Re: [Paddlewise] Deck/Underdeck storage?

    I'm with Jim on the mesh bags. I've used the same $18.00 bag for 4 years
and love it. It attaches at 4 places on the deck. I attached wire ties into
the deck fittings to clip it to. Works great. I treat it like a pocket. I have
a bandana to clean my glasses with, a paddle leash for jut-in-case, and a
place to put my gloves if I have to take them off, the camera, a pocket for
things others hand me, and I keep my gloves and winter hood in it when not
paddling so I never forget them. 


    My water is a I-forget-what brand plastic bag intended to go into one of
those hydration back-packs but the mesh seems to keep the UV off well enough
that each bag has lasted at least 2 years before springing a leak and I
suspect that is from the crease where it bends up when I use the tube to drink
out of it.


    I really hate the stuff on my deck but I always seem to have this and
that. I can have a VHF, goggles, even an extra paddle on my front deck. The
water and bag are bad enough but add new things and I bump into them. I paddle
Greenland and have a Gulfstream with a rather high deck so it is very easy to
thump things with my 2X4. I have a knee tube but it is full with the paddle
float and pump. I don't want to HAVE TO reach things inside my boat.


    It is pointless to carry anything behind my seat because they are
inaccessible back there unless I get out of the boat. I don't want to add to
the knee tube because I can hardly get my legs on the same side of the boat as
it is. 


    I made the knee tube from 4" PVC, the light kind used for drains, with the
holes. It is SO much lighter than the regular PVC and I like the holes because
I know the water will drain easily, which is particularly important because my
stuff lives in there and salt water is unfriendly to all paddling things.





Joan


  I really prefer a mesh bag attached to the deck at four points.  Everything
I put in it is either waterproof or water friendly.  . . .. I bet the mesh
helps reduce windage too. I find bags to be clunky, leaky, and


  unbelievably overpriced.


  Jim et al


  > Please let me know your experiences with deck bags. If anyone has


  > particular experience with "underdeck" bags (like Current Designs Pica Boo

  > Bag), I'd value your opinion. What works best that is high quality,


  > attractive, and easy to use?





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