Kayaking, something else I started doing in my mid 50s

[pequa1]

After 28 years in the Army Reserve ya think I would have learned. NEVER volunteer !

 

[george]

You’re the best Art! We appreciate your input and knowledge. As well as your willingness to step up when needed!

 

[pequa1]

but I got a pension from the USAR LOL !

 

[Richee33]

I know just how you feel I started kayaking at age 53 and started with a paddle kayak but with a very bad shoulder quickly realized that paddling would not be for me much longer so I went to a Hobie and never looked back.Kayak fishing is one of the best things in my life besides family.

 

[pequa1]

I know just how you feel I started kayaking at age 53 and started with a paddle kayak but with a very bad shoulder quickly realized that paddling would not be for me much longer so I will ent to a Hobie and never looked back.Kayak fishing is one of the best things in my life besides family.

I used to yell at you guys that I have bicycles at home, but the fact is that although my shoulders are an annoyance of late, swimming and paddling has not been a problem but I would never have been able to consistently lift and cartop a standard size hobie once I was no longer able to lift weights. (keep pulling muscles in my back) My current 14' Hurricane Phoenix is just 55 lbs but I am replacing it with a Hurricane Skimmer 12'8" that goes just 47. I definitely enjoy kayak fishing. In 2017 I was out on it 39 times, and just five times out on our boat.

 

[Rick67]

Time for a hullavator or an assist type loader. There's a few around and homemade also.
Not all pedal.

 

[pequa1]

Time for a hullavator or an assist type loader. There's a few around and homemade also.
Not all pedal.

For me the problem or struggle isn’t getting it on or off my pickup truck’s TrakRak but wielding it around at the ramp or beach. My RAnger is perfect for me,whether loading a couple of deer in the bed, towing the boat or carrying the yak. Hullivator not needed yet anyway, just a decade off my back! Only pickup that fits between our trailer boat and the side porch lol !

 

[Rick67]

What do use for a cart? For the kayak I mean.
Its one thing to swing a fifty pound touring yak around but the fishing yak go up to 120 lbs and even those PA's are manageable with the right kart.
Most our setup's average 100lbs with everything and that's how there launched, with everything. Carts go on as you unload and come off in the water and go on most places in the water also for landing. Its all how you set it up. Me, I take about five seconds to jump off, install the cart, and be towing yak up the beach (Waveless beach).
I use a hullavator myself but only so I don't have 8' of kayak sticking out past the gate. Rather toss it in the bed but know I'll get creamed somewhere by someone.

 

[pequa1]

I rarely use it, but have a homemade, PVC and barbecue grill 2 wheeled cart that I use when my wife and I go to The Dinghy Shop and put in our tandem Perception 13.5. The strain on my body occurs when I am lifting the kayak up to put the bow up and lowering it down carefully to not damage the bottom on a boat ramp, parking lot, etc. That strain would exist whether I use a cart or not. When I put in my Phoenix 140, which with fishing accessories and seat installed still goes under 60 lbs, I don't use a cart at all at my town boat ramp or a town beach as the walk on that particular town beach is less than 20 yards and non-existent when I back my truck down the boat ramp. Two minutes to offload the gear, another two to park the truck in the lot. I did use the homemade cart when I launched at a town beach where my truck couldn't get close. If I do that again I would limit myself to one rod, eliminate the tackle bag and just take a couple of fluke rigs, net, some Gulp and a tin or two. I normally also take a second rod, a tackle bag, maybe a bucket or killie bucket to liveline snappers. Overkill, but I do it because I can.
If my body would stop telling the world that I am never going to see my 67th birthday again, I wouldn't even be considering selling the Phoenix, but I want to go even lighter. The best yak cart I have ever seen and used was at Kailua Beach Adventures on Oahu. It was long and heavy but made the job of travelling to the beach to launch quite easy. (Although my shins did not like surf launching with my wife in the tandem's bow seat!) If I had something like that, (which probably costs what Dicks charges for their polypropylene "elephant" yaks), I suppose I could just padlock it to the tiedowns in my pickup bed.
With the TrakRak, I don't worry about transporting the yak, unless some roofer hits me with his ladders.

 

[Richee33]

My son has that exact perception and he and his girlfriend used that while I was in a perception pescador 12 when we first started out.That tandem is a beast to handle on and off a car and a cart is absolutely necessary if you are not backing up right to the water.

 

[Roccus7]

Guess I'm a lucky "Starting kayaking in mid-50 Club" member who still paddles and keeps the kayak on a dock. Since I knew I'd be launching/retrieving from a dock float, I went with a sit on top. Not a big fan of fishing from the Yak, I enjoy using it to explore, especially at low tide to help find good boat fishing spots.

 

[pequa1]

My son has that exact perception and he and his girlfriend used that while I was in a perception pescador 12 when we first started out.That tandem is a beast to handle on and off a car and a cart is absolutely necessary if you are not backing up right to the water.

 

[pequa1]

My wife has to help me slide the Tribe 13.5 off either onto the boat ramp or the cart. When retrieving, she again helps me get the bow up onto the rearmost rack (of the TrakRak) and then I push it up the rest of the way. I will admit that with a partner its a hell of a lot easier launching a 67 lb. Tribe than solo on a 56 lb Phoenix. I figured all along that regarding the eventual selling of the Phoenix it will go to someone who does not live on the water and wants to fish, as a SOT just makes getting in and out, and fishing or clamming, so much easier.

 

[Richee33]

I have to say that Tribe 13.5 is one stable kayak and using it for something like clamming must be a lot of fun it also is a very dry and comfortable tandem ride

 

[pequa1]

With two paddling I think it's as fast as my Hurricane Phoenix. I really don't want to jinx myself but I have never come close to rolling over on either of them, despite the mega-yachts that go by in Matzahpizza.

 

[Richee33]

My son and I had just gotten into kayaking and were not very sure about our ability to stay upright at first but after sitting in the Tribe 13.5 we were assured that it is probably one of the most stable kayaks out there.We were in some pretty hairy stuff up on the north shore when winds and tides conspired to do us in I can remember some pretty bad wind chop and following sea up in Wading River going back into the inlet especially around those sand bars that is the kind of stuff that gets your attention in a hurry.But to tell you the truth the Tribe handled it great even for such a big and wide kayak as it is.

 

[pequa1]

Even though the center of gravity is lower in a sit inside I was always uncomfortable seeing approaching waves and wakes. No scuppers!!

 

[pequa1]

Even though the center of gravity is lower in a sit inside I was always uncomfortable seeing approaching waves and wakes. No scuppers!!

Looks like a buyer for the Phoenix is coming tomorrow