Kayak Cart and Pool Noodle

Abking once shot a video of a swamped kayak with pool noodles in it.  I'll have to dig that one up.

-Allen

I know that the issue of both has been covered, but my question is how they work together. I mostly fish lakes and inside bays, harbors etc. I have never really thought I needed pool noodles for buoyancy. But I have the opportunity to spend a few weeks at a cabin up the coast where the waters are less predictable. As it sits, I have a Ride 135 and love it. The cart fits comfortably in the bow hatch. But what I can gather is that this is also where the pool noodles would go. How have others dealt with this. Taken the cart back to the vehicle after kayak in the water, Left it on the beach and hoped it was still there? Thanks for the input.

 Well Tyndra------you are certainly getting some input.

 Like so many discussions on this forum----- it all boils down to personal preference. The safety aspect of having floatation aboard is undeniable. Will pool noodles keep your kayak afloat in 10' seas- probably not.
 If Tyndra want to keep his cart in his boat-- with floatation-- make whatever adjustments needed to do both. Just do it.......

However Allen, You have more experience in kayak fishing than I do. Lets say a hobie holds 150 gallons of water a boat  full of water would weigh 1200lbs, how many pool noodles is that? I can see why you would do it I just can't see when it would be used?

There is a flaw in this thinking.  The 1200 pounds of water is neutral buoyancy.   You only need the floatation of enough pool noodles to offset the load that the kayak is carrying.

I come from a similar white water background as pmmpete.  I've seen countless times where floatation had only positive impact on a "situation".

But I will admit ... I don't have pool noodles in my kayak.   

-Allen

I agree it's neautral bouyancy until you try to raise it above the water level. In ordr to bail a kayak, sit on a kayak or paddle a kayak, you need it above the water. If you just want to float until help arrives you have a pfd on or should.
Lee does have a point that if you don't have to clean them what does it hurt.
As far as the whitewater, that's a different kayak, I have floatation in my canoe. But difference beast.

So I was hoping someone more of an authority than I would point this out but it seems it has been missed.  The floatation, whether pool noodles or bubble wrap or what ever has two (2) functions.  One it provides positive buoyancy and two it occupies volume.  There are 7.48, lets call it 7.5 gallons in a cubic foot.  So every cubic foot that is occupied by noodles is 7.5 gallons of water your yak won't ship.  Going back to the figure of 8 pounds per gallon used previously that's 60 pounds of water not in your yak.

As a disclaimer, I have no noodles, only pasta.

Thanks for the input. Sorry, I was away from civilization this weekend and couldn't respond. I guess I was just not thinking. Use the noodles as a bulkhead, and leave a whole for the cart Duh As for the rest of the discussion, I acknowledge that the poodles are not as buoyant as air, but they are still buoyant. Air is easily displaced by water. It is impossible for water and the pool noodles to occupy the same space, and they are not likely to fit out a crack or failed seal, so as long as they are in the kayak they will provide some buoyancy (unless I missed a fundamental part of physics class). As far as the cleaning aspect, I am in Canada where we do not have the invasive species check stops such as in California, and I believe Oregon, so I do not face the same fears. I will be sure to dry them out after every trip, but that about it. Also, as I said, they are for mostly fishing up the coast where help is further away, and the water can be more temperamental. I doubt I would use them on the lakes I frequent. I appreciate all the input from everyone. 

However Allen, You have more experience in kayak fishing than I do. Lets say a hobie holds 150 gallons of water a boat  full of water would weigh 1200lbs, how many pool noodles is that? I can see why you would do it I just can't see when it would be used?

There is a flaw in this thinking.  The 1200 pounds of water is neutral buoyancy.   You only need the floatation of enough pool noodles to offset the load that the kayak is carrying.

I come from a similar white water background as pmmpete.  I've seen countless times where floatation had only positive impact on a "situation".

But I will admit ... I don't have pool noodles in my kayak.   

-Allen

I agree it's neautral bouyancy until you try to raise it above the water level. In ordr to bail a kayak, sit on a kayak or paddle a kayak, you need it above the water. If you just want to float until help arrives you have a pfd on or should.
Lee does have a point that if you don't have to clean them what does it hurt.
As far as the whitewater, that's a different kayak, I have floatation in my canoe. But difference beast.

