dry, and it was easy to retrieve the boat. I have arthritic hips and knees, and getting in and out of anything is getting harder!