Inflatable Kayak Blog

If you often paddle in waters where you might actually flip over your kayak, here’s a product that might come in handy. It’s the PakPod Deck Bag and Paddle Float by PakBoats. It wasn’t designed for inflatable kayaks, however it’s perfect for folding and hard shell kayaks. The PakPod acts as a deck bag with waterproof protection with easy access through a convenient roll top closure. It also has a mesh pocket to hold items that do not need to be kept dry. The wide yellow reflective stripes on the sides are visible after dark. When you need the PakPod to become a paddle float, it can be disconnected easily with ‘quick release’ buckles (as you can see in the video below). The PakPod Deck Bag/Paddle Float has received excellent reviews, such as this from SeaKayaker Magazine in October of 2007 … “Not only does it offer a roomy waterproof and secure bag for all your gear, but it also acts as a dependable rescue buddy.”

As an owner of an inflatable kayak, I’m often asked questions about the durability of the kayak while in the water. Do I have to avoid sharp objects? What are the chances of puncturing the hull while paddling? Well, I always try to avoid “objects” of any kind in the water. That’s just common sense paddling. However, even if I did hit something sharp, I’d be confident that my boat could handle it. One of the properties of water is that it makes everything slipperier, which in turn deflects some of the force. Also, the nature of an inflatable is that the surface area of the hull has some “give” to it, which also deflects the force of the impact.

The materials that inflatable boats are made of these days are strong. For example, Sea Eagle uses two types of material on their products, the 1000 Denier Polyester Reinforced Fabric that can stand up to a claw end of a hammer (see video below) and a Polykrylar material that isn’t quite as strong, but is still very dependable. Innova uses a 1200-denier Nitrylon™ fabric which is also very durable. I’m familiar with both these brands and I hear that most other current brands are durable as well. In fact many of the durability tests that manufacturers put their kayaks through include hitting them with sharp objects since that’s probably the major concern of most potential customers. Punctures may be a concern, but the most common way to damage an inflatable boat is by dragging it on the ground on a regular basis, especially on cement or gravel. That’s the kind of wear and tear that is much more likely to damage your kayak than occasionally bumping into something while in the water.

I’ve always said that if you use common sense when paddling, transporting and storing an inflatable kayak, boat or pontoon, you’ll keep it in good shape for years.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, we were in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in the Houghton area at our “camp” on Portage Lake.  We had been out in the kayak on the calm lake and after a break we decided to drive to White City for another paddle. White City is a sandy beach park on Lake Superior. There’s a neat lighthouse there that sits at the end of an old cement pier about ½ mile long at the entrance to the channel to Portage Lake. In earlier years, when copper mining was the biggest industry in the area, this lighthouse was important to the ore boats that made their way through the channel to unload in the Hubbell area.

Though this is Lake Superior, it is a calmer area to put the kayak in, with its long sandbar that stretches out quite far along the pier. It was quite windy with a distinctive a chop to the water. We wanted to get another chance to try out our new kayak sail and this was definitely a good time for that. We paddled into the wind, down the shoreline for what seemed like a long time, especially since it was our second paddle of the day. We picked a spot to turn around and undo the sail. Unfortunately, we had gotten the steering guides hooked under the sail when we clipped it to the kayak and couldn’t use the guide. I had to just hold on to the side of the sail and catch the wind as best I could and steer that way. Even though we didn’t have the sail hooked up correctly, we did make it back to shore in no time flat with the nice wind we had going for us. I think after we have had a chance to use the sail and know what to expect (and don’t make a stupid mistake clipping it to our inflatable kayak), it will be a nice addition to our kayaking.

With that trip, now we can say we have been kayaking in Lake Superior. Maybe we will be brave enough now to put it in the ocean the next time we are there.

Ever had problems with fishing hooks rattling around in your tackle box. Try this solution out. Glue some magnetic strips to the bottom of the hook compartments. Your hooks will stay where they are supposed to and will not rattle around making unnecessary noise either. You can also use this tip to keep other metallic objects from rattling around in boxes or even inside your boat. Attaching magnetic strips to the structure of your inflatable pontoon might also be helpful to hold metallic objects in place for easy access while on the water.

On our recent trip to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, we took a side trip to visit my sister-in-law in Ontonagon, about an hour away from Hubbell where we were staying. She fixed us a lunch and we had a nice visit. Her son has a cabin on the Firesteel River and he had invited us to stop by and put the kayak in while we were in the area. He had told us that it was a great place to kayak and that he thought we would enjoy the quiet and scenic area.

