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Ready for battle. PHOTO: VIRGINIA MARSHALL
EXPEDITION MODS for Weekend Warriors
BY DAVID JOHNSTON
YOU’VE DREAMED OF AN EXPEDITION since you started kayaking. Now, finally, you’ve picked a departure date, bought your food, packed it into hundreds of tiny Ziplocs, waterproofed your tent, found the perfect floppy-brimmed hat, purchased spare sunscreen and camera batteries, obsessed over charts and waterproofed your tent again. It’s time to look at your boat. Your vehicle on this odyssey needs some
preparation as well. You don’t need a specialized expedition kayak to go on an extended trip. You can transform your weekender into an expedition workhorse with these easy do-it-yourself modifications.
BE SEEN
Make it easy for search and rescue teams to spot you by adding reflective tape to the top and bottom of your boat. Not all reflective tape is created equal. 3M SO- LAS tape has very high adhesion strength and reflectivity—even a square inch of tape can catch the searchlights of res- cue helicopters.
www.adventurekayakmag.com 41
LAY A STRIP
Reduce wear and tear on the bow and stern hull by adding a keel strip to your glass boat. Plan a half-day to apply this two-inch-wide strip of fiberglass tape covered in gel coat to the keel line of your kayak.
If you don’t have the time or interest to get your hands dirty, fashion a temporary keel strip out of 3M Scotchgard Paint Protec- tion Film. Though not as tough as fiberglass and gel coat, this very strong, clear vinyl sticker can be applied in under an hour.
PHOTO: VIRGINIA MARSHALL
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