I purchased 2 kayaks from a seller on Craigslist. My friend who is kayak savy went with me to evaluate them with me. I have some questions that I just don’t know where to start. I am very new to kayaking and long term would like to take them for a kayak camping trip with my son and fishing. Any feedback is welcome as well as suggestions.
They are both Prism kayaks, one is an Aquaterra and the other is a Perception.
Here are my questions:
o Where can I get new scupper plugs for them? The Perception kayak is missing one. The Aquaterra is missing two and the plugs are clearly different for each.
o How much water is expected to get into the holds after being tipped and riden? It seems to be about a liter or two of water that gets into the holds after a day of use.
o Should I replace the gaskets for the holds? What are the signs of wear to look for?
o I like the handles on the side that the Perception has on it. Can I install handles on the Aquaterra?
o Is there a good hand held bilge pump that I should get to best remove the water from the holds?
Anything else I should be asking?
Here are links to the pictures of the kayaks and the stand I built:
http://imgur.com/a/gc3Jk
Your kayaks
You can make your own plugs out of rubber stoppers, just drill a hole through the rubber stoppers that can be bought at almost any hardware store and string a loop of cord through the plug with a metal back up washer to make it easy to remove the plugs.
A little bit of water sneaking in your kayak is pretty normal unless every rivet or screw is well sealed and it’s not easy to perfectly seal out all the water. I uses a boat sponge to de-water mine.
Replacing the gaskets on the hatches may or may not help with keeping water out, those gaskets may not seal all that well even when new.
You should be able to put handles on any poly kayak just by either using well-nuts or by using good pop rivets with back up washers.
Yes you can buy a small hand operated bilge pump to rid the boat of water, I just bail with a small container then finish with a boat sponge, I never felt the need for an actual pump but many folks use them.
All in all you may be able to reduce the water coming into your boat by remounting all the pad eyes, handles and whatever by sealing the fasteners but you may find that it’s a lost cause to try to seal out all the water. A little bit of water finding it’s way into your boat may be something you might have to live with.
Good luck with your new boats.
parts
Where is the best place to get kayak parts for them? Do the make clip on seat backs that fit these?
Parts
I get most of my parts from topkayaker.com. Also very helpful on the phone if you have questions.
parts
Austinkayak.com - I bought all I needed from them for my Perception which was missing a hatch cover. As far as Scupper plugs, they are not really needed. You can get them on Amazon.com in bulk. Scupper plugs come in three sizes…double check the size before you buy, Good Luck
info
Both of your kayaks are made by Perception. Aquaterra was just a sub-brand name that Perception used in the 1980’s and 90’s for their flatwater and touring kayak models, to distinguish them from the whitewater kayaks. They stopped using that name in the late '90’s and have used Perception for all their kayaks (including the lower end Perception Sport line that is sold in discount and big box stores.)
Unfortunately, parts for older kayaks are rarely “standard” even when the companies that made the models still exist. Even from year to year, the same model may have different seat and rigging components. However, fortunately, since your Prisms are sit on tops (SOT), these are much easier to retrofit with aftermarket parts than “sit-inside (SINK)” kayaks.
There is a “search” function in the forums here and it may be helpful to look for previous strings like “replacing SOT seat” or “replacing scupper plugs” to collect even more tips than you may get from this post. There are also reviews of various accessories under the “reviews” tab, which may help direct you to products others have successfully used.