Brian's Kayak Launch

The temperature was still below normal (48F vs 56F), but I figured it was unlikely to get much warmer until April. So I put on lots of warm clothes and strapped the kayak onto the car:

kayak on car    kayak on car    kayak on car

One strap goes from the left front of the car over the kayak in front of the cockpit coaming then diagonally to the left rear. The other strap starts at the left rear over the kayak in back of the cockpit coaming and diagonally to the front left. In addition I held down the front with some rope (through the hole I drilled see day 51). I'll probably do the same for the back, but I only went 3 miles at a maximum speed of 50 MPH. That is pipe insulation that the kayak is sitting on. Yes I'm missing a hub cap.

Here is a picture of the kayak on the beach: This is Pettibone lagoon in Pettibone park in La Crosse.

before launch

I'm not sure if the park allows alcohol/bottles, to play it safe I used Mt. Dew instead of breaking a bottle of champagne on the bow. I have provisionally named it/her "tuugaalik" which is Inuit (Eskimo) for narwhal (a type of whale with a single "tusk"--actually a tooth) Click to hear it pronounced.

blessing

Here it is in the water:

launch

Paddled around a bit. Once I was reasonably sure it was safe, I took my camera on board and took these pictures:

on the water   on the water

I spent about an hour and a half on the water. Here it is afterwards:

out of the water

If we get a warm spell I'll take it out again. Otherwise I can wait till next year now that I have had it on the water. Tracking, speed and maneuverability seem good. Primary stability is about what I expected (somewhat tippy, but not scary). Didn't test secondary stability too hard because I didn't want to get dunked. Water temperature on the Mississippi was 40F according to the paper (probably warmer in this lagoon). I haven't weighed it, but I had no problem carrying it ~75ft. Once I got going I wasn't cold--I even removed a layer. And I'm happy that after 5 minutes I didnt even notice my PFD (lifejacket).

I ripped a little of the seatback and the left foot brace track broke, but I can fix those things. Probably will do that this year. I need to varnish the inside and cover the sat/seatback with cloth but will probably wait till next year.

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