OUTFIT FOR COMFORT
ALUMINUM KAYAK/ CANOE TRAILERS
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On an expedition, plan on sitting in your kayak for five to eight hours a day. Be- fore your trip, pay attention to how your body connects with the seat, backband and thigh braces—if anything is uncom- fortable on a daytrip, it will quickly be- come unbearable on a multi-day.
If your seat isn’t padded, consider pur- chasing a plusher seat or customizing for comfort with thin sheets of self-stick closed-cell foam. Thicker pieces of foam can be shaped into thigh braces or under-leg support and affixed with contact cement for a permanent fit.
FIND AND FIX
Test all the moving parts on your kayak for wear and breakage. Pay careful attention to the rudder or skeg components and cables. If anything looks worn, replace it before your trip.
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Carefully inspect hatches and bulkheads for cracks or leaks. Put the boat on an incline and fill the hatch partially with water. Watch for water seeping through the other side of the bulkhead. Cover any leaks with marine-grade caulking or a fiberglass patch. Also, if your hatches don’t have leashes, tie some on—most hatch covers don’t float.
Even after a thorough inspection, expedition filmmaker Justine Curgenven recommends, “Pack a repair kit with string, deck bungees, a spare rudder or skeg cable, emergency putty to fix a hole and lots of duct tape. On a remote trip, take a fiberglass repair kit.”
RIG A STORAGE NET
Gulf of St. Lawrence expedition veteran Serge Savard advises, “Install mesh across your front deck to replace those useless bungees. The mesh stores items like charts or a water bottle more securely. I added crossing bungees with an adjustable squeeze toggle in the center to prevent items from slid- ing around.”
INSTALL A DECK COMPASS
A deck-mounted compass is an expe- dition necessity. It is accurate at any degree of tilt, hands-free and a perma- nent fixture so you’ll never forget it at the campsite.
Some kayaks come with a molded deck compass recess, making installation a snap. If yours doesn’t, there are several compass models that are designed to mount to any flat surface. Mount direct- ly over the center of the boat for accu- rate readings and close enough to the cockpit that you can see the bearing without squinting.
42 ADVENTURE KAYAK | SPRING 2011
Custom comfort. PHOTO: KEITH WIKLE
Stay on course with
a deck compass. PHOTO: DAVID JOHNSTON
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