Brought the kayaks inside to warm up so I can apply the neoprene decks to our Vibe Yellowfin 120 and my wifes Yellowfin 100.
I’ll tell you what, that lil’ 100 is a sweet little yak, even at 68 years young I can toss it around like I did my wife on our honeymoon night…dancing
Put the “rack” together today too, and mounted it to the truck bed…I love the fact its “low profile” and I can easily nose then up onto the rack by myself, and still pull the travel trailer to our destination.
Here is a picture of out itinerary thus far, not even counting hitting a few trout ponds locally too, and maybe pulling a coho or king in out in front of where we live on Puget Sound…
Admire your enthusiasm and ambitious trip planning.
BUT I do hope you are not planning on launching those kayaks into Puget Sound, however. They are not designed for coastal conditions. Average water temperatures in the Sound are 55 F, not in the least bit safe for immersion without a drysuit. No way for you to keep from getting wet in a small sit on top kayak. And the boats are too small to be able to safely make it back to shore if caught in offshore winds or currents.
Your new craft are for flatwater rivers and small lakes, not the sea or large bodies of water. Trout ponds, yes (as long as the water is over 70 F).
Please don’t take offense if you were already well aware of these limitations. But your mentioning Puget Sound in conjunction with your excitement over the new kayaks was a red flag.
No offense at all…we live on a bay that completely empties out almost everyday, and during the summer the water is very doable, we have launched our whaler and played in the water, folks ride their PWC in it as well.
I would never venture outside where the water really moves around, etc…even in my big boat I have hit holes and rips that move it pretty good.
The Sound has lots of different types of water, and yes you are right, they need to be aware of the risk.
Relieved to know you are obviously in tune with your paddling environment and the risks.
We do often get folks posting on here who are not as well-versed as you. Having lost people I cared about to wilderness and water tragedies I’d rather err on the side of offending someone with cautionary prodding than not speaking up about potential dangers.
I agree, but we must also temper our own concerns and not become part of the prevalent mindset of “The sky is falling” media, and opportunist, who profit off of selling fear…
Now I hope you don’t take offense willowleaf, but I will use your reply to me as a example of how the “forum dialogue” leaves much to desire when communicating our thoughts…
The Puget Sound is a very huge area of water, with many diverse watered areas, which means one size/observation does not fit all…it truly goes from one extreme out by the San Juans, where many experienced paddlers have been lost, to muddy little tidal flats where avoiding bird poop is the biggest challenge…HAHA!
Buddy I would even venture to say more paddlers die, or injured, driving to the water, than on the water…so context really does need to be weighed, or as you say, folks can become offended, or even just ignore good advice because we don’t readily appreciate unsolicited advice…
It’s one thing I have come to understand about dialoguing on a internet …
I’d rather offend 1,000 and save one from a bad decision. I try to be tackful but sometimes it’s not enough. So be it. They can tell me F off no skin off my nose.
@plumbcrazee - Your comments are a great reminder that we need to be thoughtful around how we provide feedback and careful about assuming that we know more than the people we are attempting to coach. If we ruffle feathers our input may be ignored or even counterproductive. No one else can be as intimate about the risks we all take without asking questions and gathering more information before giving feedback.
I recently joined a vehicle forum to share comments about new tires I just bought. Someone saw a picture of my vehicle and had to lecture me about always using bow and stern lines…but in this case I was only traveling half a mile at under 15 mph. Aggravating and off-putting. Sometimes I paddle with a guy that doesn’t wear his PFD when we’re on a small shallow creek. Shame shame. But we’re both lifeguards and he’s a former guide that carries a more comprehensive first aid kit than anyone I’ve ever paddled with. So maybe his/our judgement is acceptable to an Internet forum; it’s definitely acceptable to us.
Kudos to you for the balanced perspective and kudos to willowleaf for the way her cautions were expressed.
Yes Tom, I know the type…not sure why they think they need to be the Wizard Of Oz, only took a lil’ dog to see the truth about him.
I was making some modifications to my cuddy cabin boat, putting in pedestal seats from the loungers.
I had to cut away the box that supported the loungers, to mount the new seats on to the new deck…
A person went on to tell me if I am boarded by the coast guard that they can now charge me with operating a unsafe boat, as the old boxes held some spray in foam to provide “some” flotation if swamped, but mostly in these production boats they use it to make the hull quieter…
Oh well…I guess we can view sucn for pure entertainment reasons and be glad they don’t live next door…
