Wavewalk Kayaks

Jeff McGovern elucidates this complex and sometime confusing issue in a new article entitled Choosing a Bait Caster.

In his article Jeff methodically explains and advises the new kayak angler about different rods, reels and lines, and helps see more clearly into the huge product offering available today in the field of fishing tackle.

The article includes pictures.

By the way, Jeff serves as adviser to tackle manufacturers, and last time he counted he had three hundred fishing rods in his collection…

Going with your kayak over oyster beds, shells, sharp rocks, broken glass, metal debris and even concrete ramps can get its hull scratched. In most cases such scratches are negligible, and you need not pay attention to them. However, if you want to avoid getting your kayak scratched you’d better watch out for signs of such potential hazards in the water - especially if you’re fishing or paddling in shallow water. Needless to mention is the fact that fishing and paddling from a higher position than ordinary kayaks offer you can help a lot in detecting potential problems in the water ahead of time, that is before hitting them. This is yet another advantage the W Kayak offers you, and W Kayak paddlers and fishermen indeed stand up in their boats from time to time to look at the water around them.

When it comes to repairing scratches in polyethylene kayaks the methods are similar and depend on how deep the scratch is.

For superficial scratches we don’t recommend any treatment, but if you insist on doing something you can just flame the scratch using a hand-held, propane blow torch. You should apply the flame over the scratch slowly and cautiously until it disappears or diminishes considerably, while being careful not to overheat the area so as not to cause a local deformation. In any case, flaming alters the color of the polyethylene to a darker hue.

For deep scratches or ‘grooves’ it’s better to heat the end of a metal spoon and apply the hot tip gently and cautiously along the scratch, thus ‘welding’ the surface. Here too, you need to be careful not to overheat the area you’re working on since this would cause the polyethylene to deform. You’d need to protect your hand that’s holding the spoon with a thick glove since metal conducts heat and you might get your fingers burnt.

Keep the work area free of any flammable materials and make sure you’re not accidentally directing the flame at yourself or at other people. Don’t allow children or pets nearby.

If you’re not experienced in working with a propane blow torch you may want to reconsider such a project because it can be dangerous.

As for cracks in a polyethylene kayak, those are rare, and they must be properly fixed. Just flaming or welding won’t be enough to fix a crack, and you’d need to patch it - preferably with an internal patch that you’ll weld over the entire area. This is necessary since even if welded the hull in the cracked area will be weaker than in other places, and it could reopen while you’re paddling your kayak or fishing from it - with dire consequences. If the crack appears above waterline you can reinforce the patch with rivets, but we recommend not to use rivets when making repairs below waterline because we think that drilling holes in the hull below waterline is simple too risky in the long run.



The 2008 W Kayak models come equipped with one or two pairs of detachable, side flotation modules. A flotation module is a 5 ft long plastic foam ‘noodle’ with a bungee cord going through its core. The bungee hooks at its ends enable attaching the module to Nylon eyelets on top of the W hulls’ tips.

The side flotation modules are essentially recovery accessories: In case you capsized your W kayak they can help preventing it from overturning, and if your kayak is overturned they help keeping it afloat, and by that make it easier for you to turn it back.

In some cases, when your W kayak is laying on its side, the presence of a single flotation module or better - a pair of such modules under the top side of the lower hull can lead to the boat righting itself, and this is how it works:

The top part of the lower hull is prevented from sinking by the presence of the side flotation module ‘A’.

The flotation module helps keeping water from from getting in by pushing the cockpit rim above the surface.

If water gets into the lower hull through the cockpit opening it will flow to area ‘B’ and make this part of the boat heavier. By making it increasingly heavy it would make it tilt and regain its normal position - that is with the cockpit opening facing upward.

If your W Kayak doesn’t right itself in such a situation it’s easy to right it by unbalancing it.

It’s clear to see why in any case outfitting your W kayak with two pairs of such flotation modules is more effective than outfitting it with one pair.

In sum, whether you’re taking your W kayak on a paddling, camping or fishing trip, it makes sense to take preventive measures that can minimize the severeness of a capsize accident by outfitting it with side flotation modules.

Whether you’re taking with you on board fishing tackle, camping gear or other stuff - it’s always a good idea to secure this equipment by attaching it to the boat. You will find there are plenty of spots inside the cockpit that you can use to attach bungees, carabiners, hooks and rope to secure your gear.

A prospecting customer recently asked me if we offer oarlocks for the W.

