Seals Sneak Spray Skirt Review

When I purchased my new kayak earlier this month with plans for taking it into the ocean I knew I would be needing a spray skirt.  I went back and forth regarding getting a neoprene or nylon model but finally settled on nylon as every time I see someone trying to attach a neoprene skirt they always seem to be struggling or asking for help.  Since I spend a fair amount of time paddling solo I needed something easy to get on.

After a bit of research I settled on the Seals Sneak Spray Skirt.  This skirt is advertised as a recreational skirt for light to moderate conditions.  It has a lot of great features but at the top of the list is that it can be purchased for under $90. 



Some of the features of this skirt are:
- Detachable Suspenders
- Tensioned deck stay
- Zippered Front
- Mesh Pockets
- Comfortable Neoprene Waistband

I had a chance to use this skirt a few weeks ago in some pretty windy conditions in Boston Harbor.  The waves were between 2 and 3 feet.  A few waves washed completely over my bow and to the skirt's credit I stayed dry.  This is a very comfortable skirt, I have used other skirts without suspenders and they never seem to stay in place.  The zippered front of this skirt is really nice feature.  This allows to to get at the contents of your cockpit and you can just unzip it and step put of your kayak without needing to reattach.  Another nice feature is the pockets allowing you to keep waterproof items close at hand.

Overall a great spray skirt for short money.  Probably will need to upgrade in a couple years if I ever plan on open ocean kayaking but I think this will server me just fine for years to come.

Perception Avatar 15.5

When I started kayaking last year I never would have anticipated being the owner of three kayaks in just a year, but here I am just having purchased a third kayak.  Over the past couple months I have found that I seem to be outgrowing my 11 foot Necky.  I still love my Necky and it is perfect for small winding rivers and trips under 10 miles.   But for trips over 10 miles I find that I am reaching the limit of my little boat.  I also have been really wanting to get into the ocean and my Necky is just not the right boat for that type of trip.

So over the past couple months I have been scouring Craigslist looking for a nice, inexpensive, used sea kayak.  My criteria was something around $500, over 14 feet in length, with a skeg or rudder and generally something that I could grow into.  Last week there was an ad for a Perception Avatar, I looked up the specs and read the reviews of the boat and it seemed like it would be a great fit for me.  It met all of my criteria and was being offered at a good price so I headed over to take a look and ended up coming home with a new boat.

From what I can tell the Avatar family of kayaks were manufactured from 2003 through 2008.  They include a 16 foot composite version, a 15 foot 10 inch plastic version and a 15 foot 7 inch plastic version (which I purchased).

The specs on the boat are as follows:

Length: 15' - 7"
Width: 23 1/4"
Weight: 54 lbs
Cockpit: 34" x 19"

According to Perception, the Avatar was designed with the Greenland style in mind and reflects progressive thinking by our touring boat designers.  Brent Reitz was very instrumental in the design of the Avatar.    The Avatar features a multi-chine hull design that relies on its graceful sleek hull design for turning rather than a rudder system.

First Impressions:

I took the boat out for for my first trip this past Saturday.  I wanted to paddle waters that I was familiar with so I headed down to the Merrimack River in Methuen for the 10 mile downstream paddle to Haverhill.  My first disappointment with this kayak is that I found that my kayak cart will not fit into either the bow or stern hatch.  I was able to easily fit this cart into the stern hatch of my Necky.  The stern compartment is taken up by the skeg box and the bow is fairly shallow making it impossible to fit anything tall inside.  I believe this is due to the Greenland style design.

Getting into the water I immediately noticed that this kayak does not have the initial stability that the rec kayaks that I usually paddle do.  The boat felt pretty twitchy as I was heading out and took a couple miles to get used to.  I was also paddling into a pretty stiff wind which was pushing me around more than I expected it to.  The wind shortly settled down and I settled into a nice rhythm.  I could tell that this was much faster than my 11 foot necky.  I could get it up to speed faster and it has a really good glide to it.  I had to make some seat and foot adjustments along the way to get comfortable but once I was locked in I found the boat to be very comfortable.  Especially the seat which has a great Geltech seat pad. 

One aspect that will take some getting used to is that I could not position my feet vertically on the foot braces as I am accustomed to.  The bow is so narrow that I needed to angle my feet outward in a V to fit comfortably.  When reading reviews of the Avatar one of the complaints about this boat is if you wear over a size 12 shoe your feet won't fit.  Not an issue for me though as I wear a size 8.

