surfski novice

I moved into a smaller house with a garage that is not big enough to store a 22' surfski. Here is how I properly stored my ski outdoors without sun or moisture damage in sunny high humidity Florida. I looked online and all the covers seem so expensive. I thought about it alot & finally got the perfect solution.  I picked up an industrial thickness white vinyl tarp cover.  Don't use the cheaper home depot variety.  Get the high quality thick industrial stuff in white.  I cut it in strips so that I could cover several boats.  I also found a silver/gray elasticized gray boat cover which someone got rid of (likely for a 20 foot boat) which I lay over the white vinyl.  Two layers of protection.  How fortunate!  Its elastic ends fit perfectly over my surfski. I use 4 straps to keep the cover firmly in place in high winds.  I store it in the shade of the trees and pool screen to keep it cool.  Finally, if you need to, you can run a combo lock cable thru the venturi port to protec

2012 Treasure Island Classic This year's race even more fun.  We raced during Hurricane Sandy which was heading up the eastern seaboard.  The waves on the gulf side of the island were really kicked up with 3-4 foot breakers in John's Pass.  The race organizer decided on race day to offer 2 options to paddlers.  Instead of circumnavigating the island as in previous years, we were offered 2 courses.  One would take the usual route around the island and the other would race back and forth between bridges in the intercoastal side.  The participation was far less this year.  Kyle Reid, the record holder, split his surfski in half the day before on the east coast so he was absent.  Many paddlers decided it was still too rough.  Some test paddled the course and packed it up.  Only a handful of paddlers attempted the courses.  Rob and Karen paddled the outside course and the rest of us paddled the intercoastal route.  I figured that would be the safest route due to no chase boats or p

Why are surfski drying stands $90 each?!!! Spend money on a good surfski and paddle but look for more economical options for things like stands. Here are some suggestions I used that work just as well for alot less: 1) DIY Storage Stand: (folds for travel) My first kayak drying stand was a DIY made of 2" PVC, leftover nylon straps, two bolts with nuts and stainless steel screws. It cost me $15 total to make 2 and I still use them today. The funny thing is the local kayak shops all use this same type stand in their store. It's so strong that a curious teen actually sat in my surfski on the stand before I realized and told him to get off. My suggestion is use 2 nylon straps top and two bottom. I would place the screws as far out to the side as possible to avoid scratching your ski. I didn't remember to do that when building mine so I plasti-dip coated the screws to be safe. 2) DIY Travel Stand: (folds into thin carry size) Just like the expensive stands use 4 poles. You can

I transport my ski on a standard size 4-door coupe which is roughly 16 feet long but the ski is 21.5 ft long. Technically it must be hanging over 6 feet behind my vehicle to require a safety flag; however, I choose to place a flag on the end to avoid accidental damage. The ski is white so joggers, bicyclists, cars, etc may not see it and cause damage. Standard kayak transport flags won't do because they all tie off some attachment point on the end. Many skis do not have any attachment points past the rudder. Shopping for a tail flag took hours of research. First of all what do I call it, "surfski transport flag", "kayak flag"etc? The correct name is "surfski rudder flag". Unbelievably, it seems that only a few places in the world make rudder flags designed to fit the unique shape of a surfski. Here are my top choices: 1) ocean paddle sports makes a great orange flag with black netting that securely attaches with a tail sock and adjustable parachute cor

Surfski Repair (Step by step guide) While standing on a floating dock and removing the boat from the water one evening, my grip slipped and it fell on a dock tie.  The impact placed a small indent in the ski.  I knew I was in trouble because I knew nothing about boat repair.  I immediately called my friend & surfski training partner Brent.  He offered to help each evening after work to repair the surfski.  I quickly realized that my seemingly bad situation had afforded me a great opportunity to learn from someone who has extensive experience in professional auto body repair and had repaired surfskis before.  If this ever happened again in the future, I would have the experience behind me to fix it myself.  In repairing the ski we wanted to create a solid repair that didn't add unnecessary weight, was easy on the budget and made the ski look like it did originally.  Below are the steps we took to repair it: 1.  Create cardboard cut out of the hull curve so that as we re

Every year Pasco County hosts a kayak race called the Salt Springs Classic.  The race runs from Warner Boyce Park to Sims Park.  The route is 6 miles starting in the park, heads out into the gulf, runs a short distance down the coast to Durney Key where it runs up the Cotee River finishing at Sims Park. http://www.saltspringsalliance.com/events/2011_salt_springs_classic/main.htm Steve Hunter in Epic v10L Performance Steve, Kasey and Brent   Brent Postma in his Epic v12  Cory & Nick in Tandem, Kasey in Surfski  Kasey Salt Springs Alliance races have great prizes... wood burn paddles to collect NEW COMING in 2013...Durney Key Classic island offshore obstacle race.