My Kayak

I bought my kayak last week off of craigslist. It’s a 14’ Perception (Carolina is the model name). I stole it for $625. The kayak retails for $950 plus tax and that is without a rudder. For my $625 I got the kayak with rudder, paddle, life jacket, skirt and a bilge (I think that’s what it’s called) pump. It’s an 06 or 07 model but used less than 6 times. I bought it from a guy whose dad bought it but passed away 2 years ago. I’m guessing he got sick soon after buying it which is why it has not been used.

I was really lucky. I had decided on the Carolina but I would have had to pick it up at Gander Mountain in Wausau. We had stopped at Gander Mountain in Sheboygan. When we got home I checked one last time on craigslist and this one had been listed maybe 15 minutes earlier (this was on Sunday). When I picked it up on Wednesday the owner said he had at least 20 emails about the kayak – damn but was I lucky.

Before I could pick it up (south of Milwaukee) I needed a way to carry it. I built a simple frame to mount on the rails of my pickup and it worked great. I also decided that it didn’t make sense to embrace the virtues of silent sports but then drive my kayak to the boat landing .4 miles away. This prompted me to make a cart to walk the kayak to the boat landing. I built the prototype Saturday morning. I mounted the kayak today and got maybe 100 ft down the road when I realized it wasn’t going to work. I had the wheels towards the center so I was carrying half of the weight. I moved the cart to the middle of the kayak and it worked great. It is however a royal pain in the ass to load so the production model will have 3 wheels and be 4- 6 feet long. Engineering is still working out the final design.