I was hoping to try out the skeg on this trip but the mechanism is a bit sticky and needs to manually be pulled up and down.  I will need to do a little maintenance on it in the off season. I was not sure if I was going to feel too confined with the much smaller cockpit in this boat, made even smaller by the thigh pads.  But I quickly got used to it as I was able to lock my self in and really feel connected to the kayak.  Before I knew it I was at my take out in Haverhill and I noticed it took me quite a bit less time to get there than when I took this trip just a couple weeks ago.  I checked my GPS when I got home and found that the Avatar is significantly faster than my Necky Manitou.

I last paddled this route in my Necky on August 26th.  It took me 2 hours and 23 minutes with and average speed of 3.9 mph.  This past Saturday in my Avatar it took me 1 hour and 46 minutes with and average speed of 5.2 mph.

Overall I am very happy with my Perception Avatar 15.5.  It is a very fast boat that will allow me to get out on longer trips and into the ocean.  This is a boat that I will be able to grow into.  I am really looking forward to longer trips and my first trip into the ocean.

Paddle Float Self Rescue

   

One of my kayaking goals for this year is to get into the ocean with my kayak.  I realize that kayaking in the ocean is much more dangerous than the local rivers that I am used to.  A friend of mine who kayaks mostly in Boston Harbor has been trying to get me out there with him.  I promised myself that before I put my kayak in the ocean I will learn some self rescue techniques. 

For Father's Day I asked my wife and daughter to get my the rescue kit linked to the right.  It includes a bunch of gear that I have been wanting to pick up buy most importantly it has a bilge pump and paddle float.

For the past couple weeks I have been watching YouTube videos of people performing paddle float self rescues.  Some of them seem to have a easy time of it while others seemed to fail miserably.  I fully expected to fail miserably on my first couple attempts bit it turned out not so bad.

So this past Sunday I paddled out into a local lake to practice  my paddle float self rescue.  I was actually able to get back into my kayak pretty easily on my first try.  I was on a fairly smooth lake and the water was warm so the conditions were fairly favorable.  I am sure that it would not be so easy in the cold, windy ocean.  It look me about 2 minutes to get back in on my first try.  I was a bit faster on my second attempt.  Most of the time was spent inflating the float and getting it secured in the deck rigging.

Kayaking purists seem to frown on the paddle float rescue as not a useful skill for rough conditions.  They claim the Eskimo roll is the only fool proof rescue technique.  Until I learn to roll my paddle float will have to suffice.  Rolling will be one of my goals for next season. 

I posted a quick video below of my first attempt at a paddle float rescue.  I apologize for the shaky camera work.  My wife had our crappy video camera zoomed all the way in and and was trying to watch our daughter while filming.

Kayaking with a 3 year old

    

 When I started kayaking last year the only thing that was bothering me about my time on the water is that I was spending time away from my family on the weekends. 

My wife and I started discussing how we could get her and my 3 year old daughter out there with me we considered briefly a tandem kayak and also a canoe but when I was able to pick up my Vapor 10xt for cheap that was the perfect solution.  I can paddle the Vapor with my daughter and my wife can use the Necky.

The Vapor XT has a huge cockpit so my daughter can sit in front of me with plenty of room so I don't have to worry about hitting her in the head with the paddle.

My biggest concern regarding kayaking with her was safety.  We got her an age appropriate PFD from LL Bean.  It has a grab loop at the back just in she falls in the water and a crotch strap so it isn't going anywhere.  I also picked up a bungee cord with carbiners at both ends so I can attach her pfd to mine in the event that we do capsize she won't get too far.

I also found a nice little padded kayak seat to make her ride a little more comfortable and to keep her off the wet floor of the kayak.  With all of our new gear we set off for the Spicket River this weekend for our first paddling trip.

I wanted to keep our first trip under two hours and keep in interesting for her so we paddled through the wildlife sanctuary where we would surely see plenty of birds and other critters.  Knowing your child's attention span is fairly important as you don't want to have to hear a child whine the whole way back to take-out.  Luckily my daughter is fairly easy going for a 3 year old so I knew a couple hour trip would not be a problem as long as we had plenty of snacks and water.

I am glad to say our first outing went flawlessly, it was a little cool and overcast but we saw plenty of nesting Great Blue Herons, Canadian Geese, Mallard Ducks, Red Winged Blackbirds and an otter or muskrat, not sure exactly what it was.

