Essential an optional gear for new sea kayaker.

I paddle solo and won’t go out w/o a spare paddle. Simple reason, it is like tires on a car. You ain’t going anywhere without one, and completely wacky surprises happen. You can get a basic Aquabond that you could stand paddling with if you needed to.

Other than that lots of good stuff in the above list. A couple of things for paddling in Maine if it is a likely thing, foghorn (you can get compact manual ones fairly cheap) and a white light both for if in fog. And before you say it, it is nearly impossible to avoid getting caught in it at some point up there during certain parts of the year…

In terms of “what little stuff” you might want, at times, I have found bug spray and some form of sun protection (I mostly rely on clothing like a long sleeve pullover fishing shirt and hat) to be highly valuable. Depends on where and when you paddle. I’ve really regretted not having bug spray handy when getting back to a ramp when the no-see-ums are out and swarming so now I carry it in a PFD pocket. You might also consider an inexpensive hi-viz item that you can wave around if in distress (e.g., a hunter orange bandana you could tie to your paddle and wave over your head to attract attention). As with the bug spray, I carry at least one item like that in a PFD pocket in case I were to become separated from my boat.

Although I do carry a paddle float, I personally find paddle float re-entries awkward and somewhat unreliable, even in benign conditions. They are less so in some boats (perhaps your Scorpio as the rear deck looks reasonably flat and with a notch behind the cockpit that would keep the paddle perpendicular to the long axis of the boat), more so in others. Lots of people will argue that being able to do a paddle float re-entry can give you a false sense of security (especially if you’ve only used them in non-emergency situations). The sooner you learn to roll (and then re-enter and roll), the better IMO. Get the paddle float though. If nothing else, they can be a pretty useful aid in learning to roll (but that’s another thread).

@l2t said:
The paddle I is Werner shauna carbon shaft glass blade, maybe not a “platinum” paddle but I don’t anticipate needing to upgrade…

It is always so cute when new paddlers say those words.

Don’t worry. You will upgrade. Or sidegrade. Or something else. You will end up buying more paddles than you had ever imagined.

My first paddle was a Shuna carbon. I still have it, and I love it for the clean catch and easy forward stroke. But I later bought a carbon Ikelos which is 5 cm shorter, and I love that one for the shorter length, the larger blade area and the clean backside - all of which makes skill training more fun. And lately, I bought a carbon greenland paddle which I love for the high efficiency, the high portability (it is a 3-piece paddle) and the alternative paddling and rolling experience.

“Sidegrade”! What a great word! When I was learning to roll I sidegraded to the Greenland paddle. Wound up selling my euros. 12t, you might want to get a Greenland as your ‘spare’ or your ‘rolling trainer’. It may very well become your primary mode of propulsion. It happened to me.

boat repair kit…….we carry a roll of that tape the commercial tapes a boat together and motors around. Never used but we are ready. You don’t have to carry everything yourself. Wife carries this one.

paddle float… you can use it for other things, like a pillow, like a broke hatch seal, etc.

insect repellant…………I carry a 2 or 3 oz bottle of Skin So Soft from Avon in my deck bag. It works and makes my skin…………smell good.

Fire…………… matches, flares, etc can be used to light fire to thaw out the capsized…been there done that.

Gorilla duct tape, an auxiliary battery in waterproof box large enough to hold it and cell phone while phone recharges. Waterproof pouch with lanyard for cell phone and Motion-X GPS program for finding way home out of the swamp. Long-sleeve baselayer of synthetic material is good insurance and weighs almost nothing.

P.S. The “Motion-X GPS” is a phone app.

@valsdad said:
P.S. The “Motion-X GPS” is a phone app.

It’s like like it’s only IOS. I have a Galaxy S8 Active. I do have ztrack which is a basic tracking app but not specific for navigation.

Anyone know of anything better for navigation for Andriod?