Sea Kayaks

Video Transcript

"In this clip we are going to talk about the features of a sea kayak. Those long skinny boats that really started it all. As you can see on this boat the handle instead of being on the top, is underneath. That way it's a grab-point for swimmers. It's got longitudinal deck lines, again grab-points, not only for swimmers, but managing the boat up on the roof of your car, up a sea wall, steep shoreline, what have you. This particular boat has a compass recess here so typically we would have a compass here to help guide us. We have deck bungees here and here and these deck bungees are to hold spare paddles. Huge, huge storage compartment on the bow, again flotation, really robust hatch covers built to take a beating, built to be immersed a lot. So, if he wants to go out and roll his boat all afternoon, this is going to stay dry in here. Again we have deck bungees on the bow. So, you've got storage under here. Typically it would be the chart room. So, it would have charts here. Smaller cockpit, very form-fitting, easy to put a skirt on quickly and then on the side here, this is a skeg control. So, we'll get to the skeg in a minute. It's basically a fin that drops down out of the stern to help you track straight in the wind. If he wanted to engage it, he would slide this back and then to disengage it, slide it forward. The thigh braces, and on these type boats, you're not sitting in them so much like a recreational boat. They're a little snugger fit. So, when he lifts his leg the boat responds. These boats are much more responsive than anything else that we've looked at today. And that's what you want in this type boat. So right behind Ron, you will see the small round, what we call a day hatch. And that's a hatch that he can access while he's on the water paddling. So, if he needs spare water, spare food, spare clothing, what have you, he can store in there and access it himself without having someone else come up and have to pull it out for him. Again, another large storage compartment on the stern, you'll see the longitudinal deck lines go out all the way to the stern with another grab point just under the stern of the boat. So, it makes it really easy for him to tow a swimmer in, or if he wants to get out and swim around holding on to his boat, it's an easy thing for him to do."