We offer neither oarlocks nor oars because there’s very little demand for rowing solutions, as most people nowadays prefer paddling.

Rowing used to be a popular recreational and sporting activity in the 19th century, and many fishermen still use a wide variety of small rowing boats and watercrafts for fishing. Practically speaking, paddling has too many advantages over rowing for anyone to consider switching from paddling back to rowing for applications such as touring or fishing, especially in the ocean or fast rivers.

However, rowing offers a type of physical exercise that paddling doesn’t, and it shouldn’t be completely ruled out as an option, especially on flat water.

It’s possible to install oarlocks in the W kayak and turn it into a nice rowing boat: Not as fast as one of those long rowing shells, of course, but very stable and comfortable. You’ll be able to launch, row and beach it where rowing shells are not an option, and you’ll be able to row standing as well - I tried it and it’s fun!

You’re planning to take your W kayak on a fishing or paddling trip in the ocean, and you may be asking yourself what’s going to happen if you have to launch it in big surf, and in such case how to protect yourself from getting wet.
Indeed, if you’re launching in big surf some spray might get the inside of your W kayak wet, and even splash you. This is why all 2008 W Kayak models come outfitted with a preparation for a cockpit cover:
You can use any waterproof fabric or plastic sheet to cover the front part of your W kayak cockpit and thus prevent spray from getting in. Once you’re past the breakers you can easily remove the cover, fold or roll it, and store it in the cockpit or on top of the hulls

This picture shows the cover protecting almost the entire cockpit, leaving some place for you to sit in the back, which is where you want to be when launching in big surf:

This picture shows the cockpit cover protecting just the front part of the cockpit. This is a preferable when you’re positioned in the middle of the cockpit:

Normally, even without a cockpit cover spray shouldn’t be a problem at all since if some spray gets in the water will be drained from the saddle to the bottom of the hulls, and you won’t have to sit on a wet surface.

If you’ve had some bad encounters with big breakers while not using a cockpit cover and there’s too much water in the bottom of the hulls for you to feel comfortable with you can easily drain it using a small bucket or a kayak bilge pump. Then you can dry the hulls completely with a sponge.

Unlike SOT kayaks, the structure of the W kayak enables you to clearly see the bottom of the hulls, and therefore water can’t be there without you perceiving it.

Similarly, when you’re going paddling in fast streams and you want to keep dry you may find the cockpit cover to be useful - without it getting you entrapped in your boat like a traditional kayak spray skirt might.

The W kayak cockpit cover is also useful in case the weather changes suddenly and you get caught in heavy rain, and it offers protection against cold wind.

In a previous post on this blog we discussed different outrigger configurations for the W kayak.

This figure shows our general recommendations for a simple and easy to build DIY outrigger.

Note that the outrigger is voluminous, and placed far enough from the boat itself to enable paddling. Also note that the transversal bars are sturdy, and they are attached to the top of both hulls for more structural strength. This is important especially if you’re planning to place an outboard motor on the transversal bar, but it’s also important for sailing, tandem etc.

The bottom of the outrigger float should be on a higher plane than the bottom of the kayak’s hulls. This is because you need to take into consideration the fact that its own buoyancy will push the float upward once it’s in the water, especially when the boat is heavily loaded and therefore strongly pushing the float downward. This could cause the transversal bars to bend and possibly even break under the stress.

The third hull (float) should be long and voluminous, but preferably shorter than the kayak’s hulls, so as not to cause steering problems.

The new 2008 W Kayak models feature a new type of side flotation modules. These are plastic foam ‘noodles’ outfitted with an internal bungee cord and a hook on each end. The hooks should be attached to the top-side Nylon eyelets that are closer to the cockpit, as shown in this picture:

You can attach such side flotation modules to older W Kayak models as well.

The advantage of this new configuration is that the flotation is positioned in a way that makes it more effective for recovery, and it will stay in place even in rough waters. It’s also easy to attach and detach, and you can outfit your W Kayak with one pair or two pairs of modules on each side of the cockpit.

Many W kayak fishermen like the old flotation that we applied over the cockpit rim of our older models: They put their paddles across the cockpit and it’s silent when they do it. You can outfit your 2008 with a similar solution too - Just get some or the big, hollow foam noodles in a department store, cut a groove along one side and push the cockpit rim in. You can secure them in place using plastic tie-straps.

