Protect Your Fishing Kayak. The How To of: Kayak Maintenance, and Kayak Inspection

Today I will be showing you how I maintain and care for my kayaks. In this video I am featuring my Native Slayer Propel 10, but these checks apply to ALL kayaks.

During my days in the Army, I learned all about PMCS (Preventive Maintenance Checks and Services). These checks were essential before, during, and after the use of any equipment. Sometimes it seemed like overkill and a pain, but the checks were necessary to ensure the equipment was serviceable when the time came to use it! So, although you will not be taking your kayak into combat (even though catching bass can be a battle at times), you want everything to work when you are away from home and out on the water. That is not the time for something to go wrong. It could most certainly ruin a good day fishing, and it could put you in a precarious situation. In order to prevent that you need to take some simple steps to make sure your kayak is in good working order. I suggest the following:

1. Wash your boat with warm soapy water. A sponge and a soft brush should be sufficient to remove pond scum and dirt. I personally do this about every 3 months during the fishing season. I recommend doing this before a visual inspection to ensure that the dirt is not hiding something.

2. Before and after each outing you should perform a visual and function check of your boat. Some of my suggestions are below. (*This by no means is an all inclusive list. Your boat may have additional checks. Be sure to reference your owner’s guide for specific checks.)

-Check the bottom of the kayak and the sides of the boat (especially those areas below the water line) for damage. Look specifically for deep cuts or intrusions that compromise the hull’s integrity.

-Open up an access point to the inside of the boat and look for water.
Check the deck for signs of damage, color fading, or brittleness. Pay special attention to areas that may incur added stress (around gear tracks, equipment mounts, around the seat, near the handles).

-Inspect the scupper holes for cracks. Ensure that the scupper plugs are serviceable.

-Visually check for defects and physically check the functionality of the following:
Seat
Carrying handles
Lid covers
Straps
Foot braces
Rudder or skeg (and all components related to it’s use)

3. Protect it from the sun. I use 303 Aerospace Protectant on mine. It is basically sunscreen for rubber, fiberglass, and plastic. https://www.303products.com.au/produc...

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DESCRIPTION:

The Outdoor Navigator will publish shorts and full length videos highlighting all outdoor activities such as: fishing, hiking, camping, and kayaking. Our goal is to produce weekly videos to include:

1. Motivational
2. Informative
3. How to
4. Buyer’s guide
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REFERENCES/LINKS:

303 Products:
https://www.303products.com.au/produc...

Other good videos:
Kayak Hacks Fishing:    • Kayak Care And Maintenance - The 5 St...  

RhinoJoe Outdoors:    • CLEAN & PROTECT YOUR KAYAK- Best prot...  

Intro bumper music:
Tennessee Hayride by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...

Artist: http://audionautix.com/

#kayak #kayakcare #kayakPMCS #kayakservice #kayakmaintenance