Hi everyone. With the cold weather coming up, I don’t plan on using my kayak. For most of the summer I’ve kept it outside, covered. Will keeping it as is in the cold/snow affect it at all? Or should I store it somewhere covered and dry?
Much thanks for all of your advice in advance.
Here’s a good article …
… on year-end maintenance, with a section on storage:
http://www.paddling.net/guidelines/showArticle.html?178
You might also find some helpful information here:
http://www.aquadynology.com/Technical/maintenance1.html
Good Luck!
Delphinus
I store my plastic kayaks
up off the ground under a tarp that is setup like a tent. The kayaks are on the utility trailer on thick pads that conform to the shape of the boats (thick PE foam). They are out of the sun and rain, but not where the air can’t get to them.
jim
I kept two of them outside for many
years. ( a plastic Eclipse and Shadow)
-On two 2x4’s placed under the bulkheads or as close to them as possible, and then wrapped in a big tarp(mainly to keep critters out and the boats clean)
cheers,
JackL
Tarps
Poly boats are probably OK wrapped in a plastic tarp, but composite boats can be ‘stained’ by doing this.
If the tarp is left in contact with a fiberglass or carbon-fiber boat, the repeated cycles of warm and cold, and the trapping of moisture, can cause a faint milky-white ‘hazing’ of the gelcoat. I don’t believe this can be rubbed out.
Better to follow jimyaker’s example and prop the tarp just off the boat, like a pup tent, to allow air to circulate under it.
To keep wildlife out of your cockpit, a small piece of tarp can be cut and affixed to the cockpit rim with a bungee cord.
Delphinus