Re: [Paddlewise] What is a sea sock?

Hi all,

Here's a quick (regurgitated if you are on the CPA ListServe) answer:

Tom wrote:
> 
> What is a sea sock?

Imagine having a mold made of the inside of your cockpit, from the bow
bulkhead back to the stern bulkhead and out to the cockpit coaming
(rim).

Reproduce this mold in heavy gauge waterproof nylon and attach it around
the cockpit coaming as you would a sprayskirt and you have yourself a
sea sock.  In effect, it creates bulkheads for a boat which has none,
making for a much easier dumping of the water from the boat.

The sea sock fits under the sprayskirt around the cockpit coaming, thus
giving a kind of "double seal".

It does not slide out when the water is dumped, but may
get hung up temporarily around the feet during a fast beach exit,
depending how "gummy" your footwear is.

The only real down sides to using a sea sock are that it tends to get
very hot and "clingy" during hot weather paddling, and it does let in up
to a cup of water per hour of rolling or storm paddling (none if the
sprayskirt never touches the water).

I always back up the sea sock with inflated float bags, bow and stern,
for an extra measure of safety.

In addition to us folding boaters whose boats have no bulkheads to
prevent many heavy gallons of water from entering the ends of the boat,
the sea socks are also used by some kayak racers, surf kayakers, and
even a white water boater or two (so I've heard) for basically the same
reasons: to limit water entry into the boat upon wet exiting, and easing
the process of getting the water out of a boat without bulkheads or with
unreliable bulkheads as an added insurance policy.


Vince
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