We drove to the cabin, got out and inflated our Sea Eagle 330, launching from a little area where some hard shell kayaks rested on the bank. It really was a great place to kayak! The river was fairly wide with pretty twists and turns and wilderness all around. We only came across a few houses all the while we were paddling. We kept waiting for a deer and fawn to be standing along the bank drinking water, but that never did happen, though I’m sure there were plenty of deer in the area, the timing wasn’t right. We paddled up river to begin our trip and went for quite some time before we headed back. When we got back to the cabin we decided to go down stream a bit, seeing it was so pretty. It was windy and being on the river in the wind was different than on a lake. Wind also affects inflatable kayaks more than folding or hard shell kayaks. At one place the wind was behind us, but as we turned a bend, the direction of the wind changed and we would be heading into the wind. Unfortunately, we didn’t feel comfortable enough yet with our new sail to take it along with us on a small river, but it might have come in handy on that part of the trip.

We did see some ducks and a few turtles sunning themselves on a log along the way. I got out the camera and took some shots as best I could in the windy conditions. We didn’t make it all the way where the river empties into Lake Superior on this trip.  Maybe if we get down that way again we can do that. When we did turn around it was difficult paddling in some areas because the wind was really blowing against us. That and the fact that we had stayed out longer than we normally do and I think we were more tired than we normally are, made the trip back to the dock seem even longer.

We usually paddle in lakes and more open water. Although we’ve been on rivers before, this was our first time on a really nice river and it makes me think we should try to search out and paddle some rivers more often.

I received this picture from one of our Portable Kayaks customers, Jeff in Indiana telling me about some fishing he did last month. He explains in his own words … “Here is a photo of me in my tube and the 16 inch bass caught on a size 10 hopper and my 3 weight rod. I fished 4 small lakes yesterday in about 6 hours and landed about 20 bass…no keepers, all small fish, but in the tube they are still fun. One bass took my popper just a few feet from the tube and it was very exciting to see it up close. The first lake was about ¾ mile and I packed in with the straps, fins and rod. I love the versatility of the boat. I am sending my 18 year old off to college and he is taking his tube with him. Not sure why more folks don’t go this way?” … Jeff and his son each have Creek Company ODC 420 Float Tubes and, needless to say, he’s a big fan.

One thing about Michigan, there certainly isn’t any shortage of places to put the kayak in for a paddle. One of the places that we always get to paddle is at our family cottage on Portage Lake in the Upper Peninsula. We usually have several days at the “camp”, but this trip we only had one day and it was a fantastic day for paddling. The weather was nice, in the 70’s, and the sun was shining. There were big, chunky clouds in the sky that were reflecting on the clear, calm water. We did our usual paddle along the shoreline not too far out checking out the homes along the way.

As we were on our way back, we noticed some ducks swimming along the shore. Of course I had to get as close as we could to get some pictures, so we paddled after them with me clicking away when we would get close enough and they would stay still for a bit. At one of the places close to shore we saw this large fish swim between our kayak and the ducks. Very cool to see, and with the water being the clearest we have seen in a while it was another interesting wildlife sighting for our trip. We also saw a single duck that was swimming near shore that I got a shot of, but still need to get out some bird book and see if I can figure out what kind of duck it is.

We made it back to shore after a relaxing paddle and had lunch before heading off for another kayak adventure a little later that afternoon.

Over the past couple weeks, I wrote about sunscreen and SPF and how it applies to outdoor activity. Here are a few additional tips that apply more specifically to kayakers. The reflective quality of water and sand make it especially important to protect your self. Sweat proof and water resistant sunscreens are best, but remember to re-apply after excessive sweating or water exposure, or every one to two hours. Waterproof products may only provide protection for forty minutes and usually rub off when you towel dry. So be sure to re-apply. Even on cloudy days, the sun’s damaging rays are still coming through the clouds. So, in addition to sunny days, don’t forget to apply the sunscreen when it is cloudy. Also, when applying sunscreen, don’t forget the ‘forgotten areas’. If you’re in a hard shell kayak, your legs are covered. However, if you’re like us, using an inflatable kayak, the legs are exposed and sometimes at odd angles, like the insides of the legs and ankles. Make some observations of those exposed areas and be sure to cover them with sunscreen. Other ‘forgotten areas’ include the tops of your feet, ears, thinning hairlines and bathing suit edges. Lips should also be protected with SPF 15 and applied every one to two hours, like sunscreen. And just because you have darker skin tones, don’t think you can skip the sunscreen. Even if a person’s skin doesn’t burn while in the sun, skin that is exposed to excessive amounts of sunlight is still experiencing sun damage. In addition to sunscreen, whenever possible, wear protective clothing (see picture) such as wide brimmed hats, long sleeves and loose fitting cotton clothing to add to your skin’s protection. Enjoy the summer on the water without damaging your skin.