Keyhole cockpit

-- Last Updated: Aug-18-05 8:05 PM EST --

My new kayak has a keyhole cockpit. It fits me well but I have difficulty carrying the boat on my shoulder. The part where there's room for my shoulder is not in the center, so when I pick up the boat it's not balanced. Anyone else run into this problem? Thanks for any advice.

new boat congrats and
is all of your gear out of the fore and aft hatches? Decks free too? Perhaps removing a hatch cover from the heavy and low end would work? If still not enough, tuck it under deck bungees of light end to bring boat into balance.

carry
try carrying it stern first, some boats balance better that way. If that doesn’t work, you can put a spare paddle on the rear deck (adds a little weight) balance, carrying is usually more important that a few pounds



Best Wishes

I have found
That my boat is balanced when it’s carried with the bow pointed upward. There’s a sweet spot. Once you find it, carrying becomes easier. I once tried carrying a Prion Catalina that balanced nicely when parallel to the ground and it has a key hole cockpit.



Lou

thanks!
I’ll try these ideas. :smiley: