Best Kayak clothing

[pedrot]

Good morning. I am absolutely new to this and am gradually soaking up all the info from all sources.
I have managed to buy an almost complete kit:-
Prowler Elite 4.5,sail kit,paddle,rack/roll system,anchor pulley kit,storage bag,outboard engine,thigh braces,seat,bungs,Scotty rod holder,bait box. I also bought the trailer. The whole kit was reasonably priced and in nice condition, at two years old.
My only previous experience was a couple of shots in a friend's Dagger 10.5, so my first trip in the Prowler was, more or less,from a base of zero.
I took my Kayak to the local beach yesterday, weather conditions were: southerly 4-6 with some shelter, resulting in about a two foot sea coming ashore on to a sandy gradual sloping beach. I was wearing a borrowed wetsuit and a life jacket, with a silly wee rain jacket on top (was light rain).
There was a fair amount of activity on the beach and several chaps doing the wind surfing thing! So lots of watchers!!
Pushed off into surf and made my way out to deeper water(around 10ft.) and about a 2-3 foot swell (I was still sheltered from the main blow). I was having a bit of trouble getting comfy and was unclipping and retrying the leg braces, shuffling around in the seat(didn't seem to be upright enough).
Anyway, the long and short of it is I managed to turn the kayak over(nothing untethered thankfully and no rods etc.) Well, I got it back the right way up, and managed to climb back up the length of it via the bow, but on swiveling round onto the seat, I was tipped back in(ach well!!)
The wind and sea was taking me back in to the shallow water so I decided to just ride with it and when I touched bottom, I jumped back on and paddled off (keeping away from the most choppy stuff)
I take above described experience as a timely reminder of just how vulnerable we are on top of a Kayak, at sea!! I now plan to have a lot more (Dry runs) sic. and am planning even now to do a bit more loch work, including a number of planned capsizes, prior to any attempt at fishing at sea.
Now to the question of "Gear" My experience in the borrow wetsuit was ok really as the water off the beach was not cold. I know now that silly wee rain jacket was really just a hinderence and the lifejacket, whilst bulky, was effective. I am being pulled in the direction of a dry suit with a decent touring bouancy aid.
Does anyone have any advice on this?

[izzetafox]

The saying is..Dress to the water temp not the air temp.

Where you likve many would say apart from close in that a drysuit is the most suitable, having said that you would probably get away with a decent wet suit fr s few week yet.
Drysuits really are the way to go though, fantastic kit.

PFD's so wide ranging, many rate the Fladen budget and others go for the like of Palm touring yaks around the £80-£120. Don't be too tempted by too many pockets at the front, when they are full it can play havoc with self rescues. On that point try and get as many self rescues under your belt as you can and try and do them out of your depth. Confidence there is great for when it actually happens in anger.

Terry

[kerny]

Keep looking on here for when the next paddling course comes up by ZEBRA and BUDDY its well worth going on.

[THURSOMAN]

Sound advice from Mr K there.
Unfortunately I live too far away to manage one of the lads courses so I'm waiting for them to get going with this DVD of theirs.

[philpot]

Ok Pedrot, welcome to the 'club'. Now you have got the hardware so now it is time to look at right clothing. Terry is right, buy a drysuit.
A wet suit is fine for messing around in the summer with the family but my belief is when fishing at sea a drysuit is a MUST. The reason is too fold, Firstly, only your head gets wet and even that can take your breath away on a hot day. The ability to take a dip and remain dry and warm will allow you to get in control of your kayak quickly. Without this , you will take a great deal longer to gather your thoughts and get back on the kayak and please believe me the water will sap your strength very very quickly.
Secondly, the drysuit will retain some air inside even after you get as much out via the neck before going out. The shop you buy it from will show how this is done. The small amount of trapped air will aid you when self rescue attempt is made. Most people can carry out a self rescue attempt 3 or 4 times before being exhausted so it is important to use whatever advantage you can and get it right the first time.
I would always recommend Typhoon drysuits because they are the best in my opinion, expensive but you only live once. I have a multisport which is about £425ish. Now the tiny detail makes the difference between comfort and having to put up with it. I personally like a latex neck and cuffs because no water gets in but for me the feet want to be the same material as the suit so that i can wear several pairs of very thick socks in the winter without having latex feet crushing my own feet making them very cold.
I also bought a pair of the Palm Kola boots to wear over the drysuit which really keep my feet warm. In summer i wear a cheap pair of wetboots to protect the built in feet as they are vulnerable. To finish off the warmth package, a good quality fleece under suit, which, if you have a figure like mine, you will look a bugger but you will be warm. Summer is shorts and tea shirt underneath with a thin pair of socks.
You then have an option with zips, front or rear fastening. It is a personal choice but i went for the rear zip as i find it is more comfortable when sat on the kayak but you will need help to get it on and off.

When it comes to PFDs or personal floatation device, the range is huge and i have bought 3 before i found the one that suits me. One very important thing here is that when you are in the water, the pfd will try to come over your head given the chance because of it's function, think about it. I bought a Palm Symbiant Tour pfd at around £90 or less. This one has the ability to lengthen the shoulder straps so that the fastening buckle is under my gut where it can be tightened correctly. It also has two elasticated wide straps on either side which really make the pfd hold in place but remain comfortable when sitting----MANY DO NOT!!.
This model also has two hand warmer pockets and two normal pockets. Please don't think that you need lots of pockets in order to hold all the fishing tools in because when it comes to do a self rescue, you will have lots of extra bulk in front of you to get in the way. If you feel the need to have loads of pockets for gear, buy a cheap fly fishing vest which will hold everything and wear this over the pfd. When you take a dip, take off the vest while in the water and throw it into the kayak so you are clear of items enabling you to climb back on board.
I think i have bored you enough, hope it helps.
Phil

[malahidebass]

Nice one Phil, good post. Helpful info on the drysuit.

[philpot]

Here are the links for the items i listed above.

www.roho.co.uk/acatalog/Dry_Suits.html

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150635830150

Phil

[Jessica Parker]

Surely it has to the dry suits, as they help in getting a dry exit from the kayak along with preventing the kayak from drowning as well....

[Jessica Parker]

Aug 3, 2011 13:20:17 GMT -1 THURSOMAN said:

Sound advice from Mr K there.
Unfortunately I live too far away to manage one of the lads courses so I'm waiting for them to get going with this DVD of theirs.

Nice sense of humor, do get the course DVD's in order to learn kayaking.....