: Increase the stability of your boat at rest by using a temporary pontoon.

: Something as simple as a float on the end of a paddle gives you that added
: stability.

: Heck, an empty bleach bottle tied to the end of a broom stick could be all
: you need. Strangely, it might work better if it is half filled. Experiment
: and see for yourself.

: The amount of flotation does not need to be great. Putting that displacement
: a couple of feet out from the side of the kayak gives you a great deal of
: resistance to rolling in that direction. If the "float" has some
: weight, then it resists rolling to the opposite side, as well, so you
: don't need to put floats on both sides. An empty bottle is light to travel
: with, but put some water in it for weight when you need to.

: If you can arrange decklines so that you can shove a spare paddle under them,
: or make a wood bracket for the deck which you can regularly use to support
: some kind of pole or paddle, then play with some bottles and see what
: works best for you. Then make something more permanent and have fun.

: Just a thought.

: PGJ

Hi Paul

I have not actually done it, but I have considered the idea, on my very skinny boat, of running a length of carbon tubing from an old paddle through the width of the boat, just behind, and filleted onto, the the rear bulkhead, just below the sheer.

One could slip a paddle float onto a split paddle and bung it in as an outrigger, or even have one on both sides. I carry a spare breakdown paddle anyway, So no extra gear required.

With a couple of coke bottles one could make up a simple outrigger and use the setup with a small sail rig, or one of those collapsing ring sails, and bungee a paddle onto the outrigger bar near the sheer to use as a rudder.

The possibilities are endless.

Also, people would think you had a hole in you boat just behind your seat. They would be scratching their heads as to its purpose. That would be quite cool too.

If anyone has done this, or, after reading this, does it, Post a comment and some pics.

Et