Kayaks for Tenders ?

[Jim Cate]

Hmmm,

I noticed that essentially everyone who prefers a kayak to a dinghy is... a singlehander!

And some (not you, Zee) are young blokes as well.

There may be some useful data hidden there!

Cheers,

Jim

[Bash]

Originally Posted by zeehag

i have to laugh at everyone--i use a sit inside entry level flatwater kayak for my tender and have for 11 yrs.i love them i also have a walker bay8 ft---dont use it much at all. prefer the kayak-is only 38 pounds and is easily brought up and tied off to caprail..i can pack in it, i can play in it--is perfect for me. i live on board and use a mooring not a dock.

but do you tow the mothership with it?

[Thesolidus]

Like anything... it depends.

I have a small Walker Bay and though it holds more and could hold a passenger I find it unstable (swamped it once already and dumped my gear.) getting a passenger in it with me is a challenge and it won't really carry three people, forget about three and gear. I rowed out to the mooring the other night in a storm which sucked. Too much windage on the dinghy, no positive flotation if I swamped it (at night) and even partially covered it swamps with rain easily.

So a small dinghy may not be any better than a wide sit-on-top with some storage space.

Next, try a wide, stand-up fishing style, sit-on-top kayak. The wide center channel style are super stable and you can stand and paddle. It's self draining, less freeboard and windage, handles better in the storms and chop and is far more manuverable. Space for a cooler means space for a jerry can plus two large (40-60 liter) dry bags I can lash fore and aft. If things get really wobbly I can drag the dry bags in the water and still keep contents dry. Keep a pair of rain gear stuffed in the kayak's dry hatch for dry transport. The kayak is more maneuverable, more stable and won't sink or swamp if you dump it. If capsized you can re-enter, it won't drown at the dock or need bailing every few days like a dinghy and they take up less room at the dock. Plus they're faster to paddle and much more fun to paddle imho.

Now I still need the larger tender, but I'll be replacing the traditional hard dinghy with an inflatable, accordion floor type that can actually take 4-5 people and gear and a motor.

But get rid of the standard dinghy. The thought of another swim ina cold dark harbor with a submerged Walker Bay that doesn't float chills me. (Oh, and wear a lifejacket...)

[Don C L]

I too will say it depends on the kayak. I have an inflatable with large tubes and a drop-stitch floor that is pretty rigid. It will carry 3 adults or 850 lbs, I can paddle it into a headwind, it is pretty rugged and rolls up into a manageable bundle. I have owned the range of dinghies and if you are not using an outboard, this is a good option. I have a Sea Eagle 420x explorer model, the largest one they make. You can get a kind of a sail for it too. I think i have a shot of it in one of my albums.
https://www.seaeagle.com/ExplorerKayaks/420X

[hafa]

Originally Posted by Don C L

You can get a kind of a sail for it too. I think i have a shot of it in one of my albums.

I have one of these on my Ocean Kayak Scupper Pro. Nice Gunther rig that stows on the deck. Goes upwind and tacks well. With a 20 knot wind, I've clocked 10 Knots on the GPS on a beam reach.

Dinghies and Kayaks are like trucks and cars. I use the Tacoma to haul furniture, not the Prius C, but I'd not use the Tacoma to pop down to the office.

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by Thesolidus

Like anything... it depends.

I have a small Walker Bay and though it holds more and could hold a passenger I find it unstable (swamped it once already and dumped my gear.) getting a passenger in it with me is a challenge and it won't really carry three people, forget about three and gear. I rowed out to the mooring the other night in a storm which sucked. Too much windage on the dinghy, no positive flotation if I swamped it (at night) and even partially covered it swamps with rain easily.

So a small dinghy may not be any better than a wide sit-on-top with some storage space.

Next, try a wide, stand-up fishing style, sit-on-top kayak. The wide center channel style are super stable and you can stand and paddle. It's self draining, less freeboard and windage, handles better in the storms and chop and is far more manuverable. Space for a cooler means space for a jerry can plus two large (40-60 liter) dry bags I can lash fore and aft. If things get really wobbly I can drag the dry bags in the water and still keep contents dry. Keep a pair of rain gear stuffed in the kayak's dry hatch for dry transport. The kayak is more maneuverable, more stable and won't sink or swamp if you dump it. If capsized you can re-enter, it won't drown at the dock or need bailing every few days like a dinghy and they take up less room at the dock. Plus they're faster to paddle and much more fun to paddle imho.

Now I still need the larger tender, but I'll be replacing the traditional hard dinghy with an inflatable, accordion floor type that can actually take 4-5 people and gear and a motor.

But get rid of the standard dinghy. The thought of another swim ina cold dark harbor with a submerged Walker Bay that doesn't float chills me. (Oh, and wear a lifejacket...)

Welcome aboard, Thesolidus!

[Scot McPherson]

So I am a kayaker, and I am a part-time liveaboard. Here is my take on it.


Kayaks most certainly can be loaded up so long as you aren't loading it up with lead, and can be configured to keep stuff dry as well. The sit on top kayaks often have hatches to store stuff into the rotomolded body which is mostly water-proof (in the short term sense) and they have a cargo "basket" behind the seat. If for whatever reason you have difficulty keeping the interior dry, you can push 5 gallon buckets into the hatches and cover your gear. The only reason why your laundry would get wet on the back of the kayak is because you used a perforated laundry basket or bag. The answer there is simple...don't use those containers to carry stuff that needs to stay dry. There are expedition kayakers who carry everything they need to sleep and live off the land for weeks at a time with their kayak being their only storage, and that include winter expeditions in the far north. Inuits and eskimos used kayaks as their only mode of travel over the water for great distances, and for hunting whales, so if they can do it, so can you.


Now, regarding embarking and disembarking from your boat. Unless you have a swim platform, getting into and out of a kayak can be a real problem unless you are young and lithe, otherwise it's a struggle and you can make a mistake and smack your head against the hull of your boat because the kayak skateboarded out from under you.


Kayaking distances without a good backrest is going to be painful. Although I am a kayak fisherman and I do persevere for a few hours, after I have been in the kayak for an hour, my back is ready to give up and I have to take breaks lying backward for a few minutes.


Although using a kayak as a tender is certainly doable, it's not for me and its not for everyone. It's for the young and lithe, and the older folks who are still young and lithe. For those of us who are no longer the athletic younger selves we were, kayaks are not an option.

[UNCIVILIZED]

Anyone ever play with one of the origami kayaks? I'm curious what they handle like. https://www.orukayak.com/

[Training Wheels]

Me too!

[Thesolidus]

I agree kayak isn't a replacement for a full size tender.
I will say though that I think it is better than the small sized, non inflatable rowboat type tender that so many of us (including me) start with.
My little tippy, non floating rowboat that sinks if it rains or splashes and only holds 1.5 to 2.5 people is far inferior to a wide fishing kayak. Standing on either is difficult but I find paddling is far less back breaking than rowing. And I've already swamped my Walker Bay and have previously pulled a neighbors swamped rowboat from the middle of the harbor. The new style of 'stand up kayaks' are so wide and have so much positive buoyancy they're hard to flip if you tried.
Both need muscle and limberness to use though. Boarding from my tender is precarious at best, from a kayak equally so.
That's why I'm moving toward a much larger, hard floor, inflatable with a motor.
For cruising I'd have to deflate it to fit it on deck but the added safety and capacity of an inflatable is worth it.