For the love of Kayaking

[Blaze]

Once you've found the perfect kayak for you, and you're ready to go kayaking, there's one other thing that you need to learn about first. You need to know how to take care of your kayak, otherwise, you may find that your kayak doesn't last nearly as long as you would like it to. Considering how much kayaks tend to cost, this should definitely be a priority for you.

One thing that you should keep in mind regarding kayak maintenance is that like most things, a little bit of prevention can go a long way. As a result, you should make sure that you do a little bit of regular maintenance on your kayak. This way, you'll be able to keep your kayak nice, and you won't have to worry about doing a lot of maintenance all at once when something breaks.

First, you should always make sure that you wash your kayak regularly. This will help keep it clean, and will also make sure that you can see if there is anything on the kayak that could cause problems later. This is especially important if you are kayaking in salt water, since the salt can corrode parts of your kayak. You should also make sure that you rinse the inside of your kayak as well if any salt water got inside.

You should make sure that your kayak does not have any holes in it, too - and you can do this before you find yourself sitting in a leaking kayak out at sea. All you have to do is put a flashlight inside of the kayak and cover the cockpit. Then put the kayak in a dark room. If you see any areas of light then that means that you have a crack in your kayak. This is the best way for you to decide if you have a crack in your actual kayak instead of just in the paint. Cracks in the paint will make your boat look worse than it is, but they won't do any real structural damage to your kayak.

Finally, if you don't want your paint to fade and you're worried about the boat warping at all, then you should store it indoors and out of the sun temperature changes.

[LeftWriteFemme]

I don't know why, but I first read the title of this thread as "Making love in a Kayak"


Paddle on........nothing to see here

[Blaze]

If your ever going to Kauai Hawaii, here is a VERY good link to enjoy seeing area's by kayak...
https://www.kayakkauai.com/

[Blaze]

When this photograph was first published in Africa Geographic, BBC Wildlife and later in Paris Match and the Daily Mail (London) it resulted in a flurry of e-mails, phone calls and letters from around the world asking if the image was a fake. The image became the most talked about of shark photograph ever.

The photograph is real, no photoshop, no digital manipulation, no nothing, in fact it was shot on slide film Fuji Provia 100 using a Nikon F5 Camera and 17-35 mm lens. For those conspiracy fans who still doubt its authenticity please read how I took the photograph.

To capture this image I tied myself to the tower of the research boat Lamnidae and leaned into the void, precariously hanging over the ocean while waiting patiently for a white shark to come along. I wanted to shot a photograph that would tell the story of our research efforts to track white sharks using kayaks. When the first shark of the day came across our sea kayak it dove to the seabed and inspected it from below. I quickly trained my camera on the dark shadow which slowly transformed from diffuse shape into the sleek outline of a large great white. When the shark’s dorsal fin broke the surface I thought I had the shot, but hesitated a fraction of a second and was rewarded with marine biologist Trey Snow in the kayak turning around to look behind him. I pressed the shutter and the rest was history. Throughout the day I shot many more images, most showing the kayak following the shark, but all lacked the power of that first image of the great white tracking the kayak.

Kayaking with Great White Sharks



In 2003 my friend and white shark biologist Michael Scholl discovered large numbers of great white sharks in extremely shallow water near the southernmost tip of South Africa. We initiated a research project but all of our initial attempts were thwarted because the sharks were repelled or attracted to the boats engine’s electrical fields, disrupting their natural behaviour.

I have been sea kayaking for quite a number of years, frequently using it as a photographic platform and could not think of a better, less unobtrusive vessel from which to track white sharks from. Granted the first few attempts were a little nerve-wracking, even though we had observed the sharks reaction to an empty kayak numerous times. It is hard to describe what goes through ones mind when sitting in a yellow plastic sea kayak and a 4.5 m + great white shark is heading your way.

White sharks, despite their bad reputation are much more cautious and inquisitive in nature than aggressive and unpredictable. At no time did any shark show any agression towards our little yum yum yellow craft.

We believe that white sharks come inshore in such great numbers to socially interact with others of their species, perhaps even to mate or give birth to their young. We have observed sharks following behind or swimming tight circles around one another. To observe and document great white sharks mating or giving birth is the holy grail of shark research and photography, but it is also a extremely difficult and perhaps an even almost impossible task.

For a more detailed account of the research and to see more images please refer to the following book: South Africa’s Great White Shark, by Thomas P. Peschak and Michael C. Scholl, published by Struik in 2006. It is available from all good bookshops and online book merchants.

[StillettoDoll]

Hey Blaze your kayak fishing show comes on tonight @ 7.30! Kayak Bassing