I finally found that there is a hostel about a half a mile from the ferry, and I got permission to lock up my boat at the harbor masters office.
Today I spent the afternoon packing the kayak with the actual gear that will be going. The important thing is that not only does it need to fit in the kayak, but I also need to get it all - by myself - from the car, to the ferry. Then from the ferry to the harbor masters office. And then after dropping off the kayak to the hostel. And of course back. So it needs to fit into two bags. A large mesh duffel, and a seal line 115 liter boundary bag. Today I learned that it pretty much fits, both in the boat, and the bags.
I also learned that I love the tapered dry bag. It makes it very easy to pack the boat. I am tempted to buy another one for the bow but at this point I am not sure what would go inside it.
I still need to tweak a few things in terms of the gear layout. I am also not happy with my deck bag, and may try and figure out a way to go without it. It sits very high on the deck of my kayak.
I leave a month from tomorrow....
Do you ever try to roll your kayak with all the gear in place? Just wondering how different it would be.
ReplyDeleteThat is a great question. I have rolled a boat with gear, but not as much as will be in this kayak for this trip in terms of weight. There are some things to keep in mind though. The first, the more weight you have in your kayak the lower in the water it sits. The lower it sits, the more stable it is. So in general terms unless your in big surf you should not be in a situation where you will end up rolling. I should also point out that I am a big fan of the concept of not putting yourself in situations where you have to roll!
ReplyDeleteSecond, I find rolling a loaded kayak a bit slower than an empty kayak, but once you get the boat past it's chine it ends up being about the same. But rolling is - as I have said before - 90% psychological. so if you think the boat is going to be hard to roll because it's loaded, it will be.
Great question, thanks for asking it.
PO