I live in Pennsylvania, so no kayaking here soon! But I often find we don’t know what kind of put in or portages there are until we show up! We Already have camping reservations in several places starting in February that we’ve never been before. Is there a good site to know what type of portages there are when we try someplace new?
That yard looks familiar! Snow pile, the great equalizer. Yes I’m procrastinating.
See you on the water,
Marshall
The River Connection, Inc.
9 W. Market St.
Hyde Park, NY. 12538
845-229-0595 main
845-242-4731 mobile
Main: [www.the-river-connection.com]q
Store: [www.the-river-connection.us]
Facebook: [fb.me/theriverconnection]
Instagram: Instagram.com/marshall.seddon
Ask here about the places you have reservations. Paddlers get around and can probably advise you.
Here’s two ideas.
Skin on frame kayak (or canoe) - very light
Thule Hullavators. The hullavator was a game changer for us. Certainly worth the money.
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Great suggestion about asking here! I will definitely do new post once we definitively know we are still on for our February trip to Florida and South Carolina.
Hi I had thought about the Hullavator, but I watched someone use one this summer and it still looked like you needed to lift overhead from the side. I may consider that for the future. But it still leaves me carrying a heavy kayak or canoe on portages or if I have to park a serious distance from the put in. We have been talking for a year or so about getting lighter yaks and I think we are finally ready. May want to do ocean kayaking still so I am hesitant to buy a lightweight canoe, the more I think about it. I will definitely keep that in mind for the future…everything helps! I hope to still be kayaking in 20 years!!
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I’ve lived in SC most of my life and been paddling here since 1987. Ask away! And have paddling friends from the mountains to the coast.
PS: The weather here in February is nothing to write home about. Usually wet and chilly.
Hi String: I have reservations for Poinsett State park in February on my way down to ( and back from) Florida in February. And meeting some friends at Huntington State Park in April- both in South Carolina. Any kayaking suggestions? We haven’t looked into it yet…just saw that Pointsett was close to a river.
We’ll be south of Naples camping in Florida in February. I’ve kayaked in the Ft Myers/sanibel island area but not that far south ever.
Any advice would be appreciated!
Cindy
Poinsett SP is in the piney woods of eastern SC. I’m sure it is a good spot to stop when you are traveling through. It is close to some swamp paddling. Not sure about rivers.
Huntington Beach SP is in paddler’s paradise. The ocean is at your front door and there are several rivers within an hour. It is my favorite area to paddle. The Waccamaw River will be at your back door.
I recommend a trip out to Bull Island National Wildlife Refuge which is off US 17 towards Charleston. If you paddle there , it is about a 12 mile round trip . You have to understand how to use tides to help you out and back. There is a ferry that makes the trip several times a day if you are interested in hiking the beach and island.
There are no portages unless you incorrectly time the tide and get stuck on a mud flat. And those are not good for walking.
If you are interested, Black River Outfitters leads trips all around that area. Good people.
I still suggest that you check out the Swift pack boats. The 13.6 seems to fit your needs best; note the comment that it’s good for fishing. 26 pounds in Kevlar and it does have a gelcoat to handle abrasion, you wouldn’t have to baby the boat. I talked to Bill Swift at a demo day in 2019 and he said pack boats were their fastest growing segment and I could see how popular they were with folks at the demo day (at Rutabaga in Madison).
Hi Tom: Could I also use a swift pack boat in the ocean or with serious waves, like on the Great Lakes?
Thanks
Cindy
I’ve been following this discussion & there are a lot of good suggestions. One of the things that I see is that you may be wanting something that can do several rather different things well. You are looking for something that portages well; that is, it is light, easy to carry, easy to load and easy to unload. You are also looking for something that works well for fishing. And, you also want to be able to be on open water such as Lake Erie, Chesapeake Bay, and the Atlantic ocean. You are also looking for something light (probably under 50 lbs and ideally less that 40). Unfortunately, that all doesn’t come together in on boat.
