Inflatable Kayak Blog

May is National Fitness Month. So I encourage all you paddlers to get out and enjoy the fresh air and get some exercise. Of course, dipping the kayak paddle into the water isn’t the only fun fitness activity. There are others. In fact it’s even better if your sources of exercise vary a little just to keep all your muscles in good shape. Here’s a few exercise “facts” for fitness month.

You may have heard the line: If you can’t exercise hard and often, there is really no point. But that’s not the truth. Even moderate activity is shown to reduce your risk for heart disease and stroke. If you don’t have 30 minutes in your day to exercise, try splitting it up into 10-minute segments.

The most important factor in exercise and weight control is not the percentage of fat calories burned, but the total calories burned during the activity. The faster you paddle, walk or swim, for example the more calories you use per minute. Although you will be burning fewer “fat calories”, you will be burning more total calories and in turn will lose more weight.
 
And finally we have all heard someone tell us “No Pain, No Gain!” That’s not true either! Exercise should not be painful. At the height of your workout, you should be sweating and breathing hard. You should not be so out of breath that you cannot answer a question, but should not be so comfortable that you can carry on a full conversation. It is important to distinguish between muscle fatigue (feeling “the burn”) and muscle/joint pain (sharp and uncomfortable pain during movement). Pain is your body’s way of telling you that you’re doing something wrong. Listen to your body and if it’s painful, stop!

So, take advantage of the nice spring weather and get outside and get some exercise. If you are not in the best physical shape, take this time to fit more exercise into your schedule and start on the road to being fit for life.

National Safe Boating Week (May 16 – 22, 2009) takes us right up to Memorial Weekend, which is always a busy time for boaters and paddlers. This year the National Safe Boating Council is spreading the message of safe and responsible boating with the “Wear It!” safety campaign, increasing awareness about the importance of always wearing a life jacket or PDF (personal flotation device) while on the water. To learn more about life jacket wear and the options that are available when it comes to comfortable and lightweight life jackets, you can go to the safe boating campaign web site page that features Life Jacket Information.

TRAK Kayaks, makers of the T1600 adjustable folding kayak, are offering up a unique promotion this Summer (now through the end of July, 2009). They’re urging customers to “go tell your boss that you’re taking the day off and that TRAK is buying you dinner”. In addition to discounting the price to $2950 in US Dollars (the TRAK is manufactured in Canada) TRAK will reimburse a purchaser’s employer, or donate their daily wage, up to $200, to a non-profit cause making a difference in the world. TRAK will also provide the customer with $100 to spend on dinner after a great day on the water.

Not only is the TRAK folding kayak portable enough to fit into a golf bag size carry bag but, with it’s patented lever system, the TRAK T1600 can curve it’s keel for easy maneuverability or move it back to a straight keel for maximum speed and tracking. A separate lever adjusts the trim to the right, left or straight. It’s truly a one of a kind kayak and this TRAK sale promotion is quite unique as well.

One of my friends has talked about spending time at Lake Cumberland in Kentucky. It sounds like they always have a great time when they go there for a weekend getaway. It really is close to home and would make a fun trip to explore the area and put the inflatable kayak in for a paddle. In fact, I remember driving past some parts of the lake on our way home from our visit to Fairfield Glade in TN and making a mental note that this would be a great place to kayak. Looking at a map it is a massive body of water and after doing some research on line I found out that it is one of the largest man-made bodies of water east of the Mississippi River and one of many of a chain of lakes in Kentucky and Tennessee constructed by the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Army Corps of Engineers. It has more miles of shoreline than any other lake in the world so there surely will be something interesting to see no matter where we would put in. The only drawback to going there in the summer is that I hear the lake is very crowded. So the best time to visit there and get in more of the peaceful style of kayaking we enjoy is probably spring or in the fall when boating has died down for the season. Those are probably my favorite seasons to kayak anyway, so it looks like a good spot to put on the “paddling places to go” list.

If you’ve considered buying an inflatable pontoon boat for fishing, don’t let this month pass you by. Creek Company, designers of innovative fishing gear for over 20 years, has introduced a complete new line of inflatable pontoons for this year. The XR series is the culmination of design improvements that the company has added based on what they’ve learned from customers and their own testing of previous models. As an introductory special, they’re discounting the 9-foot XR9 and 10-foot XR10 one-man models over 40% off MSRP. The 12-foot XR12 two-man model is discounted over 35% MSRP for a limited time, through the end of this month (May 29, 2009). I guess it’s their way of getting some of these new inflatable fishing pontoon boats out so they can be seen on the rivers and lakes around the country.

I was talking with a customer the other day and he mentioned that he almost tipped over when getting into his new Sea Eagle 330 Inflatable Kayak. I told him that the best way to get in was to straddle the boat while standing in the water and then just sit your butt down into the kayak. This method doesn’t put any excess weight on either side and the boat doesn’t tip at all. Of course, if you are unable to launch your kayak into shallow water where you can straddle the boat, this method won’t work. If you do have to get in the kayak off of a dock or other similar situation, just try to be as careful as you can and keep as well balanced as possible to avoid any problems.