Kayak tips for women

[Irulan]

if you are not in a spray skirt, don't forget to sunscreen your feet!

We make up what we call a take out bag with a complete change of dry clothes and shoes for when you are off the river. It feels so much better to get dry pants on, a clean shirt, dry underwear and dry shoes.

I disagree with "don't drink much because it's a pain to get out of the boat to pee". Sure it is, but so is dehydration, over exposure to the sun, and potentially heatstroke. OK, so heat stroke is probably a far reach for an hour or two on the water but ..headaches and dehydration are not. Really, don't drink much water when spending time out in in the sun? It's a nuisance to get off your bike to pee ( and to find a discrete place to do it instead of just jumping into the water) too but I don't ever see the advice on this board to not drink very much when riding a bike...I'm really having trouble with the laissez-faire attitude towards water safety in some of these posts. Water depth is irrelevant IMO, people down in bathtubs. And heat as an excuse to not wear a life vest? I spent three weeks in 117 degree heat on the Grand Canyon, and plenty of it is flatwater, and I work my PFD all day long on the water.

[GLC1968]

if you are not in a spray skirt, don't forget to sunscreen your feet!

And if you are wearing shorts - on your thighs. OMG, the burn I got on my top/inner thighs the first time I went kayaking was bad. I hadn't worn sunscreen on my lower body because I thought I'd have a skirt. My legs were FRIED.

I agree very much with the recommendation to try rocking your boat a bit while still near a dock (or another boat or something you can hold on to). It really helps to get a feel for how tippy it really is. And relax (if possible). Being totally tense makes it harder to control the boat.

Oh one more thing - if you are renting, make sure the place sets you up correctly in the boat with (here is the key) both foot rests at equal distances. One of the girls on our trip had her foot rests slightly unequal and she had a very hard time controlling the boat. She kept always leaning to one side and turning even when she didn't want to!

And have a blast!!

[OakLeaf]

Well, I would agree to drink water and deal with peeing, but it's NOT an easy thing getting out of your boat to pee in the water. Not even remotely comparable to getting off your bike to pee in a cornfield! I wouldn't even attempt getting out of my boat in the water unless there was another kayaker whose boat I could use to brace mine while I get back in. And I don't recommend anyone trying it unless they've at least had a little training in rescues. You will have your BF with you, but do both of you know how to get you back into your boat once you've gotten out (or even how to get out in the water, without capsizing)?

Pee in your pants if you need to. You'll be washing your boat out and changing your shorts at the end of your paddle anyway...

[withm]

where are you going to be paddling? I'm always looking for new paddling spots. I'll be at Assateague somewhere on Sunday.

[tulip]

If you like it and decide to continue kayaking, you might consider taking some lessons and learning how to do rescues and proper stroke technique. Ive taken great lessons with Potomac Paddlesports, and I would bet that there are at least a few outfits on the eastern shore. Look for BCU or ACA designation for a start, and ask around.

[lovelygamer]

We went to Snow Hill and paddled. I did surprisingly well. I'm much calmer now than when I was younger. It took me about 30 minutes to get the paddling and steering down but after that, I was fairly golden.

What a beautiful and peaceful sport! I am going to do it a couple of more times before I invest in equipment. If I stick to it, I'll let those nearby know!

PS. Withh, enjoy going out tomorrow!

[emily_in_nc]

Glad you enjoyed your first paddle, lovelygamer!

The place you paddled looks a lot like our paddling grounds in North Carolina. I miss it a lot. We used to pick blackberries along the banks from our boats around the 4th of July and did some great birding. It was always interesting to see what was around the next bend. It was a peaceful, zen experience.

[Cataboo]

Ziplock bags over you camera is a recipe for getting your camera fried.

For those of you that are saying don't wear your pfd and just have it on your boat - next time you go out on the water. Capsize.

Your hat will be going in one direction, your glasses will be falling off, your water bottle will be coming out of your boat, and any cameras in ziplock bags will be toast.

Then tell me how long it takes you to get your PFD off your boat, put it on securely & tightly, and whether you still have a boat or a paddle afterwards.

Then consider that if you are accidentally capsizing in "flat water" or so, generally speaking either conditions and wind have picked up or a boat has thrown up a huge wake - and realize that if you accidentally capsize, you are going to be freaked out, panicked, and your boat & paddle will be drifting away unless you keep a hold of them... So at least multiply your time above by 1.5 because of the freakout factor. It is absolutely amazing how panicked people can get when they capsize in a kayak - even when they're wearing a life vest & they know how to swim & they're only in 4 feet of water. Which is another reason to practice wet exits.

As for life jackets being hot... it's a water sport. get wet, splash yourself. Invest in a nice low profile life vest. I use a kokatat sea02, which has an all mesh back. NOt much in the front, it's a hybrid life jacket with about 10 lbs of built in floatation which is more than enough to keep me floating, but also has a co2 tank attached to it that will inflate the vest to 22 lbs of floatation if I pull a toggle - it's also got a tube I can blow air into it to fill it up.

