Good points, Rob.

I remember thinking while paddling that tippy kayak on the Caribbean Sea with Malcolm: I need ballast. The kayak was a fairly light rental and I should have dumped sand (only available ballast, not ideal but would have worked) into the hatches to make it more stable. Didn't do that so tipped twice. Not that I don't mind swimming in the warm Caribbean waters but I really did not wanna swim. Also, running the white water during my cross-Canada kayaking journey was easy because of all the equipment weight under the hatches. Had I done that white water with empty holds then running the white water would have been far more challenging.

Robert N Pruden