You may ask yourself “how stable should a fishing kayak be for me to feel comfortable in?”
The answer is simple, and widely discussed on this blog, but pictures are better than words, and a movies are the best for showing such things.
So, according to us, a fishing kayak should be stable enough to enable you to fish from it standing in full confidence, and this is the basic test in flat water, as demonstrated in this 12 seconds video:

A six foot, 200 lbs guy is standing up in his W kayak, he’s jumping up and down repeatedly, and hopping from one leg to another. The W Kayak is the only fishing kayak that offers such stability, and therefore it’s the only one enabling fishing standing in full confidence as well as paddling standing with the same ease and confidence as sitting.

As the popularity of kayak fishing increases more kayak designers and manufacturers are drawn to offer their solutions to kayak fishermen. Interestingly, if one can judge from the solutions the main problem that needs addressing is the fishing kayaks’ poor stability.

Out of three recent, original monohull designs all three are explicitly designed to be stabler than regular fishing kayaks, and two out of the three represent experiments in combining canoe features into the kayak design - for the purpose of increasing overall stability.

The two canoe-like or canoe hybrids are different by the fact that one is a SOT and the other a SIK. Both are very wide, and are offered as solutions for flat water fishing. This could mean that either their manufacturers estimate the offshore kayak fishing market to be too small to be worth addressing, or their boats not to perform well enough in the surf. This brings up again the question of seaworthiness, and whether these designs are indeed stable, comfortable and and safe enough to be used for standup fishing.

The third new fishing kayak design is a monohull as well, but it departs from the conventional approach of trying to increase stability by making the hull wider. This design offers a mechanism enabling splitting the rear part of the kayak in two and pulling the ends sideways, thus creating a stabler platform for the fishermen to fish from. The obvious problem with this design is that once the fishing configuration is deployed the ‘kayak’ becomes nearly stationary since paddling it does not meet any standard of efficiency. This fishing kayak is not offered for offshore fishing either, which again implies that its manufacturers may have some concerns about its possible performance in the ocean.

In this context it is interesting to see that another manufacturer of fishing kayaks now offers outriggers to accompany their kayaks, which is yet another fact that shows stability to be a problem at the core of the kayak fishing concept.

Overall, the appearance of new designs and solutions that address the stability problem is a sign showing that some kayak designers and manufacturers are attentive to the real problems that kayak fisherman face. Whether any of the solutions offered are viable in the long run remains to be seen.

Those who know the difference are likely to ask themselves why bring up such a comparison when flotation and stabilization have nothing to do with each other. Well, this is true but some people tend to be confused by the looks of side flotation in certain canoe models and in the W Kayak.

For the benefit of these people we need to explain that indeed flotation and stabilization are two different functions:

Canoes and kayak are outfitted with flotation in various forms - from inflatable bags to closed cell foam. The flotation element/s is lighter than water and impermeable, and its purpose is primarily to prevent more water from getting into the boat in case it is strongly leaning sideways or turned over. Flotation can be applied inside and/or around the boat, and it is basically intended to serve as means of recovery.

Stabilizers are floating devices on the boat’s sides, and they touch the water nearly all the time. Their purpose is to prevent the boat from leaning too much sideways, and they do it by offering extra lateral buoyancy. Stabilizers contribute both to the boat’s initial (primary) and secondary stability, meaning that they enhance both the feeling of lateral stability as well as the actual stability of the boat. Stabilizers are also called outriggers and sponsons, and they act as means of accident prevention as well as comfort enhancers. Large size outriggers can in some cases increase the canoe or kayak’s load capacity.

The side flotation modules on the W Kayak’s sides are not stabilizers, and they never touch the water in normal conditions. Their function is the help preventing the W Kayak from completely overturning in case it capsizes, and simply help it float above the surface if it did overturn and water got in. In such case the location of the side flotation modules helps turning the boat back.

If the W Kayaker or kayak fisherman bailed out quickly enough and the boat leans strongly on its side without him/her pulling it down the presence of a flotation module under its side can make the W right itself without help.

A standup paddling board surfer asked me whether he could use his single blade, extra long standup paddle-surfing paddle for paddling a W Kayak. -Standup padding surf boards is becoming trendy in the board surfing community, and I find this question to be interesting.

Surfers’ paddles are single bladed and look like extremely long canoe paddles. They are usually made several inches longer than the paddle-surfer himself, and would work well for standup paddling a W Kayak. However, using such a long paddle would be uncomfortable in the lower W positions, which are riding (mounted), sitting and kneeling.

The picture below shows me demonstrating standup paddling in a W kayak using a single blade paddle made from one part of a Mohawk two-pieces double blade paddle equipped with the T-grip extension handle.

