My Kayak was delivered today

[mackeralboy]

Kirby,
 Congrats on the new kayak! Kayaking is a great sport/workout/ pastime. A couple of words of advice from someone who is an avid paddler and full time ocean lifeguard.

 1. The little rubber rings  on the shaft of the paddle out near the blades are called drip rings. They are suppose to be positioned on the shaft a little bit outside where you grip the paddle shaft. In this way when you pull the blade out of the water and the water runs off of the blade and down the shaft, it hits the ring and drops off there before it comes to your hands or inside your boat. You might have them positioned out to far and they are picking up water as opposed to shedding it.

2. Don't skimp on a life jacket(PFD). A good PFD should allow a good range of motion but still provide you with PLENTY of flotation.  It should also have a good sharp knife (no Rambo Blades) attached to it some place and a whistle.

3. I didn't see one in your pictures but get some sort of teather that attaches your paddle to your kayak. For that much you might consider a teather from you to the boat. One of the biggest dangers to a kayaker, be it on an ocean, lake, pond or river is wind. More kayakers have been knocked out/off of their boats by chop or swell created by sudden wind storms. Even a moderate wind can blow your boat or paddle away from you rather quickly.

I have been kayaking now for 25 years. I have done some extreme paddling during that time and all I can say is that on the two occasions when I got myself into deep doo doo, the weather conditions caught me unprepared. Mother nature has a way of dishing out humility when you least expect it.

Enjoy,
Mc

[billharmon2]

We recently had a guy up here on Cape Cod take a 157lb bluefin tuna from a Kayak
 
 
Part-time Yarmouth resident Dave Lamoureux, 42, a Wall Street trader from Chicago, caught what he estimates to be a 200-pound tuna early this morning from his kayak off Race Point Beach in Provincetown.
Mary Ann Bragg/Cape Cod Times
By Mary Ann Bragg
STAFF WRITER
November 05, 2009
PROVINCETOWN - Part-time Yarmouth resident Dave Lamoureux, 42, a Wall Street trader from Chicago, caught a 157-pound tuna early this morning from his kayak off Race Point Beach in Provincetown.

Unfortunately for Lamoureux, the record for a tuna caught from a kayak is 187 pounds.

[kirby999]

TCups - 11/13/2009  9:32 PM  David:  Put the boat parallel to the bank.  While squatting down , holding the paddle behind you, lay the paddle half on the bank, half across the back of the kayak, just behind the seat.  Put one leg into the kayak.  Scoot your butt over the shaft of the paddle into the seat, then bring the other leg on board.  If you think it's tough in a pond, wait till you try it on the bank of a fast moving stream after a spill.

Thanks for the tips. This one really isn't that hard to get into . If it were summer , and the water a little warmer , I'd just throw one leg over the kayak ,straddling it , sit down and pull my feet in . That's what's so great about having a sit-on type kayak . This one will NOT see whitewater , I'm not a thrill seeker . I bought this to allow me to fish places that I couldn't fish with my 15 foot jon boat . kirby  

[kirby999]

Tommy's right folks ; if you plan on dong some whitewater stuff , get some instruction and training first . With any watercraft that is new to you, you should get very familiar with it before getting into any moving water and be equipped with all the safety equipment needed for a safe float . That's why I'll be taking trips to ponds and lakes getting used to my new toy , before I ever get into moving water . The area I chose to float in yesterday for my first voyage was chosen because I knew the area was shallow , and a protective cove . I could have stood up and walked to the shore if something had happened . , The water was only 2-3 feet deep at the deepest .  kirby

[DanoInTx]

What caliber is that David, .177, .22?  I'm more into wood stocks myself, but I have to admit that bright yellow synthetic looks pretty cherry:)  Happy shootin', uh, I mean fishin' that is.