Inflatable Kayak Blog

While we were searching for a place to vacation next Spring, I ran across an interesting kayaking spot southeast of Orlando, Florida near Melbourne Beach. It’s called Mullet Creek and it looks like a really fun place to kayak.

In the early 1950′s a series of islands and canals were dug by Mosquito Control to form the area. I have read that one reason this is a great kayaking location is because the motorboats have a slow speed limit and you don’t have to worry about dodging big wakes. But the most alluring reason to kayak in the Mullet Creek area is the wildlife. Dolphins come into the area daily to feed on mullet. We really enjoy paddling among jumping mullets, but encountering dolphins while paddling would be so cool! Another sea mammal that you very seldom see, the Manatee, also frequents the area. Other wild life including bald eagles, river otters and osprey make it a place we would love to visit, especially since one of our main goals when paddling our inflatable kayak is to get some great photos on our adventures.

Sea Eagle has extended their Summer sale prices on all their inflatable boats and kayaks into the Fall. It’s essentially their lowest prices ever. And PortableKayaks.com has added a discount coupon to the sale when you purchase one of the larger explorer kayaks, either the Sea Eagle 380 or Sea Eagle 420 Deluxe Package. They’re calling it the “Big Deluxe” discount. When you get to the checkout page there is a place where you can type in the coupon code. Type in bigdeluxe and you’ll get an additional $50 off the already low sale price. This only applies to the “Deluxe” packages, not the “Pro” packages and only for the 380x and 420x Sea Eagle Explorer Kayaks.

The sale prices and “Big Deluxe” discount are expected to last through the end of the year (2009) so you might want to give it a look for your holiday shopping.

I recently found a YouTube video of an interview with Cecil Hoge, the man behind the Sea Eagle inflatable boat company. Steve Pennaz of the North American Fishing Club interviewed Cecil about the new Sea Eagle 285fpb frameless pontoon boat. They talked about the strength of the 1000 Denier material the pontoon is made of, the ease of setup and features like the hard floor that allows fishermen to stand up in the craft, unlike other framed pontoon boats. The Sea Eagle 285 fpb one-person frameless pontoon boat is a unique innovation in the evolution of one-person fishing craft. You can check out the sale prices on the 285fpb at PortableKayaks.com.

Occasionally I get a question about the ways to find leaks in an inflatable kayak, pontoon or float tube.

Probably the best way to find a small leak in any type of inflatable bladder is to mix up some dish soap and water and spray it on the bladder, watching closely for bubbles where the air is escaping. It sometimes takes awhile to notice where the problem is, but it does work. I read somewhere that adding some glycerin to the soap solution will give you better “bubble retention”. The writer used a formula of 1/3 cup of dish soap, 1 tablespoon of glycerin and 1 gallon of water.

Another method is to fill the bladder completely and get into a large swimming pool with it, forcing it under water while looking for leaks. Only problem with this method is finding a large swimming pool you can put your inflatable kayak, pontoon or float tube into. But if you do, this method should work fairly well, too.

One other place to look for leaks is around the valves. Be sure that the valves are completely tightened. Then spray some soapy water around the valves themselves. There could be a slow leak there.

If you’re hiking, hunting or camping, here’s a great way to always have an emergency rope supply. Buy some 550-pound test parachute cord. Most types are made of a tough outer sheath rated to 200 pounds; and seven interior strands, each rated to 50 pounds. This excellent rope can be used to repair broken tent cords, rig shelters and snares or lash knife blades to spears.

Carrying it is the clever part. Unravel a single 3-foot length of ‘paracord’ and you’ll have almost 25 feet of cordage and replace your bootlaces with it. You’ll be carrying it everywhere you go! Of course, you’ll be missing a bootlace after you use it. However, in some cases, such as the tent tie repair, you can just re-lace the next morning and be on your way. A little inconvenient maybe, but I did say “emergency rope supply!”

Choosing the length of your kayak paddle can be confusing, especially for beginners. First off, understand that most anyone can use most any paddle and get the job done. So, paddle length is not such a crucial factor that it will destroy the fun you’ll have in your kayak. After you’ve been paddling for awhile, you’ll have a better idea what you like or don’t like in a paddle. If you do have a choice in paddle length, here are a couple of general questions to ask your self.

1 – What type of kayak are you going to paddle? Hard shell and folding kayaks tend to be narrower while inflatable kayaks tend to be wider.
2 – How tall are you? Taller people generally use a longer paddle. However, this is an area where exceptions may eventually occur. Some people have a more upright paddle stroke while others are flatter which could result in taller people choosing a shorter paddle or vice versa.

Cannon Paddles has taken these two areas and put together an excellent kayak paddle length guide that helps you choose the length of your paddle, factoring in your height and the width of your kayak. A quick look at their paddle sizing chart and you can make a basic decision on where to start. Eventually, down the road (or should I say down river) you may change paddles but at least you’re starting out with a reasonably good fit.

What started in 1882 as a parade for Union workers in New York City spread somewhat rapidly throughout the country until Labor Day became a national holiday in the United States in 1894. That was 115 years ago. Even though summer doesn’t officially end for approximately 15 days, Labor Day weekend has always been associated with the “end” of Summer. For many it’s the last big vacation weekend. Of course, school gets back in session. Football season starts to ramp up and some golfers put their clubs away till Spring.

I know that many of you have been celebrating the Labor Day weekend on the rivers and lakes in your kayaks and fishing boats. Hopefully it has been a safe and enjoyable weekend so far. Happy paddling and a happy Labor Day 2009 from our family to yours.

One of the things we planned on doing on our annual trip to visit relatives in Michigan was to try out our new WindPaddle kayak sails. We got the chance when we paddled at Peach Lake in the West Branch area. Peach Lake is a nice little lake with very little boat traffic. There was one fisherman and we did see one person in the distance on a jet ski while we were there. It is a fairly rural location with a few nice homes along the shore and farms in the distance.

It was a perfect day to try out the sails, there was a pretty good wind blowing towards shore. We had both sizes of the WindPaddle sails to test, the smaller “Adventure” Sail and the larger, “”Cruiser” Sail. We strapped the “Cruiser” sail to the bow of the kayak and paddled out. There was enough wind that the water was a bit choppy, but nothing too bad, as we still don’t like to get out in big waves. We turned the boat around and opened up the sail. We didn’t have everything set up like we should have, the steering line (the sheets) was not completely undone, but we did manage to catch some wind and move the boat along pretty well. It was fun. (NOTE: It is strongly recommended that you get familiar with and practice with the sail first before using it, but I guess we succumbed to the rush of wanting to get going.) We managed to make it to shore moving fairly quickly when we could catch a stiff wind, but the shortened steering line made it harder to maneuver.

Seeing it didn’t take us very long to get out and back we decided to try out the smaller “Adventure” sail. I waited on shore in the kayak while my husband put the big sail away and set up the smaller one. While he was at the car I looked up and saw a bald eagle soaring overhead not too far off shore. This was one of the highlights of the trip, seeing the eagle. I only wish I could have gotten to my camera and got a shot of it. But it was too fast and I missed my chance.

It didn’t take long at all to hook the kayak sail to the kayak and we paddled out again about the same distance from shore and turned the boat around and set the small sail out. We paddle a Sea Eagle 330 and it seemed that the smaller “Adventure” sail gave us better control than the “Cruiser” Sail, although we’ll need to test further with the sheets completely undone. We made it back to shore in no time. I think I’m going to like this sailing and paddling combination. It was a fun paddle and we got to experiment with the sail. We should definitely go back there the next time we are in Michigan, and this time I will have my camera ready and maybe get a shot at the eagle!