new boat, new coffee, new hammock

[swoody126]

Temps reaching into the upper 40's yesterday allowed me to put my new Wilderness Systems Pungo 140 in the water for the first time. The kids went down for a nap and my wife said she had it all under control on the home front. Made it to Lake DeGray's lower lake at 2:30, put the boat in and I was off. The water was like glass with a bit of a breeze every once in a while. The boat was great! It has a large cockpit, is very stable and pretty fast for a rec boat. Lots of storage too. The kayak console's hatch was great for ID and my phone...until you opened it and the water on top of the hatch poured into the compartment! Now I know...

After an hour of tooling around the lake and getting used to the new boat, I hung my new loaner hammock, a Yukon Outfitters Double. The original suspension is long gone and has been replaced with whoopies and an adjustable ridgeline. It was pretty cozy, a little too wide, but cozy nonetheless.

I also got to put my new HF secret santa fancy feast stove to work on a cup of coffee. Worked like a dream! I love this stove! Thanks Santa!

Nothing left to do but kick back, have some coffee (Ugandan Bugisu from Jam'n Bean coffee in Grand Rapids Michigan) and read a bit from the hammock! Great afternoon and I can't wait to take the kayak on an overnighter. Thanks everyone for reading.

Here's a few pics. My phone's selfie camera is the only one that works. Sorry for the low quality.

in trying to read your lips, me thinks i see you saying,

"LIFE IS GOOD ON OUR BOAT" (j. buffett)

don't stop now, you're on a roll

sw

[gophin]

you said it, water sports get cha wet! i think a skirt setup would be the call. +1 on the small drybag idea. i paddle alone at times and i like to have the phone with me. way to get out!

[Kimchi]

Very nice way to spend the afternoon, thanks for sharing!

I have two Wilderness Systems kayaks, 12' and 10', and love to paddle them. I picked up a few different size dry bags and deck bags on sale that work great.

I have not hammock camped from my kayaks yet, but hope to this year. One of the best camping trips I took was from a canoe. Do you know how much gear you can fit in a canoe? You can take a cooler, grill, steaks, malty beverages...ah, like I said it was a great trip :-).

NC has some paddle-in campsites only reachable by boat. I need to do some research to see if any are hammock compatible (some are just platforms on the water).

Ender's Game too, nice read!

[desmobob]

Great boat! I love mine... I use it here in the ADKs and on an annual saltwater fly fishing trip to Cape Cod (hence the graphics). I'm a hard-core canoe guy but needed the 'yak for the fishing trips. I thought the console was a neat feature but I don't think I've ever used it. I have a half-skirt/splashguard I prefer.





Good paddling,
desmobob

[harrellt]

in trying to read your lips, me thinks i see you saying,

"LIFE IS GOOD ON OUR BOAT" (j. buffett)

don't stop now, you're on a roll

sw

Oh, it's very good. I was thinking, "I'M ON A BOAT" (a. sandberg, t. pain)

you said it, water sports get cha wet! i think a skirt setup would be the call. +1 on the small drybag idea. i paddle alone at times and i like to have the phone with me. way to get out!

yeah, I'm going to dig into the mini skirt idea a bit more. Pretty sure that console will stay home most of the time.

Do you know how much gear you can fit in a canoe? You can take a cooler, grill, steaks, malty beverages...ah, like I said it was a great trip :-).

NC has some paddle-in campsites only reachable by boat. I need to do some research to see if any are hammock compatible (some are just platforms on the water).

Ender's Game too, nice read!

Canoes are great pack mules! I hope to trim down some of my kit for these trips, but did I mention this boat has tons of storage? Plan on stashing the loaner hammock i mentioned in this thread in there for my ground dwellers friends. Love a good read from the hammock! I haven't found too many paddle specific lakes here yet, but I've only started looking.

Great boat! I love mine... I use it here in the ADKs and on an annual saltwater fly fishing trip to Cape Cod (hence the graphics). I'm a hard-core canoe guy but needed the 'yak for the fishing trips. I thought the console was a neat feature but I don't think I've ever used it. I have a half-skirt/splashguard I prefer.




Good paddling,
desmobob

Thanks desmobob. I hope to dabble in fly fishing with this boat as well. Already planning on a Buffalo River trip for that reason! I paddled it last year in my old boat and friends liked the idea so much, everyone is paddling this year. And I think I won't be the only hanger this year either I'm interested in seeing more of the anchor system you've got there. Any more pictures?

[desmobob]

I'm interested in seeing more of the anchor system you've got there. Any more pictures?

I don't have any photos handy, but could take some if you needed them. It's a pretty simple system: I have a small block attached at each end of the hull, with a line threaded through them and connected back to itself with a large bronze ring. Next to the cockpit on the same side as the line, I added a jam cleat. I run my anchor line through the ring and tie it off on the jam cleat. I can then use the line to shuttle the ring fore or aft, depending on how I want the boat to hang in the wind or current.

I have a float attached to the end of the anchor line. If I double the anchor line before putting it through the ring and jamming it in the cleat (attaching a bight instead of the end), I can quickly release it and get clear of the anchor if I need to when fighting a big fish or in an emergency. The float at the end of the anchor line allows easy retrieval later on.

I got all the marine-grade hardware from West Marine, including a beautiful miniature plow anchor to use in the Cape Cod sand.

Do a Google image search for "kayak anchor trolley" and you'll see some examples for the basic idea.

Let me know if you need photos!

Take it easy,
desmobob