Sunday, June 6, 2010

Kayak care and maintenance!

Proper maintenance and care for your kayak:
Your Kayak is a major investment. Your kayak is Something you will want to take care of because with proper care your Kayak will give you many years of use.
Simple maintenance,
* 1st thing is you will want to take just a few mins when you get home and rinse the yak with fresh water- this is especially important for those in coastal communities who kayak in salt water. Saltwater is so corrosive it has been known to make plastic rust ;) all kidding aside, saltwater to your kayak is like sugar to your teeth- make sure you rinse your kayak inside and out.
*Another aspect of KAYAK maintenance is making sure your kayak is dried out after every use. If the water is let to stay in the yak, it will start to smell from mildew.
*It is good to never store heavy items inside your kayak. Your kayak is not made for being a place for storage.
*You do not want to keep weight in your kayak, it is not good for the plastic, the plastic on your kayak is designed to displace the weight while in the water.
*It is good to use a cleaner- such as 409 from time to time. This is not something that is a must after every use, but an occasional wipe down with do a lot of good.
*Scratches: All repairs should be done by a properly trained professional, but if you chose to do this yourself, here are some tips! Minor scratches can a lot of times be fixed with an iron on low heat. Again, doing this on your own without proper training can cause some serious damage to your kayak, it can burn it, you can make the damage worse etc. So caution is advised.
*For larger scratches or deeper scratches, hairline cracks and minor pinholes can be fixed a few different ways. One way is if you ever modify your kayak, such as cutting a hole in your yak to make a rod holder, you can take that extra piece and use a torch to heat up the deep scratch slightly and take your scrap piece to heat it up til it melts then work it into the seep scratch or pinhole- and now you have a fix. There are lots of products you can buy that are designed to fix scratches and minor holes.
*If you do not have a scrap piece from your kayak, Ocean Kayak sells polypropylene bars that can be used for repairs.
*Storage: your kayak SHOULD NOT be stored in the sun, if possible, avoid storing your kayak out doors in general. But if you do have to store it outside, they make covers with uv protection. Try storing in the shade, many have found it useful to hang their kayak from the fence with straps. Where ever you chose to store it, it needs to be in a manner where non of the plastic will be compressed.
*Remember while in the water to avoid oyster beds, as these will scratch your kayak and can cause some pretty serious damage.
Kayaking can bring you many years of enjoyment with proper care and maintenance. Once you start kayaking you will be hooked for life, so take good care of your investment and enjoy all it has to offer.

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for posting this interesting post about kayaking for beginners.
    Me and my husband are thinking about getting started with kayaking here at the Texas Gulf Coast and so I enjoyed reading this post the more.
    Please keep up posting more tips and advices.
    Once again thank you very much
    Paula Jo from Clean Star - Home and Garden World - your online store for Home Decor Accents | Garden Accents

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  2. Thank you very much for the kind words.
    We will keep the post coming, so check back often and remember I am always here to answer questions as well, so feel free to ask anything.
    Thanks again

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