I have an Emotion Advant-Edge. Now that the worst of winter is over, but it isn’t exactly the warmest yet, I’m shopping for a sprayskirt. I just started kayaking last June so I’m not really sure what I’m looking for in a sprayskirt other than that it’ll cost less than $100 bucks and repel water. Anybody have any suggestions? I know Emotion carries a sprayskirt, which is what I’ll most likely end up purchasing but I wanted to ask around and see if any of you have any suggestions. I paddle lakes, rivers, and bays.
questions
– Last Updated: Mar-05-10 2:09 PM EST –
Have you ever used a spray skirt before? Do you know how to get out of it if you flipped?
If the answer to either of these is no, I would stick to a lose nylon type of spray skirt. It will keep drips off of your lap, but will pop off easily should you flip over. Test that it does before buying.
Neoprene is the other type of spray skirt material. They are often much tighter, and used in places were there could be a lot of pressure (surf, etc.) in order to keep the spray skirt from imploding. These skirts don't pop off nearly as easily, so you have to know the process to get out.
I have a Seals skirt
that is fitted for my boat. I looked at the adjustable ones also which may have worked because my needs sound similar to yours. I was looking for something to keep the splash and cold air off as much as possible. Mine works great for that purpose and isn’t too difficult to get on or off. This summer when the temps are better suited to getting wet I do intend to try to do some rolling and if at that time I feel the nylon isn’t working out I will invest in a neoprene one.
various skirt companies
You can get skirts from Seals, or other companies. They might be better and cheaper than the skirt that’s sold by your boat manufacturer. Just check with Seals to see what size skirt your boat requires.
I bought mine
From sierra trading post $40 nylon works great for light tripping and warmer weather
Boat and your profile
– Last Updated: Mar-07-10 9:02 AM EST –
Your profile states surfing, which usually means that you'll want a neo skirt at some point. The nylon skirts generally don't suit well for surf because they tend to implode easily, or for rolling which is highly correlated to care-free surfing. The neo skirts will stretch and move with you, the nylon skirts on a plastic boat will pull off the coaming instead.
That said, the boat you have is described as a recreational boat with some sea worthiness. But it lacks a very critical thing for surfing which is good front flotation. So at the least you need to think about getting a float bag for up front if you want to try that out. Or you might eventually find yourself wanting to add a boat... in that case it might be silly to spend the bucks on a neo deck spray skirt for this boat. You could always pick up a used SOT to mess around in surf, at least at first. That'll let you get the feel of it.
When you say bays, is it ocean bays, and that is where you expect to find some surf?
Reed Chillcheater
This is the only skirt I’ve used that actually keeps water out of the cockpit.
http://tinyurl.com/ybxshuc
Lyn