I wonder if a good option is to hang on to the Neckys for when you do head for big water. Get a good cart to get them to the waters edge and, maybe, consider a trailer. Then the pack canoes would work out well. Something else to consider would be a light weight tandem canoe for the trips where portaging is likely. Something like a Northstar B16 in Blacklite (41 lbs.) would work tandem and solo. You then pair that with some decent rec. kayaks like those from Hurricane or Eddyline and also could keep the Neckys for big water. For that to work though does mean that the two of you could be reasonably in the tandem. Not everyone can paddle with their spouse.
Open canoes can be paddled on big water but the risk level goes up. Some of the risks can be mitigated by having a spray deck and additional well secured flotation, but not all. Especially, I think that re-entry after a capsize is going to be much more difficult than in a sea kayak.
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You make an excellent point about us wanting many different things that probably can’t be found in one kayak. Thanks for the excellent advice and suggestions!!
And I really appreciate your comment about not be able to paddle with your spouse… we jokingly call tandems ‘divorce boats’ and though we’ve been married over 40 years I really don’t want to be in a tandem with my husband!!!
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I have a Hullivator. No, you do not need to lift the full weight of the boat over your head. The way it works is that the cradles pick up about 45 pounds of weight by themselves once you have it started up or down. So for example with the Romany I am only pushing, or bringing down, about 10 pounds. The hydraulics on the Hullivator are carrying the rest.
You do have to get the boat lifted from the ground, or a cart, into the cradles on your own. But that can be done quite safely for your back compared to trying to scoot a boat up on the roof without it.
I can vouch for that - I usually take two boats to Maine and the second boat goes on glide pads or rollers to a saddle. Only have the Hullivator on one side. And the second boat is a hell of a lot harder than the Hullivator side even with a roller loader to help.
One comment on the Hullivator - if you have the luxury of varying distances between them, women in general want those cradles a little closer together than guys. You have to reach both at the same time. In cars with recessed rails you can’t change that distance. But if you have raised rails you can. It is easier to make that change the first time you install it than to get it home and find out that the guy who helped was taller than you.
Thanks so much Celia! Does it fold down on the roof? I have j racks on my shorter vehicle and a stacker on the higher vehicle folds down more. I have very little room between the top of my car and the garage opening. I couldn’t use j style racks on the taller vehicle if they didn’t completely fold down. I looked online at photos but was unable to tell if they fold or not when not in use. Thanks!!
The cradle arms on the Hullavator do not fold. The entire unit disconnects from the bars with a single lynch pin. Easy enough to then stow in the trunk. I have seen folks deploy them off the side of the vehicle then drive the deployed Hullavator with kayak into the garage so as to clear the lip of the garage door. Gotta be careful that not to clip anything though.
See you on the water,
Marshall Seddon
The River Connection, Inc.
9 W. Market St.
Hyde Park, NY. 12538
845-229-0595 main
845-242-4731 mobile
Main: www.the-river-connection.com
Store: www.the-river-connection.us
Facebook: fb.me/theriverconnection
Instagram: www.instagram.com/marshall.seddon
I personally would not take a pack canoe (or any open canoe) offshore on oceans or the Great Lakes. Actually as a canoe person I wouldn’t even take a sea kayak offshore until I spent a lot of time developing new skills. I think the appeal of the Swift pack boats is the extreme ease of use, versatility, plus quite high performance. Someone on this site recently bought a cruiser 14.8 and loves it and is impressed with the performance and that boat is also 26 pounds in the normal lay-up. I have a 32 pound, 15 foot Swift solo canoe in the same Kevlar lay-up so I know it’s not fragile. While my boat is pretty quick and fast I bet the Swift 13.6 would at least match it in performance and the 14.8 would just run away from it so I’d bet that you’d be satisfied with the performance of a good pack boat.
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As Marshall noted, the cradles don’t fold. I have a Hullavator and it’s easy to remove the cradles when I don’t need them and reinstall when I do. Each one weighs only about 15#.
I carry a 17-foot kayak and move it to stands next to the car when I’m ready to load. Easier on the back.
Thanks to all of you for the wonderful advice!! It has given me lots of food for thought. Between the northeast winter and pandemic, I’m guessing I have plenty of time to look through all the information and figure out exactly what to get before paddling season begins for me again. I appreciate all the input!!
Cindy
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