These single blade canoe paddles (or shortish standup paddle surfing paddles, if you prefer…) are 5′ 3″ or 5′ 1″ long, which makes them slightly longer than regular canoe paddles are. They are good enough for standup paddling - unless you’re exceptionally tall (I’m 6′). However, since these paddles are shorter than the surfers’ standup paddles they also work very well for the lower paddling positions, that is as a regular ‘canoeing’ paddles, which is what they were basically designed for.

Yoav

A couple of days ago I visited the website of a rather known figure in the world of kayak fishing. The man who resides in Florida published a book on kayak fishing and produced instructional kayak fishing videos as well.

This is what he wrote on his website:

“No matter who you are — or what physical condition you are in—-eventually, if you sit in your kayak long enough— you will eventually begin to experience back pain. It will creep up on you at first, but eventually, it will be noticeable enough to erode your enjoyment of the outing even if you are catching fish.”

Why was I surprised to read such an honest statement from a kayak fishing professional? Because kayak fishing pros are in many cases so passionate about this sport and are so keen to promote it that they tend to close an eye to the difficulties that most kayak fishermen face in practicing it.

In many cases kayak fishing pros would brush aside issues such as back pains, leg pain, leg numbness, wetness and other symptoms of discomfort resulting from poor ergonomic design because let’s face it: their livelihood depends on kayak fishing, and telling the full and sometime not so pleasant truth about this sport would be against their interest - whether they sell kayaks, rent them or offer outfitting, instruction or guide services.

In some cases kayak fishing pros would advise you to cushion your seat with some foam or other soft material such as a gel bag, or add foam under your knees - as if such means could provide more than a temporary and partial relief. Some of them are unaware of the real causes for kayaking and kayak fishing back pain, but it seems others simply chose to ignore these issues.

And why do we keep talking about the ergonomics of kayak fishing, back pain and other such painful issues? Simply because we think they are real and widespread problems, and kayak fishermen deserve to hear the whole truth about them, and we also happen to offer a better solution.

This weekend Jeff McGovern wrote from Florida:

-”Aside from the fishing today the W was a great relief. A four hour flight from LA to Atlanta yesterday, then a short hop to Jacksonville was uncomfortable to say the least - That sciatic nerve issue has been pain.
However a few hours in the W today was almost a cure. It must be the upright position combined with the paddling that does it.
According to everything I’ve been reading from trainers and alike exercise is the key. I Don’t know why but I feel so much better after time in the W boat - the W is really something.

Got a few hours on the water today and it was beautiful. The weather was just a bit chilly starting out but warmed to T shirt temps around 9:30AM.
The W performed like a champ. Fishing wise it was a busy time. Nothing huge but loads of blue fish and smaller trout. Ended up for every trout I would get four or five blue fish.
This was one of those days being able to quickly stand helped quite a bit.
At one point I kept hearing splashing and thrashing in the water on the other side of an oyster bar.
I was able to peek over by standing and saw a pod of three dolphin tearing into schools of bait fish.
Seeing their path I was able to avoid them and still be able to catch a few more fish before heading home.
I’ve attached a few pictures.
The strange looking little rod in the shot with a blue fish on the seat is an Emmrod.
The little thing handles very well from a W thanks to the upright casting position the boat allows. For close in casting at short ranges the rod is lots of fun, especially with fish that pull as hard as those little blues.
I’ll have to review the rod itself for use in the W since it’s a nice combination.

–Jeff”

The W is a great boat for kayaking and kayak fishing, but it’s also easy to paddle with single-blade (canoe) paddles - both in solo and tandem modes.

The 9 ft long, two-pieces, dual blade Mohawk paddle we offer can be turned into two canoe paddles using the T-grip kit: Each of the two canoe paddles is good for canoeing in the lower positions (Riding, Sitting and Kneeling) and long enough for paddling standing up, as shown in this picture:

Paddling with a canoe paddle is fun, and it can be easier than kayaking when there are two paddlers in the cockpit.

The W tracks better than canoes, and it is stabler than canoes its size, which makes it easy to use in canoeing applications - even for small children:

When it comes to fishing, a short, single blade paddle offers the advantage that you can simply drop it in the cockpit as soon as you need to grab a fishing rod that’s showing signs of action… -You don’t even have to find paddle holders.

Another advantage that a canoe paddle offers is when you need to paddle through areas with many low hanging branches that could make handling a kayak paddle more difficult.