Spent the previous weekend on SF Bay playing with the boat and gear. Packed and repacked a bunch of times trying to get all the gear and 12 days of food inside the kayak without having the large aft deck bag. Didn’t have much success as I am also trying to carry the 3 duffles bags which I’ll use to carry the boat and gear for the airplane with me on the boat. I put those 3 bags inside the waterproof deck bag and took the boat out in 15 kt winds on Sunday on Richardson Bay. The boat wanted to weathercock quite a bit. Had to use side and turning strokes to keep from broaching or heading up wind. Finally dawned on me that I should put the duffles way into the bow and stern sections of the Khatsalano thus reducing the deck windage and boat weathercocking. But that requires me to assemble the kayak with the duffles already placed inside the frame and then sliding the bow and stern pieces inside the skin. Tried that at home after the SF Bay trip and got all the gear inside the boat! Now all I have is a small aft deck bag for miscellaneous gear right behind me and a bow deck bag that is flat where I’ll keep sunscreen, power bars and trinkets. Low boat profile should reduce weathercocking in heavier winds – I hope.
Here’s a vid on Friday kayaking into the Bay with calm conditions, then Saturday sailing on the Horizon with Pato and Freefall:
Anton's "KlondikeJoe" Blog 