Nemrod:
Claudette, didn't you say you have a friend who kayak dives, if so be sure to have him/her guide you. Oh, a congrats on the new kayak!!!!
You are so right, N! Having the constant guidance from my dive buddy today was priceless...and all we did was get the boats in the water, paddle and practice beach landings and take-offs. It was a great first day of "see-it, do-it." It started raining this afternoon, so we won't get our first 'yak dive this weekend...but I can hardly wait.
Nemrod:
I have the Yakima rack on both my Toyota trucks and on my wife's Jeep Liberty. The kayak "cradle" which holds the kayak on it's side works great even over long distances and will not damage your boat.
That does look like a great rack. I'm inverting the Tourer and strapping it directly on the padded factory rack on my Honda Element. Good and solid. Rack holds only 75 pounds, so I'll only be carrying one boat unless I purchase a different rack with heavier capacity.
Nemrod:
It is a piece of cake to add "inchworms" (the plastic clips, to the boat for additional tie down and tether locations.
Thank you for giving me a name to use for these little clip-things!
Nemrod:
Yes, I agree, in most cases if not all cases I imagine you will do fine without the rudder. That is not tosay the rudder is not helpful but I think you will do fine without.
The boat tracked well today with a side-wind, side-chop the entire time. I can see where the rudder would be one more thing to handle/protect during transport and launch. With no gear in the stern, the extra free-board allowed the wind to push the stern and the bow kept pointing up. Adjusting my paddling eventually worked very well to keep the boat straight. I purchased a light-weight, asymmetric-bladed paddle, but could not keep up with my buddy and his PowerFlex paddle. When we switched paddles, he couldn't keep up with me! Back to the store tomorrow to make the switch. The lighter paddle was nice, but not if I have to work harder to keep up. The PowerFlex was also more comfortably shaped to my hands. The weight was quite comfortable even after a couple of hours paddling.
Nemrod:
When you open a hatch--remove the item or stow the item and then close the hatch--each time!!!! per item. Do not leave a hatch open while you fiddle around or put on gear or if you roll the yak it will flood and you will loose stuff and you will need to deploy your rescue float and safety sausage and maybe use your bilge pump!!!
Thank you for saying this. I did not have respect for the fact that this "self-bailing, sit-on-top" is only buoyant if the hull is full of air and gear...and sealed to water! Duh!
Again, Thank You Many Times Over for sharing your enthusiasm and knowledge.
Claudette