If your pool noodles were ideally placed you would not get any water in the hull.  But they are non-ideal, so you would get some water in.  But it would be less water than if you didn't have them.  Less water to bail.

Whitewater kayak ... Yes different craft, but same principles.

This thread is an hilarious combination of passion, experience, supposition, and physics knowledge (or lack thereof). This is why I love NWKA.

I put my fish down below...that way they can help swim me to shore if my hull fills with water

The other advantage to having pool noodles is if a heated debate about the noodle or don't noddles comes up you can pull one from your hull and beat the opposition with it or if the weathers to bad to fish you can have a noodle fight to determin the winner.

The other advantage to having pool noodles is if a heated debate about the noodle or don't noddles comes up you can pull one from your hull and beat the opposition with it or if the weathers to bad to fish you can have a noodle fight to determin the winner.

Who knows someday my yak may fill up and I will dread the day i didn't listen to this post.
As far as beating another man with your noodle? i will leave that to the voters of your state....

Who knows someday my yak may fill up and I will dread the day i didn't listen to this post.

Yeah, me too.  While I do understand the thought process, like I stated before, I don't stuff my hull.  I'd prefer to think through all the reasons my hull might fill up and address them first.  I also like to think I know by the feel of my yak whether it is taking on water and deal with it before it is A LOT of water.  And I have a bilge pump to deal with that.  Question?  How many of you stuffers don't carry a bilge pump.  Be honest!   

That being said, I recently demo'd a kayak for a review.  The kayak paddled like a slug right out of the chute.  Somewhere along the way I took on 5-10 gallons of water and I didn't even notice it.  I didn't have a bilge pump with me either.  Needless to say, that review won't be a good one.

I posted up the "to stuff or not to stuff" question on our KFM facebook page.  The feedback so far has been interesting to say the least.

-Allen

Who knows someday my yak may fill up and I will dread the day i didn't listen to this post.

Yeah, me too.  While I do understand the thought process, like I stated before, I don't stuff my hull.  I'd prefer to think through all the reasons my hull might fill up and address them first.  I also like to think I know by the feel of my yak whether it is taking on water and deal with it before it is A LOT of water.  And I have a bilge pump to deal with that.  Question?  How many of you stuffers don't carry a bilge pump.  Be honest!   

That being said, I recently demo'd a kayak for a review.  The kayak paddled like a slug right out of the chute.  Somewhere along the way I took on 5-10 gallons of water and I didn't even notice it.  I didn't have a bilge pump with me either.  Needless to say, that review won't be a good one.

I posted up the "to stuff or not to stuff" question on our KFM facebook page.  The feedback so far has been interesting to say the least.

-Allen

Learned last week that you can really feel water it the hull without opening the hatch. If your in sure just give it a rock from side to side and you can feel the water move around.

A few observations.

A person does not weigh the same in the water as out.  People are pretty close to neutrally buoyant.  So a single pool noodle may keep a person afloat who weighs 200 lbs on land and 20 lbs in the water.

There is a difference between weight and inertia.  Weight can be borne and "changed" by immersion in water, but the inertia remains.  Your yak may remain floating filled with 500 lbs of water, but getting that 500 lbs of inertia moving and keeping it moving will be very difficult.

If you find your drain plug is out when you are 2 miles from shore, your response should be to hop overboard and close it.  You are dressed for immersion.  You have practiced re-entry.  Right?

Finally, here's a link to a cute, simple, cheap little bilge pump storage system.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/54098312/kayak/Scotty.Pump.Mount/Scotty.Pump.Mount.html

Finally, here's a link to a cute, simple, cheap little bilge pump storage system.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/54098312/kayak/Scotty.Pump.Mount/Scotty.Pump.Mount.html

Here's another link to a cheap/failsafe bailing tool...it's surprising how quickly you can move water with one of these:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sponge-viscose.jpg

Depending on how much water is inside the hull and if there is "room to use a bailing bucket"....like a 1 gallon, heavier/thicker walled plastic milk carton, bleach bottle, etc, etc......bailing water with this simple tool, will quickly remove water so you can finish off the job with a bilge pump.