Fun-k-yak

Got a couple more hours in and noticed something.



My kayak smells a lot like a catbox.



The plan at the moment is to add water and some dish soap and shake.



Any other cleansing suggestions?

Kitty litter ?
Mine usually smells like a swamp, sea weed, or low tide



Jack L

It might be a more complicated process
http://www.animalplanet.com/pets/10-tips-for-cleaning-cat-urine1.htm



lets assume Kitty did use it for a litter box.

Swamp is a
pretty close description also although it would have to be the deep black mud.



First day out with the skirt, popped it and , oh my.



Might be my week for o-deers though. I rode the mc to work and was float #6 in the “guy who drives 10 under the speed limit” parade and float 3 or 4 re hit a roadkill skunk.



Got the perfume in my mouth on a inhale. It was enough to gag a maggot.

white vinegar
I swear by white vinegar (about $4 a gallon at most grocery stores) for removing urine and other acidic and organic protein residue odors. Then if the resultant tang of salad dressing that the vinegar leaves bothers you, you can mask/subdue that with orange oil spray cleaners.

Vinager
was used, along with Dawn, 5 gal of water and 3 PB jars full of clorinated pool water.



Took the edge off.



The fore and aft hatches have a bit o funk under them also and I washed them out a while ago. I think it is just old funk that will be part of the charm of kayak camping.



I think I am going to toss a dryer sheet in there when I pack it.

good idea
I’m going to try he same for my day hatch.



Where I found a still-damp wetsock this spring.

or some balsamic oil

Try Nature’s Miracle
It’s worked for me in the past. YMMV.

Baking soda
Dump a handful in a rag, and tie it into a ball and throw one in each hatch toward the end of the boat. It will absorb a lot of the odor and the gear you store in there won’t smell as bad.

Urine treatment hormones
Nature’s Miracle and any of the other hormone treatments you can find at the pet store do all remove some degree of organic odors.

put the
dryer sheets in tonight. I will let you all know if my hammock smells like feet or spring daisies on Sunday.

It helps
I always remove the hatch covers when the kayak is stored and I always put dryer sheets in all the compartments, but there just doesn’t seem to be any way around the powerful aroma of wet water shoes inside a cockpit with a skirt on after a few hours of paddling.