i have a pungo 120 and am self taught and paddle alone 99.9 % of the time. i have dragged my pungo around some and have alot of scuffs and scapes on the bottom.no big gouges or anything, but was just wondering if other people drag their kayaks around or am i being to casual and reckless about the care of mine? seems to work the same.i had it 5 years now.
normal wear & tear
unless you have any unusually deep scratches/gouges just consider it normal wear and tear… especially if plastic boat… sand, gravel, etc. will all leave little scuff marks, nothing to worry about… you should see the scratches/gouges in mine ( prijon seayaks track too well for river running on rocky bony rivers )
unless you notice a thin spot developing you don’t need to worry.
Don’t drag if you can help it
Don’t drag the boat if you can help it.
Beauty marks
as long as you don’t drag it on concrete or asphalt it should be fine. That Pungo will keep going… and going… and going.
Paddlin’ on
Richard
scuffing the kayak
i try not to drag it to much…but i try not to get to hung up on taking everything to serious, life is to short. but i do LOVE my kayak.it’s my best friend all summer long.so sad when oct.ends and the kayak gets put away for the season.we’re trying to spend as much time together as the season is rapidly flying by.
ohh, the woes of summer days gone by. ha ha
yeh, beauty marks!
yes, that’s a great way to look at it.thanks
Adds Character
To them as far as I am concerned. Often times the topic of conversation is like that of comparing scars- “Look at this scrape, that was from the rock I hit going over the low-water bridge.”
I use mine on rocky streams in the Ozarks, so being scraped up is common and unavoidable in my situation.
If you value your boat, only drag it on
grass and smooth sand.
I don’t care what it is made out of.
I watched a guy drag his poly rec boat over concrete, and as he came by me he must have seen the astonished look on my face, and he snickered and said “it’s Ok it is made to be able to be dragged like this”, and all that I could think of was; whast a a-hole !
cheers,
jackL
Poly takes a lot of abuse, so no worries
I don’t think twice about dragging over sand, dirt, grass, etc. Asphalt and concrete are more like sandpaper to the kayak, so you should limit that, but even then it’s not likely to destroy it quickly.
jim
Summer season only?
To me spring and fall are the best times to paddle but many of us paddle all year round. Dress for water temperature with proper gear on, and the fun gets extended.
Andy
your back or your boat
i pick my back for preferential treatment. i try not to drag too much, and always ask for help when available. for short carries, i shoulder it or if canoe, overhead of course. otherwise, i’ll drag the hell out of my boats, over beating on my body. what i find most comical is how some sea kayakers baby their composite boats. come paddle the open coast on Vancouver Island and see how long you can go without dragging your boat at least for short distances. you’re either on big surf beaches, with a couple hundred pounds of loaded boat, or on barnacle covered rocks and boulders with no where else to get out. the only option is to haul your boat up, or risk serious trauma to your lower legs, shoulders, back in remote locations. don’t abuse your boat, but don’t baby it either, always protect your body over wear and tear on your boat.
fall is best, i agree!
well, thanks everybody for the feedback…i guess i am treating my boat pretty normally, and i agree fall is the best paddling time, so beautiful with all the maples we have in new england, but i’m done once mid october passes, as the waters get cold quickly and because i am alone paddling i think it’s just wiser to call it. but that’s weeks away.happy autumn paddling everyone.
Some maintenance tips
There are some things I do for the really obvious scratches on my poly boats that leave the hulls a little smoother and looking more like new.
You can pull a razor over the jagged edges of the scratches and remove the rough parts to smooth the hull somewhat. Then, using a propane torch, lightly (really lightly) pass it back and forth across the scratches until you see some blending of the scratch back into the original finish of the hull. You don’t want to overheat it you will really have a warping problem! I periodically tap the hull in between passes; before it gets too hot to briefly feel the hull, I move toward a cooler area, moving along until the scratch is completely “treated.” I have never had this smooth the hull to original finish quality, but there will be a less significant “scar” left - kind of like healed skin.
Before I started doing this, I called the manufacturers of both boats, asking them if it would in any way weaken or change the composition of the hull by this process. They assured me, short of melting something by holding the torch on too long, the plastic would maintain its original integrity.
Finally, a coat of “303” brings back more of the original color, protects from the UV for a while, and you are now ready to paddle over more rocks!
Angell goes to a lot of trouble
compared to most of us. I kinda think of the poly boats like a worn out ball glove. If it doesn’t look broke it good, it means you just aren’t playing hard (or often) enough.
If you have time to baby it that much you might add a few months to it’s life span. For me, I’d rather have that time doing something I want to do. When the poly boat wears through I’ll convince the wife it’s an interesting flower bed and move to the next one.
It’s not like you have a Pamlico 140 right?
jim
Buff it out…
You can also buff out the scratches.
Use a car polishing wheel… but stretch cotton t-shirt material over the wheel. Cotton is just a tad abrasive. On the wheel, the cotton will create just enough friction to heat-up only a very thin layer of the surface of the poly. It will buff/melt/blend the scratches out and it’s safer than using a torch.
character lines imply experience
and knowledge, usually beyond that which we possess.
Don’t drag it.
I have an Explorer. It is beat to hell and I do drag it the odd time when I have to.
That said the polly boats won’t last as long as my Explorer in a lets wreck it by dragging it across the rocks test. The Explorer can be fixed, easily.
Greg Stamer just paddled around Newfoundland in a Greenlander Pro. That boat had to be dragged as it weighed about 300 Lbs and he was landing on our coasts. When I helped pull it out at the end of the trip it had some signs of wear.
All these boats have a designed toughness but they don’t have wheels.
Just my spin.
Alex
Ditto
If you go camping, you WILL end up dragging the boat at least some times. If there are waves, you will not want to open the hatches and unload the boat in the water.
Might as well get in the habit of avoiding dragging on most outings. You’ll have times when for safety reasons you will drag it, loaded or not. Save the wear and tear for those times of necessity.
You can use kayak carts if you don’t want to carry the boat.
Heat guns & paddle carts
Heat gun works better than a propane torch and is much less likely to burn a hole. The kind that strips paint. My husband is the poly repair expert and he swears by it. About $45 at Heme Dopot.
Also, paddle carts are great. We have twelve 100-lb livery tandems and moving them is a snap with a Paddleboy end cart. You can put it on in about 20 seconds and it folds up and stores in the hatch so you can carry it with you.
would you
drag your best friend down the road?