K.I.S.S., easy, and cheap! Use small pool noodles. Strap them on with flat straps. Mount them high as a safety, confidence builder. If you mount them low you will depend on them too much, not be learning to balance your hull as you should be, and might as well switch to a John Boat…
My first reaction was you do not need them and should not be using a crutch like floats. But then most all of us did use training wheels of some sort at one time. You were quite brave to post a sponson question on this site! ;^)
we’ve all been there… Heck just a couple years ago, I was on P-net asking about sponsons as well. It took me a couple months to feel comfortable paddling my then Perception Sonoma 13.5 without fear of capsize. Once you develop better balance and control, it’s no longer a concern but I defintely remember when going out in 1-2 foot swells meant whiteknuckling my paddle as I dangerously teetered side to side.
confusion Ok… I am getting really confused here. I like the sledgehammer idea… it is basically a heavy duty skeglike device- I could even see putting a rope on it so it is retractable in calmer seas. The others say get a rudder put on… it acts much like training wheels. That sounds good to me- I have them on my bike as well.
so which is better? the rudder or the skeg? Are there any opinions on this anywhere?
I can easily see paddling a boat that seems a little challenging at first. I've owned two boats that had way less primary stability than I had been accustomed to before, but because they had such great secondary I figured I could work it out. And I have been very happy to have gotten each of those boats - they not only taught me a lot but turned out to be a ton of fun as well.
That said, I can see his point. I have some uncertainty about how well I'd do if I were to capsize in 35 degree water without face mask and nose plugs. Even with a drysuit and neo hood(s), my face is usually exposed while paddling. Hopefully I'd react real fast and hit a brace or a scull before I had to worry about cold water shock, but until it happens I don't know. I've sculled full over in that stuff, but haven't done a full roll in less than the low 40's yet. (I am a wus.)
The best advice may be to just keep working sculling and bracing until they are thoughtless. The best test I have of what could happen in really cold water is going over in a pool without my noseplugs, and so far I have the fastest brace in the west the moment I realize I am about to get a snootful of chorinataed H2O.
I have heard of others... and is this true of any of you?... that tend to put away their high performance, aka "tippy", boats for the winter and paddle something with more primary stablity but much less efficiency. Even experienced kayakers, I read about on pnet and books like Deep Trouble, occasionally are overcome by unexpected waves or chop and capsize (heck, even that boat of senior citizens suffered an unfortunate capsize on Lake George this past summer, and that ain't nothin' like my 21 inch Barracuda).
Even if I develop a bombproof roll (I will try this summer, schizopak), do I really want to take that off chance of dunking -- even with a successful roll-- when I go out and the air temp is 35F and the water temp is close to that. I think, regardless of gear, I'd roll back up and then freeze my *ss off -- if not die --- because I am two hours from my vehicle. Would be nice to still use the performance kayak, but have that little extra insurance (that only "pool noodles" could get me, maybe like mcfleet says? Maybe yes).
This post is looking for the "insurance", and you all have great ideas.
Pool noodles strapped to the side of the kayak are almost as good as not having any. You really need to get the floats out away from the boat. I tried boat bumpers, same concept. Managed to flip the kayak.
I fully understand your question. I had a tippy kayak that I loved. But during the winter, when I really didn’t want to go over (roll or no roll), I secured a 5-15lb sealed container of shot behind the seat. It made a huge difference. Not only does it increase the stability, but it increases the moment of inertia so that it does not rock quickly, increasing your time to respond to changes in ballance.
Benifits of the design, which I copied from two differing sets of outriggers shown on the Kayakfishingstuff.com website: They strap around the hull (NO DRILLING), and they hang an inch or so off the water like an automatic brace, so there is little to no drag, other than the strap around the hull.
ok, let the digs begin, the Carolina has such good secondary stability you'd nearly have to have a seizure to turn it over to begin with, but with the type of solo yaking I do it's insurance...
This one requires drilling a yak…I also did this in my Carolina, look close at the photo’s on my link above and you will see the added hardware just about the waterline…(I made my own…) Mine are longer, I used larger Noodles for better boyancy, and I curved them upward at the front to reduce drag in the water…)
I no longer use them, the outriggers are a better idea IMHO.
Both manufactures have grooves in the deck of their boats to hold the cross bar in place. Looks like it also makes for a good place for your paddle, when out riggers are not in use, during paddle float reentry.
