Re: [Paddlewise] snow + polyethylene

Polyethylene does get brittle in subfreezing weather, but if you avoid any hard
impacts it should not be a problem.  Just treat your boat like fiberglass boat
and don't drop it on pavement or bash it violently into rocks!  In very cold
weather a fiberglass boat is actually  less brittle than a polyethylene boat.
In my one an only serious roof rack disaster I was able to do a side by side
crash test of a british heavy vs. a tupperware sea kayak.

A friend (If I can still call him that) tied both of our kayaks to the front
roof rack bar with an old piece of rope, and I got the back with nylon straps.
We did not anchor the bows or sterns.  As we headed back from a New Years day
paddle on Lake Michigan the rope snapped and both boats stood up vertical until
they removed the rear roof rack bar along with my cars rain gutters!  In the
rear view mirror I watch the kayaks peak at about ten feet off the ground and
then tumble down the highway.

My Bairdarka Explorer was still in good enough condition to paddle, although I
eventually had to patch some cracks along the stern keel,and one side impact
near the rear bulkhead.  The little upturned prows protected the deck from much
damage although they were ground down about 1/2 inch each at a 45 degree
angle.  The plastic sea runner lost a two foot section off its bow (Ouch!!!!).
Fortunately we did not target any other vehicles with our deadly missiles and
there was no collateral damage.

timbre_at_best.com wrote:

> hi there,
>
> i'm going to yosemite for a few days and am thinking of kayaking bass
> lake.  anyone ever gotten snow on a poly kayak overnight (ie if i leave it
> car-topped)?  what the heck happens to it?  it won't break in two when i
> take it off the car, will it?
>
> by the way, the forecast is like 45 degrees during the day then, so snow
> isn't likely.  i'm just trying to get my quota of "what if"'s in.
>
> thanks in advance,
> kcd
>
> kathleen comalli dillon~friend, mom, wife, musician, violinist, writer,
> ailurophile extraordinaire
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> "We can do no great things; we can only do small things with great
> love."-Mother Teresa~~"I find a lot of people like chubby 67-year-old
> girls."-Beverly Sills~~"I care not for a man's religion whose dog and cat
> are not the better for it."-Abraham Lincoln~~"Prepare to be
> assimila-----OOOOOoooooo, jelly donuts!"-Homer of Borg~~"I am Boris of
> Borg. Moose and Squirrel are irrelevant."~~
>




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