We are really looking forward to taking some longer trips later in the season when it gets warmer so we can  pack a lunch and have a nice family picnic.

Old Town Vapor 10XT kayak review

I went to the New England Paddlesports show last weekend looking to pick up some safely gear and maybe a new pair of water shoes and ended up coming home with a new kayak.  When I was first looking at kayaks about a year ago I considered the Vapor 10 but I really wanted something that would provide better performance so I went with the Necky Manitou Sport.  At the time I considered getting two kayaks but not knowing how much my wife and daughter would want to come along we decided against it.  When I saw the Vapor 10XT at the show for under $400 I really couldn't pass it up.

In order to make kayaking with my daughter work I need a kayak with a large cockpit, the Vapor 10 XT fits the bill with an opening of 19.5" x 48".  This will allow my daughter to sit forward in the cockpit and I can paddle behind her.  This is something I am unable to do in my Necky.  At 10 feet the kayak also fits in the back of my Dodge Caravan so no need to purchase another kayak rack to get to and from the water.

The base model of this kayak is the Vapor 10, additional features on the XT include a more comfortable seat, a hatch for the rear compartment and an e-pad storage space.

On the water the Vapor 10XT performed pretty much as I expected.  It is a short wide rec kayak so it is not going to win any speed records.  But is did track pretty well compared to my Necky which is a foot longer.  At 28.5" wide the kayak is very stable and the short length make it very maneuverable.  The seat is just OK, I was out on the water for a little over an hour today and I had to reposition myself quite a bit to stay comfortable.  I might need to take along and extra cushion for longer trips. 

If I was buying a new kayak for myself this would not have been my first choice but for getting my wife and daughter out on the water with me for those lazy spring and summer days the Vapor XT is going to be just perfect.

Malone Seawing Stinger Combo Kayak Rack Review

One of my goals for the kayaking season was to get a good kayak rack system to upgrade the foam blocks and straps that I have been using.  I started pricing out systems for my car from Thule and Yakima but due to the fact that the car has a bare roof, I was looking at spending a minimum of $600 to get the car set up.  A bit our of my budget to say the least. 

My other option was to pick up a rack for my Dodge Caravan.  But I immediately encountered two issues:

1. The caravan is so tall that lifting a kayak on top is impossible.
2.  None of the manufacturers seemed to offer a rack that fit on the wide Caravan factory cross bars.

After a bit of reasearch I found the Malone website and their Seawing Stinger combo kayak rack.   This rack meets all my needs; it is under $200, it has a lift assist option and most importantly it fits on my Caravan.  Just to be sure of the fit I emailed Malone, a tech got right back to me and assured me that the rack would fit on the Caravan cross bars.

I  installed the rack a few weeks ago and have had the opportunity to use it a few times and I have to say I am pretty happy with this system.  The rack installs onto the cross bars without tools which makes it very easy to install but also makes it so you can't get the rack at tighted down as you would if you were using tools.  This seems to be mostly an issue with the rear rack that has the mounting plate for the lift assist.  Although I know it is attached securely it does have a bit of back and forth wiggle.  Loading  the kayak is very easy, just lift the front of the kayak onto the list assist extention and slide the kayak onto the racks.  This system is definitely going to make it easier for me to get to and from the water and also cut down on my anxiety when driving 65 mph on the highway with my kayak on the roof.
Below is a video demo of the Seawing Stinger rack from Malone

Do It Yourself Kayak Rack

These little ladder hangers are a great cheap solution if you are looking to hang a kayak on the wall.  I have seen similar products sold at REI and EMS for over $100.  They come with all mounting hardware and foam padding to protect your kayak.  Just screw them into a stud and you are good to go for around $10.  They are rated at 50 pounds each so I am pretty sure you can use them with just about any kayak.  They are also sold at Home Depot under the product name: Everbilt Heavy Duty Arm Hangers.  I just had to pick up another pair of these since I bought another kayak at the New England Paddlesports show last weekend.  I will post about my new boat once I get to take it out for a test run.  Just itching to get back in the water.

I couple pics below of my boats resting on their racks waiting anxiously for their next trip.

