Re: [Paddlewise] Sponsons

Sisler, Clyde wrote:

> ...<snip>...

> While on one side of the (probably)wildly bucking kayak, you must
> inflate
> one sponson but connect the clips of the other to the clips on your
> side.
>
> Now you have to pass the uninflated sponson you just clipped in and
> the
> straps of the inflated sponson under the kayak and somehow make them
> come
> out on the other side of the kayak.

> Hopefully you have a real skinny kayak and/or some really long arms so
> you
> can push these things under the kayak with one hand and reach over the
>
> bucking kayak and grab them with the other.  That's lots of fun even
> in calm
> waters.  If you can't, then you somehow have to manuever around to the
> other
> side of the kayak and hope the straps and the uninflated sponson are
> still
> there.

Wow!  This is pretty creative.  But it does not sound at all like the
way I did it when I was experimenting with these things. My approach is
less "interesting":  The sponsons are clipped in place prior to
inflating them.  First you clip in a sponson on one side, then, while
holding the sponson that is not yet clipped into place, you rotate the
boat along its axis such that the boat wraps around the sponsons (the
straps passing across the bottom of the boat). This leaves you with the
unclipped sponson and the corresponding clips on your side of the boat.
You clip the remaining sponson into place, and inflate both sides (using
the long inflation tubes).

> Now it's a simple matter to connect the clips and inflate the sponson
> and
> see if you have the right straps connected to the right clips. Some of
> us
> more mechanically challenged folks sometimes have trouble with this
> part in
> which case we get to deflate the sponsons, unhook the clips and start
> all
> over.

There is no mystery to getting the straps connected to the right clips.
The key is color coding. If you can match up colors, then it is a
trivial matter to get them hooked in correctly the first time, and you
will not have to "unhook the clips and start all over."  The clips are
all the same color when they come from the manufacturer, but this is
easily remedied. :-)

> ...<snip>...At least that's how I remember things from a couple of
> years ago, but likeDan says, I probably haven't fully developed the
> proper sponson technique yet :-).

Apparently not. :-)

As always, Clyde, I enjoyed your post.

Dan Hagen


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