My New Kayak

Ishigaki Photo Diary: 15th Jan 2010. After months of procrastinating I finally purchased a Sevylor inflatable kayak after finding a great deal on Rakuten, Japan's largest retail website. I've only been out on it a few times but it's living up to all my expectations and I can't wait to take it out to spots like Kabira and Hirakubo in the spring. My Japanese friends think that I'm crazy to be using it now, but in my opinion 21 degrees centigrade is far from cold and given that the water is still around 22 degrees I haven't even felt the slightest chill while using it.

 

 

The only problem I'm faced with however is not having a car, which means lugging the thing and all of its accessories down to Maezato beach ever time I want to use it. Pumping it up and affixing the seats only takes about 10 minutes, but deflating it and washing away all the sand and sea water is another thing entirely; it's a chore which is rapidly testing my patience. I've no doubt that my current levels of attention will wane and before long I'll be packing the thing away soaked and covered in sand.

 

Once the warmer weather arrives and we hopefully manage to acquire a car I can only imagine how much fun it's going to be paddling out to areas of reef with my snorkeling gear on-board. There are some small islands close to Kabira and I'm already planning on a day trip which involves a snorkeling in the emerald-green waters and lunch on an uninhabited island (it's thoughts like this which really make me wish that I was still living in England...).

 

 

For an inflatable the kayak handles really well, although it is naturally more susceptible to crosswinds than a hard-shell. The skeg helps to maintain straight lines while paddling and it's surprisingly maneuverable when you actually want to turn. One of the best things about it has to be the seats which are very comfy and extremely supportive - I can paddle for at least an hour without feeling the slightest pain or discomfort.

 

Anyway, you'll no doubt be seeing a lot of more of this kayak as I'll be using it to introduce more of Ishigaki and the surrounding islands to you over the next few months.