How to Stay Dry in A Sit on Top Kayak?
There are four aspects to consider if you wish to remain dry while in a sit-on-top Kayak. It includes dressing in water-repellent clothes, optimizing your kayak floor and seat, Not paddling in rainy and windy weather.
It also involves engaging in shallow and splash-less paddle strokes. This post will discuss the factors that can enable one to stay dry while in a water kayak. Read on.
Protecting Against Falling Water
Spending more time out on the water with your kayak typically increases the odds that water will eventually splash into your kayak. Water may fall on you from dripping paddle lades, paddling over splash, or sometimes caused by a rogue rainstorm.
Regardless of how it reaches you, the feeling in each case is not so much different. And if you may ask, yes, it is an unpleasant feeling. Below are some tips to help you avoid experiencing such a surface.
- Wearing A Water-Repellant Headwear
To enable your face and noggin to remain dry, you are advised to wear a water repellant hat that features a round brim, particularly at 360 degrees. In the case of rain, you should be more cautious to ensure that streams of water do not find their way off the brim onto your back.
Similarly, your hat should feature a chinstrap, which you should wear at all times. It is primarily attributed to the fact that strong winds are likely to blow your hat off and make it skip on the water for quite a distance before finally giving in and sinking.
You may think that the show you are having is incredible until you realize that you’ve just lost your best hat.
- Have A Water-Repellant Dry-suit Or Gore-Tex Shell
There are two main ways to keep your upper body on the seated kayak. The most effective is the dry-suit. The dry-suit is similar to a wet suit, but it is looser than a wet suit and allows you to wear insulation underneath. The manufacturer is made of foam neoprene, neoprene crushed, durable nylon, or vulcanized rubber. They are made to keep you truly dry.
Wearing a dry suit is the most positive way to keep your body hydrated while paddling. But do you need so much firepower? If your goal is to spend a leisurely day kayaking on the lake, wearing a dry suit will keep you dry, but it may be too big.
Similarly, wetsuits are not very breathable, so by the end of the day, you may find yourself drenched all the time. The Gore-Tex stretch suit is another option for a dry wetsuit. It can keep your torso dry well. Gore-Tex was invented to help repel water while allowing water vapor to pass through.
Therefore, Gore-Tex can suppress paddle splashes and rain but still allows the moisture in the heat generated by the body to enter the outside through the membrane, thereby keeping you dry. Stroking hard will reduce overheating, and stopping to rest will keep you warm.
Besides, Gore-Tex is entirely windproof. This fabric is very durable and can be used for a long time. The downside is that this exceptionally high durability will give clothes a rough, rough feel, rather than soft, soft clothes.
Protecting Against Rising Water
When kayakers seek help to keep their sit-and-stand kayaks dry, the problem they often try to solve is to soak one of the rising waters behind them, resulting in wet bottom padding all day. Here are the top tips and tricks that you must consider implementing.
- Choose A Suitable Waterproof Bottom
Similar to our discussion of protecting the torso from water, please consider whether your problem requires a positive solution. If so, then reconsider the idea of drying clothes.
It not only keeps your torso dry but also keeps the rest of your body. However, by the end of the day, sweat will seep into your insulation. Consider Gore-Tex pants or, if you are rowing in the summer, use Gore-Tex or Hydroskin neoprene shorts.
Wearing a lightweight, waterproof and breathable jacket will take you on an adventure journey, making you drier and increasing paddling comfort.
- Paddling in Clean Splash-Less Strokes
Indeed, you often get wet when paddling while splashing water on yourself. Luckily, since this is your fault, there are several ways to avert such instances. Here are some tips you could put in place to stay dry.
The stroke angle is small. So, to stay dry on days important to you, try using clean picks, but don’t use too much force. Therefore, do not push the blade vertically into the water. Insert it at a small angle so that the edge does not go over the kayak into the cockpit. Your speed will be slower, but it will be drier.
Get to know your paddle better. The water splashes into the kayak, mainly from the oars. If you want to optimize dryness, perform the blade stroke carefully and accurately.
It means avoiding the initial splash when the blade enters the water. It also means placing the opposite edge in the air to prevent spraying you with water during the stroke.
Use paddle drip ring. The paddle drip ring is attached to the paddle shaft, outside of where you put your hand. They are used to prevent excess water from running down the well to the clothes or possibly falling on the dry clothes.
- Do Not Paddle on Rainy and Windy Days.
If you want to stay dry, you can always follow the weather network. If it’s you (and sometimes me), then I hope the decision to (should/should not) paddle is easy.
The rain will soak your body from top to bottom and keep the interior of the boat moist. The wind will cause rough conditions, bringing water up from the kayak’s drain hole into the cockpit and immersing the body into the water from the bottom up.
Although achieving a high dryness level is a challenge when, in a sit-on-top kayak, it is mostly doable. However, like all challenges, it requires proper planning, judgment, and, unfortunately, money. Make use of the above tips if you are keen on a dry kayaking experience.