As for peeing - I agree, drink a lot of water, don't dehydrate yourself. Jump out of the boat if you have to pee & don't have a choice of getting out. Carry a paddle float, pump, & stirrup & know how to get back into your boat and be able to self rescue.

As for seats - I've got no problems sitting all day long in any of my kayaks. Wilderness systems have extremely nice seats in the tempest or tsunaumi, they're like barca loungers.

Camelbaks - I put one behind my seat. People also get little backpacks that piggyback onto the back of their pfd & hold a hydration bladder. You can also stick a camelbak on your front deck.

[ClockworkOrange]

We had a Sevylor inflatable canoe for about 6 years but did not use it much, too much hassle but managed to sell it on ebay without much financial loss!

Six weeks ago we decided to buy 2 x one-man sit-on kayaks, OMG absolutely brilliant.

We bought the Emotion Temptation, for us they are faultless.

Despite being a bit of an old biddy, I can manage to help lift them on top of our car.

Next I want to experiment with falling out and seeing if I could turn the kayak right way up again and then see how much of a fool of myself I might make by trying to climb back on!!! Mind you, for this I will want full sun and a very hot day.





PS Best of all I discovered today that paddling a kayak helps diminish batwings! :-)

[ny biker]

<big bump>

I've been wanting to try flat water kayaking for a while, like a few years now. The other day I got an email from REI about local events. Usually I just delete those emails but this time I read it, clicked some links... long story short I've registered for a beginning kayak class. It's still a few weeks away. So here I am looking for advice on what to expect, what to wear, etc. No surprise, there's some great info here and in related threads.

I've gone canoeing before with family, on lakes. Never tried kayaking though. Should be fun!

[Eden]

<big bump>

I've been wanting to try flat water kayaking for a while, like a few years now. The other day I got an email from REI about local events. Usually I just delete those emails but this time I read it, clicked some links... long story short I've registered for a beginning kayak class. It's still a few weeks away. So here I am looking for advice on what to expect, what to wear, etc. No surprise, there's some great info here and in related threads.

I've gone canoeing before with family, on lakes. Never tried kayaking though. Should be fun!

It should be great fun- I took the self rescue class up here and it was a good experience. A beginning class probably won't get into falling out and reentry - so I wouldn't worry about getting wet intentionally. They'll most likely teach you how to get in and out either from shore or from a dock, depending on where the class is, how to paddle forwards, backwards and turn and talk about what you'll need to buy if you decide to take up paddling.

The gear list they provide on the class page is pretty comprehensive. Since it's been in the 90's where you are at, I wouldn't worry about getting too cold unless the class is late enough to run after sunset. Regular old shorts and a tee should be just fine. The things I would stress are sun protection - it actually gets quite hot out on the water and there's lots of sun reflected off of the surface. You'll absolutely want a hat with a good brim, sunglasses and sunscreen - and don't neglect places that you might not normally think about - like the underside of your chin. Unless you launch from a dock, footwear that can get wet is a must too- it can be quite uncomfortable to walk around on rocky or mucky lake shores in bare feet. If you have your own flotation jacket you probably want to bring it - they definitely will have them, but they may not be the most comfortable or best fitting models.

The only other advice I have to offer that they don't cover is make sure anything you don't want to lose is in a zippered pocket, tethered to you in some manner or can float on it's own- just in case - and of course if it can't get wet put it in a plastic zipper bag.

[ny biker]

Thanks Eden. I went to an in-store intro class at REI last week, which gave a good overview of different types of boats as well as related gear. Even if I love it, it won't be practical for me to buy a kayak anytime soon, but I could see investing in a good paddle and life jacket. Anyway after the class I bought a dry bag and zip-top bag for my phone. I also ordered a couple of long-sleeved swim shirts from LL Bean. Last summer I spent a lot of time looking for a new swimsuit that didn't look tragic on me, and found a tankini, a flippy little swim skirt and a pair of swim shorts. If at least one of the new swim shirts fits me, I'll have good options for hot or warm weather. I already have a pair of water shoes and a good lightweight baseball cap with a good visor. I'll dig out an old pair of cycling gloves for my hands.

Two things still to figure out -- I usually wear contact lenses. I don't expect to end up in the water during the intro class, but would like to be prepared just in case. (I am not the most coordinated person, and might end up moving the wrong way or otherwise doing something dumb that gets me soaked.) So I'm thinking of investing in a pair of tinted swim goggles. Otherwise I would wear my prescription sunglasses with Croakies to keep them from falling off.

The other thing I'm wondering is about drinks. I have plenty of water bottles, but am wondering if I need a bottle that could attach to the boat... if there is such a thing.

[Pax]

Swim goggles would get pretty uncomfortable after a bit, I paddle with my prescription sunglasses and croakies, work just fine even when I've had an oops.

Everything is attached when I paddle, unless it floats. A nalgene bottle floats nicely, my metal kanteen not so much, so it gets a carabiner in the loop and attached with a small piece of paracord.