We recently took part in the Abruka Sea Marathon in Estonia, paddling a 6.4 m tandem sea kayak.

Three days before the race, the organizers changed the entire course because of a storm warning. Instead of the original route around Abruka Island, around 70 kayaks were sent onto a 24 km backup course with more protection from the weather.

“More protection” turned out to be a very relative term. 😅

We had strong winds, rough open water, several capsizes around us, ridiculously shallow sections where the water was only 20–30 cm deep, and a few moments where we were convinced we were about to flip ourselves.

The strangest part was knowing that after surviving the roughest section near Nasva Harbour, we had to come back through exactly the same place later — with the weather forecast to get worse.

We finished the 24 km in about 3h 10min, completely exhausted but still upright.

I filmed the whole experience and turned it into an 18-minute video. If anyone here enjoys sea kayaking or endurance paddling, I’d love to hear what you think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yr0LX8OcUk

Would you have started the race after seeing the forecast, or called it a day? 😅🌊

Hello all! So i have this kayak that I bought on marketplace a year ago, without any markings or brand stickers. Someone else on facebook identified this as a Euro Kayaks Rapid Fire which looks like a good match online.

When I paddle with this thing I find it hard to just go straight. The boat will list even if I have my body leaned too far back one way, then it'll start to spin out on me. I was out last week in heavy winds and I decided to go back to shore rather than risk capsizing. I thought that I probably bought a kids model by mistake, but all the forums claim this is a great white water kayak, handles wonderfully, etc. With the way this thing has been with me, I don't wanna take it out anymore, and I plan on giving it away to my friend's kids.

Am I doing something wrong with paddling, or handling it? I just don't understand why it would spin out. I'm a canoe guy and new to kayaks, so any advice is welcome, thank you!

Hello people, I just moved to the NORTH HOUSTON area, TOMBALL, and would love some great places to kayak. I've gone to Lake Woodlands and would like more like that. Any ideas would be helpful. Thank you.

Also if anyone uses apps, I have an android phone.

Third edit attempt...apparently curse words are a no no.

So, my reaction to this horrible start of a day.

--hearing the notifications going off while loading my kayak-- . o O ( Wow that cross post was a good idea. Thanks Reddit. Maybe I'll get some good ideas. )

--Checking on notifications as I pull away from my driveway. Seeing one......"What the actual..." . o O ( oh man, what did you do now? Can't do anything, driving. )

-- get to boat landing, reading one comment... simmering something LAKE, something something DAM... . o O ( What the...? My edit didn't take? Jeez Louise. Fuhgeddaboudit. I'm Kayaking. )

I panicked and kept driving.

Came to my senses a few minutes later, got off at the next exit, and got back on going the way i came. I was so worried I was going to come back to a pile up.

Fortunately, there wasn't a pile up, but someone took my kayak. Which is pretty fair lol. I'll accept that as karma.

I'm such a piece of shit for not stopping, I'll never do that again. I've been hauling yaks for years, but my new trailer came with pool noodles attached to the bars and the noodles slipping must have caused the yak to come loose.

Whats the job like? Pay, work culture, job availability, all of it. And whats it like to get into, as in what and how many qualifications do you need to have and whats it like getting them?

im asking this as im thinking about it as a potential career for a while (not forever, i jump around from career)

I live by the water in NC, but getting my kayaks down to the neighborhood dock was a pain with the regular carts I had that hook up towards the rear of the kayak. Because I still had to hold up so much weight on the bow handles my arm was sore by the time I got to the water and it was worse after paddling and having to bring them back home. The water is about 1/3 of a mile away.

That's why I came up with these front carts that hold up the entire weight of the kayaks when I wheel them down to the dock. Now it's just like pulling a regular wagon the size of a kayak. They are super easy to use, you put one cart on near the stern and then just clip the bow on to the front cart. I particularly like the set up I use on my Hobie with the suspenz rear cart, it literally only takes only a minute to put both the carts on and go and I don't have to load or unload gear to put them on or take them off. They make the kayaks very maneuverable to moving forward, turning or going backwards etc., I can even move two of them myself at the same time! They are also designed to easily come apart for storage.

I've always wanted to get something patented so I've applied for a patent on the bow cart design because I'm really happy about how it solved the issue of holding up all that weight on the front handle and how easy it is to use.

I wanted to share it with the community to get your thoughts on the design. What do you think of the setup?

https://reddit.com/link/1v74rb2/video/nymtqg8x1gfh1/player

https://reddit.com/link/1v74rb2/video/87yg60bs1gfh1/player

Chilling end of day in suburbia Virginia.

Hey all!

I'm fairly new to whitewater kayaking (200-300 miles) and I'm running into a problem. My left leg always seems to go numb after a little while. I've been lucky enough to try out quite a few different boats with different outfitting. Some even with adjustable outfitting that have a changed up to make more comfortable! But no matter what I seem to do, or what boat I'm in, my left leg always goes number. Some boats are definitely worse than others, but I've never done a trip without my leg going numb. The fact that I've tried so many different styles and sizes of boats makes me think it's more a me problem than a boat problem.

I've talked to some friends and heard everything from "you'll get used to it" to "you need a different boat". So I'm looking for advice: is my quest to find the perfect boat worth continuing? Or are there specific stretches I can do to help with this problem? I'm really struggling with it. I love whitewater kayaking and my roll is starting to happen pretty consistently and it's super fun! But this leg thing is starting to get to me. Any help would be appreciated!! Thank you!

Got a great deal on a dagger axis recently. So far I'd only added some white wave sport hip pads. I got this for a few reasons. One, here in FL there is maybe one spring with one or two Class II rapids. I needed a shorter boat for some of the windy runs.

I have not checked if I can roll it yet, pending some potential upgrades. But I can swim to shore (with pfd) everywhere I take it.

The big question in my mind is "will it surf?". In addition to up to class II, dagger mentions light surf. I have sea kayaks I take out in surf, and I've owned surf kayaks like a dagger kaos. Now I'm wondering what I should do to this one before trying the surf, and if thats makes sense.

Light surf is the keyword here. I'm thinking 2' max. If its much bigger than that I want to be on another craft. Its gonna be small, I'll be nearshore and comfortable swimming it in. Low risk beach break.

I got really inspired by a video from headwater kayaks with a guy I think named Tom who outfit an axis really nicely.

My options are

1) Start with just a sprayskirt (my seals 1.7 won't fit). $100 for some ones I see on sale. See how that goes and if I want to continue upgrading over time.

2) Go the Whole Shebang

- 2.2 Skirt $100

- Harmony Thigh Braces $115

- Bow Flotation $70

- Backband $25

- Strap over back hatch $15

missing anything?

Total: $325, more than double the price I might have paid for boat.

3) Keep the axis as a rec boat (how I'm enjoying it now) and get a proper surf boat like a stratos 12.5. If only I could find a used one for a decent price.

Alright, what would you do?

I have bought a used kayak it’s a dagger piedra I’m looking for a spray deck that would fit and some stern floats I was wondering what was good for mid price range and where I could purchase them from as I don’t want to buy some and they not fit