Necky Manitou Sport Review

I did quite a bit of research online before making my first kayak purchase.  Being new to kayaking I knew right off the bat that I was looking for a recreational kayak.  My next decision was whether to go for a 10 or 12 foot kayak.  My storage space is a bit limited so a 12 foot kayak would be a but tight so I started leaning toward a 10 footer.  When I saw the Necky Manitou Sport at just under 11 feet I had to tale a look.  The Manitiou sport is a nice step up from an entry level kayak.  It has a nice waterproof hatch and plenty of deck rigging.  The seat is very comfortable and has lots of adjustments for those longer trips.  It tracks very nicely as well.  Some of the reviews I have read suggest that it tracks like a 2 or 3 foot longer boat.  I have not had an opportunity yet to take a trip with friends with longer boats but it will be interesting to see how much harder I have to work to keep up.  My only complaints with this kayak it that it does not have a drain plug and the knee/thigh pads are king of cheap and are not attached well so they are starting to fall off.    Very small issues though as far as I am concerned.  Overall I am very happy with my Manitou Sport and am looking forward to many years of enjoyment on the water.

Kayak Carts

I am lucky enough to live just a few blocks away from my local kayaking spot (The Merrimack River).  The problem with living just a few blocks away is that it is too far to carry the kayak and too close to justify strapping the kayak down on the roof of may car. 

A quick little Internet search and I found the perfect solution for my dilemma, kayak carts.  There are many different types and price ranges on these carts.  I opted for LL Bean's Stowaway Kayak Cart that I picked up for under $50 on sale.   Some of the more expensive carts attach to the middle of the kayak which makes pulling the kayak along much easier.  Others have larger wheels for pulling the kayak through beach sand.  The model I purchased attaches to the stern of the kayak so you are pulling most of the weight of the kayak.  But it is still much easier than carrying the kayak on your own.  My trip to the river is under 1000 feet via paved roadway, a short walk down a gravel/dirt trail and then a fairly steep hill to get to the river.  This cart navigates the varied terrain with ease.  I will say that it was a little difficult pulling the cart back up the hill after a couple hours of paddling, but there is no way around that.

 

Another nice feature of this cart is that it is very compact.  It easily folds up and fits into the storage hatch of my Manitou Sport and leaves room to spare.  Attaching the cart to your kayak is as simple as tightening a strap around your stern and a hook the attaches to the back of your cockpit.  You can have it on and be rolling down to the water in less than a minute.  Very nice product for a good price that will save your back and save you some time if you find yourself needing to carry your kayak.

Riverside Cartop Kayak Carrier

So you purchase the kayak, the paddle and the PFD and then you realize that you need to get the kayak home and to and from the water.  Those Yakima and Thule racks are really nice but can can get really expensive especially if your car doesn't already have a roof rack installed, which one of my cars doesn't.  So I  picked up one of the Riverside Cartop Carriers for about $60.  I went with the extra wide blocks since I have a recreational kayak that is a little wide.  In hindsight, I probably could have gotten away with the universal set for $10 less.

The set consists of two foam blocks, 4 S hooks and 4 straps.  You plop the foam blocks down on your roof and loop two of the straps over the top of the kayak and though the car doors.  The other straps attach to the bow and stern and are anchored to with the S hooks to front and back of your vehicle.

Getting it installed the first time can be a little frustrating especially if you are in a sporting goods parking lot in 85 degree heat.  The directions aren't great but they have a website that provides better instructions.  My biggest challenge was figuring out where to attach the S hooks to the front of my car.  The back had some conveniently located holes in the frame.  The front of my Volvo V50 had nothing that I could easily find.  My first trip home was rather precarious as I didn't attach the bow to the front of my car properly.  To give credit to the product the Kayak still stayed in place at close to highway speeds.

When I got home I found that I can attach one tow hook in the little crevice about two feet under the front driver side of my car.  The other side can be attached to my car's tow hook.  After setting it up a couple times now I can have my kayak ready to go in a little under 10 minutes.  When lifting the kayak onto and off your roof you will probably want to lay a towel down as I scratched my roof when my kayak slid across it the first time I used the carrier.  You will also want to twist the straps so they aren't flat in the wind, otherwise you will get an annoying hum when traveling over 35mph.

The manufacturer suggests not traveling more than 200 miles with this product.  I haven't taken any long trips yet but it seems very secure at highway speeds.  The first couple trips you will probably want to stop a couple times to ensure that everything is still tight.    One thing I have wondered about is if it is possible/safe to carry two kayaks with this type of carrier.  There is no info on the Riverside website about it, but if anyone has any experience please post a comment.  Overall I am pretty happy with the Riverside Cartop Kayak Carrier.  It is a very functional, economical product for the price if you don't have the budget for the more expensive roof systems.