WAVEWALK FISHING KAYAKS BLOG » whitewater

Boyd and Sandy Autumn Kayaking In Southern Ontario’s Grand River. Canada

W kayak — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 11:59:31 +0000

October is a beautiful month for kayaking.
Here in southern Ontario, the leaves are at their peak colours and the heavy rains have raised the river flow to provide some exciting white water opportunities.
The W500 is higher and drier than other kayaks.

Boyd and Sandy Smith

John King & Son Running Rapids In Fishing Kayaks On A River In Ohio – Movie & Trip Report

W kayak — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 20:18:01 +0000

Just a short video of a river trip my son and I took. A small rapids run that the w500 seem to handle very well. A set of rapids that we ran later was larger and had some 3ft swells, that was interesting!
The w500 is not a whitewater kayak but it does pretty well when you pay attention to how the water is moving. What’s funny is at the end of the video my son hung up on a rock that I slid right over…
We ran 4.5 miles of the river in about 4hrs that day, floating and fishing. Another great day on the the water in my W500.
Been to busy the past couple of weeks and have not been able to get out on the water. Have made some Fall kayak fishing trip plans on a couple of larger lakes and rivers.
Hope to have a lot of pictures and reports to send. Till then, hope everyone is well.

John King

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

W kayak — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:42:43 +0000

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.