The weather has not been kind to the casual kayaker… or any kind of kayak enthusiast for that matter. We got a 12 ft sit on top kayak in January, hoping for the weather to break in February like it did last year. Not so much.
This kayak is 2 feet longer and almost double the weight of our “sit in” yak.
Made a rack for them and cart for the bigger guy.
The cart is holding up.
It’s 9:30 am. Overcast and a bit nippy. Weather guy predicts full sunshine by 10 am.
At 10 the sun popped out, the wind stopped. So I grabbed my gear and kayak (on wheels) and headed across the street to launch. It handled very well even in the soft wet sand.
Easy to board and shove off. The water from my shoes settled in the foot wells but was no problem. The center console kept my camera dry.
The kayak handles well. And tracks ok… for a 12 footer. The side to side stability is great. Much better than our 10 footer.
My back started to get sore about this point. Tightening the straps for the back rest took care of that.
The water at this point was about 10 inches deep. The kayak never touched bottom.
A Caspian Tern flew right toward me, hovered about 10 feet up and gave me a lecture. When he was done he silently flew back to land.
So I headed back. I always listen to the Caspian Tern… have no idea what he said, but going home before the rains start up again seemed like a good idea.
Pulling it up the hill to the ramp was no problem. The cart handled the transition from sand to the cement ramp – about a 2 inch lip – with ease.
I definitely look forward to a longer paddle when the weather warms up .
D