Continued from Post 61…
By Tuesday past the marine goop I used under the coaming and in the deck-line holes through the gunwales had had three full days of curing. The Disko was ready for the water. I seriously contemplated bringing it to the pool Tuesday night, but it seemed sacrilegious to put her in the pool for her maiden voyage and so I left her home and took my whitewater boat instead.
I had meant to add a rub-strip on the keel this week but I procrastinated and have yet to add one. I do not like the idea of adding a wood or plastic strip and then putting screws up through the keel to secure it in place. I would have to put a bit of sealant around the screw locations but that still would add several points of water entry if I don’t get a good seal… Sean came up with a method that does not require using screws and I will follow his lead when I get around to adding the rub-strip…
One night this week I had put the kayak on the floor, put on my kayak boots, and got in. The foam pads I had put in earlier bunched up (Sean had said they would) and so I took them out. I also found the boots did not give me much room for my feet (size 11) and so I then pulled on my whitewater booties (which are basically neoprene socks reinforced with a Kevlar sole). It felt much roomier with the booties on and the foam pads removed. If I find the inside of the polyester is wearing then I will simply glue a couple pieces of leftover polyester in place to serve as a sacrificial skin…
I had placed my paddle on the kayak earlier and found the paint marked/scratched easily.
So I used the foam I had taken out to make ‘cushions’ against which the tie-down straps can rest on the sides of the kayak when strapped on the car… probably a foolish thing as with use the boat will be scraped up with normal wear and tear… but I guess right now I am in the ‘new kayak’ phase. The "new baby syndrome" will pass after I hit a few bumps under the hull…
The kayak is low volume and I have been reading that adding floatation is at least desirable, if not necessary. I have a pair of floatation bags that I use for my whitewater boat...
...and so I decided to put them in the Disko. The one in the stern was easy to add – I just pushed it in and blew it up. But the one for the bow was a little harder. The difficulty was not in putting it in place but in being able to blow it up once it was in place as the tube on it is only about a foot long and the floatation bag, once fully inflated, has to be in front of the frame where the feet will rest.
Once I had the bag in place I had to turn the kayak on its side and put my head through the masik frame opening to inflate it. I could only get one hand in there and so once I had the bag fully inflated it was hard to close the valve without losing some of the air.
It was funny having my head in the masik like that… I kept thinking if the kayak slips to the horizontal position it just might break my neck in the process… That would be a funny way to go, but at least it would be kayak-related…
Well, sans rub-strip, she is all ready for the water.
There is nothing dishonorable in launching your new boat in the pool. Wintertime in the North Atlantic is NOT the place to find out any idiosyncrasies, i.e., the tendency to sink, of your new craft!! I purposely launched mine in the pond in August first before moving to the salt water after I realized that, indeed, it could at least support my weight. Better off bringing it to the pool and farting around with it in relative safety.
ReplyDeleteYour boat will not be defined by the first water that it touched!! Unless, of course, you first introduction is less than pleasurable!!
Just my 2 cents.
Sean
I know Sean... I see no dishonour in it either if someone puts their boat on fresh water or the pool for the first time either... but I just couldn't do it with mine, foolish I know. Once I put it on the salt water then she will likely spend most of the rest of the winter going to the pool so I can get use to it. It is a snug fit (as it is supposed to be) and I am very use to the room provided by my Sirocco. I wish it was the start of summer instead of the start of winter so I could spend some time in it in a warm pond...
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