This is probably a dumb question, but I’m asking it anyway.
En route up to a vacation at a lake I bought a used kayak off Craigslist. It’s my first non-plastic boat (the seller told me it was fiberglass but turns out it’s carbon-Kevlar), so I have new owner anxiety. Right now it’s tied to a wooden dock on the lake. My question is, will being outdoors day and night for around 2 weeks, in the sunlight, and with mild waves bumping it against the dock, hurt it? I could bring it in every night but it’s nice and convenient to keep it in the water.
While I’m at it with newb questions, how much should I worry about a small amount of water in the cockpit? I’ve been lifting and draining it after every paddle, but do I need to sponge it out? And if I put a cockpit cover on it overnight does it need to be more dry?
It will definitely be stored in the garage out of the sun when we get home.
I’d never leave a kayak in the water tied to a dock. Wind and boat wakes can leave marks. Looking at the photo of your boat, those dock posts are metal. You don’t want your boat bashed into them. Why not store it on the dock, with a couple of fat pool noodles supporting it at the bulkheads? Cockpit cover on to keep out the creepy-crawlies, hull up. No way to keep it on shore?
Yes, store on dock, not in water. Even larger boats would still put fenders out to protect their sides, showing they would expect some potential damage.
A little water in the boat won’t harm it (unless it freezes solid).
So I just tried doing what Rookie suggested, but the rocker on the boat is such that I’d need some substantial foam blocks to put under the bulkhead areas, or else I need to drape the ends off the sides of the dock. I don’t have more foam here and draping the ends off the dock looked precarious, so for now I put it deck side up with four pool noodles under the bulkhead areas. But, would it be better to drape it hull up, or alternatively to allow it to list over on one side? Or is what I did OK?
Thanks, PhotoMax! It’s the exact color scheme that Impex seemed to use to market the boat (the Lake George Kayak Co still sells them), which I guess must be more common than custom colors. I like it, too, which is the cherry on top, since I would’ve bought it no matter what the color.
If you have enough tape and pool noodles and remember to remove that before you leave you can pool noodle encase the dock fittings. Its imperative that you snug up both bow and stern tight to those padded fittings. I live on a lake and can and do take my boats out of the water at a large dock but leave them tied onshore to a rack… Boat owners leaving their boats in the water use springlines which are not a temporary splurge. Those hold the craft far enough out that they cannot hit the dock.
You need to tie both in front of and in back of the cockpit… Otherwise the loose end can develop a lot of momentum Is there a reason you can’t put the boat lengthwise on a dock and install four tie down cleats?
We always store hull down… You can build up a lot of rainwater in there but as I suspect you will be with your boat alot a pump will bail you out literally
Whatever you do think that 70 mph mile an hour winds can raise havoc in summer squalls… We routinely find loose boats on the lake… sometimes loose rafts too. Your dock is fixed which usually rides waves out better than floating docks.
Thanks. I have a cockpit cover so I can keep rain out. But I’m not totally certain what you’re advocating: are you saying to 1) wrap the metal dock pieces with foam and then tie the boat to the dock fore and aft so I can keep it in the water? Or 2) keep it as I have it now, on the dock, deck up, with pool noodles under the hull, and then tie it to cleats?
OK, so the house is up a steep, rocky slope. I could theoretically take it up every time, if there’s really no good alternative, but I want to paddle twice a day, so that’s my last choice.
I get that in general the dock thing isn’t ideal, but for 2 weeks which is better:
Lying it hull up, perpendicular to the dock, with bow and stern hanging over the edges 4+ feet on each side, and I guess tying it down (this looks pretty precarious to me which is why I flipped it and sat it on the pool noodles deck side up.)
What I did, pool noodles beneath bulkheads, deck side up.
Surround metal dock components with foam and tie it on both ends to dock in the water.
If you all say none of these is good for the boat, I guess I’ll suck it up and bring it up the slope twice a day. At least that’ll make me stronger, and it’ll make being right on the water look less appealing, so I won’t feel as bad when I get home!
It’s a 4ft wide dock. Lay it the length of the dock. Up side down, right side up, don’t matter. Cover cockpit, especially overnight. Tie it to those metal things. It’s not made of egg shells. But it could be blown off in the afternoon or evening showers.
Doesn’t have to go to house. But a tree side on shore could be better than exposed on the dock.
@Doggy Paddler said:
Thanks. I have a cockpit cover so I can keep rain out. But I’m not totally certain what you’re advocating: are you saying to 1) wrap the metal dock pieces with foam and then tie the boat to the dock fore and aft so I can keep it in the water? Or 2) keep it as I have it now, on the dock, deck up, with pool noodles under the hull, and then tie it to cleats?
wrap the metal dock bits with foam… Snug up the boat. Tight. Leaving it on the deck tied to cleats works too as long as the pressure is equal all around ( like four lash points)
Leaving it just about any way on the dock for 2 weeks should be fine. Right side up, upside side, on it side - all would work with only nominal differences between them. Toss it in the bushes near the dock would also be fine.
Leaving it bumping against the dock in the waves for 2 weeks would be problematic.
snugged up it doesn’t bump… We sometimes leave a canoe snugged to the dock and when the wakeboard boats make the dock rise and fall( sometimes by two feet; its a floating dock ) the boat is an integral part of the dock… SInce the dock is also a walkway for the boats users on the other side we cannot leave the boat on the dock. as its a tripping hazard.
@Peter-CA said:
Leaving it just about any way on the dock for 2 weeks should be fine. Right side up, upside side, on it side - all would work with only nominal differences between them. Toss it in the bushes near the dock would also be fine.
Leaving it bumping against the dock in the waves for 2 weeks would be problematic.
Agree with this completely.
Aside from mechanical considerations - a boat already floating in the water is infinitely more attractive to someone looking to take an innocent (or not) joy ride. Be sure to take the paddles into the house.