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Sea Kayaks Techniques Bulletin Board
Re: to hatch or not
Posted By: Tom In Response To: Re: to hatch or not *LINK* (haresfur)
Date: Thursday, 13 March 2003, at 12:43 a.m.
: If you are considering going without hatches, I, too, highly recommend the
: Mariner website. Since they don't much care for hatches, they have a whole
: lot of discussion on the subject. They are also big fans of sea-socks but
: consider a sea-sock to be a supplement to float bags, not a replacement.: Even if you don't agree with them, they provide great information and have
: done good things for kayaking (and are nice to talk to, too).: -- Evan
I have used a sea socks in my Pygmy double as well as in a couple of plastic boats that I have. The sea socks keep the boat very clean and stay on very well in the event of a capsize. In my experience the socks do not let in as much water as a bulkheaded boat might in the event of a capsize. With that said, I am building a Tern right know and bought the hatch/bulkhead kit. I think I will install them but will probably paddle for awhile before I do. I used a fiberglass boat to tour in two summers ago and I like the way the boat loaded through the hatches. I have toured in the double without hatches and it also load fine, even though I did not have very good dry bags and was haphazard about my packing. One thing I do notice about sea socks is that your feet tend to get a bit tangled in them until you can smooth out in the boat. I believe John Lockwood puts a piece of hard foam in the foot area of his socks which he claims keeps the sock off your legs and prevents the tangle issue. I have not tried this technique but will in the future.All said and done, it is a personal decision. Paddle with socks for awhile before installing the hatches, see how you like it.
Happy Paddling,
Tom
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