Posts Tagged ‘dry’

The World’s Best Fishing Kayak In Reality

Monday, May 24th, 2010

Marketing hype is everywhere, but reality is there too, and you can see it with your own eyes:

This is the first movie in a new series proving the absolute technical superiority of the W500 in all aspects of kayak paddling and fishing, starting from dry and easy launching.
BTW, can people who use other kayaks even imagine what we’re talking about?…

You don’t have to run towards the kayak and hop into it as this movie shows – You can simply walk in, and settle inside comfortably, taking your time.
In any case, your feet will stay dry, and you’ll enjoy a 100% hassle free launching.

The movie shows some pretty energetic stand up kayak paddling, but you can do the same in a perfectly relaxed manner, paddling on both sides of your kayak, or on one side with a canoe style J stroke.

As for beaching, you just slide to the back of the kayak’s cockpit and by that raise its bow, so you can easily slide it up and land on firm ground, step out with no problem, and keep your feet dry, as usual with W kayak paddlers and anglers.


Keeping the Inside of Your W Kayak Cockpit Dry in the Surf

Monday, March 17th, 2008

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:

cockpit cover for fishing kayak

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:

cockpit cover for fishing kayak - half open

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.