My friend’s only hatchcover on her Wildneress Tsunami 120 blew off when traveling on her car rack. Well, we’re now getting ready for kayaking season and she never ordered a new one for replacement. She feels she can cover it with a bag. Is this safe if she turns over? Please advise…
Depends…
are you paddling a place with waves or just occaisonal wakes from passing boats? Constant wave action over the deck may implode the plastic.
If it’s mostly calm, duct tape the plastic around the rim. Than duct take over the plastic to protect it form accidental punctures. (If you have float bags, filling the hatch would be a big plus.)
sing
Reed makes great emergency hatch covers
Everyone that paddles regularly should consider having backup hatch covers
http://www.chillcheater.com/products/shop.asp?cid=794&p=4
Are you asking
if it’s OK to paddle a compromized boat?
If so, the answer is another question - are you willing to take the risk?
~wetzool
love those chillcheater hatch covers!
When my ship comes in, gonna have to get me some of those. In a related question, I’ve only ever had rubber hatch covers, but some boats have neoprene hatch covers with a plastic cover.
Question: Would “bare” neoprene hatch covers suffice? Or do you NEED the cover too to keep water out?
If neoprene is enough (and I don’t see why it shouldn’t be; works for spray skirts just fine), seems like somebody should make emergency, back-up hatch covers in the standard sizes. (Snapdragon, are you listening?)
Get the cover
A bag no. An arrangement that uses duct tape and is extremely well secured maybe, on one capsize in flat water. Use of float bags if there is any alternative arrangement, absolutely critical. But my guess is that the float bag will cost nearly as much as the replacement hatch cover.
And it’ll take forever before each trip to set up anything that could remotely be secure, and the penalty for guessing wrong could be a long swim and a boat that has to be abandoned because you can’t figure out how to get the rear hatch emptied out to recover the boat.
Get the htach cover, see if you can get the replacement ones from Reed’s if this is likely to occur again.
a bunch of boats come with neoprene
hatch covers…with the shell…the shell helps to protect the neoprene from a wave impact…
any neoprene cover would pop with a wave landing on it…
if you really think that you need a spare hatch cover then purchase an extra cover when you get a boat…the dealer would be happy to sell it to you…
i carry a float bag for hatch cover incidents-on water…puff it up nice and tight til it bulges…
carry a spare chillcheater one???
why-is the storage area going to get cold???
a neo-one with a tight enough bungee would work…as would a contractor trash bag and a bungee too…and cheaper than the reed too…
r