Securing a Kayak?

22-rimfire

22-rimfire

Joined
Nov 20, 2005
Messages
19,385
Has anyone come up with a flexible way to secure (as in cables and lock) a kayak and perhaps the paddle when away from the boat for hours? I'm looking at doing some fishing which requires a paddle across a lake. From that point, it will be wade fishing in a mountain stream. This is around the Smoky Mt NP, so there may be people around. I just don't want to come back tired from slipping and slidding on the stream bed trout fishing only to find my kayak gone. I realize most people won't bother it, but it only takes one. Any suggestions beyond just hiding it?
 
Yak (and canoe) theft is a problem in some areas. They do make kayak specific cable locks, most often used on vehicle roof racks IIRC. But on shore, they are only as good as what you secure them to. Many a yakker has come back to find his boat gone, a root or sapling cut to remove it. Cables aren't so often cut. I worry about this on occasion with my canoes. In some locals local thieves frequent remote put ins and takeouts looking for an easy score. My canoes stolen have always been from my home, but others have had them stolen from unattended vehicles or from shuttle drop-offs. A determined thief is hard to deter. Sometimes a good homeowner policy will cover theft.
 
It is something that I struggle with. I just don't have a solution and insurance is not my way. The whole scenario keeps me from going places to either just float or fish. One scenario is where you are by yourself and you float down stream a few miles and hike back to your vehicile (or vice versa). The other is the one I describled above. In both cases, the boat could be stolen. But with the lake scenario, I would also be stranded (at least over night)... and that would be a potential survival situation.
 
I've not tried this but I wonder if one of those steering wheel locks for a larger commercial vehicle would work...

Stretch it across the cockpit. :D

double-hook-car-steering-wheel-lock.jpg
 
A stainless steel cable with swaged loops on the ends, padlocks and a hole through the kayak. I've thought about it, but haven't done it. Loop one end of cable around a big enough tree, the other through a hole in the kayak. The hole could be somewhere a bit of water entry isn't such an issue... near/thru the coaming, etc, or possibly plugged. Some boats have a steel u-bolt attached for locking, that could be added easily enough. Unless the thieves have tools/cutters, it should be secure enough against opportunists.
 
Eye bolt on the bow. That way you'll only need to drill a 3/8" hole in the bow and you can seal it with rtv. Here's the order of parts: Eyebolt, washer, rtv, boat hull, rtv, washer nut, nylock nut. Then you can use that to cable your boat to a tree. Also, try using some camo netting to cover the boat. I like to drag my kayak as far into the brush as I'm able and then cover it with netting to make it less visible. Anyone that will steal a boat from a remote takeout is a piece of monkey doo doo.
 
Kayak Locks:

http://www.lassosecuritycables.com/compare-all-kayak-locks.php

3-Comps-400px.jpg


...put it right through the mooring cleat:

http://www.westmarine.com/buy/sea-dog--4-black-nylon-open-base-cleat--4571170

4571170.jpg


and an instructional on how to attach a cleat/multiple cleats to a kayak:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/1003249-attach-cleats-kayak/

The instructional shows you how to install multiple cleats to run rigging lines over the deck. That increases your storage space by the size of the deck themselves.

Little bit of caution though...increasing the load on the deck is a WHOLE new learning curve on how the boat will handle. In addition to making the boat top-heavy [even with low-height loads] it limits your FOV.

Just be mindful of this when decking out your boat [pardon the pun :) ]
 
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Thanks Duid. Mooring cleat.... and cable. This sounds very reasonable. The plastic cleats are as strong as the kayak, so no point in going steel on that option. Nothing is full proof obviously and this certainly is an option.
 
[video=youtube;fjcREwaqe5s]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjcREwaqe5s[/video]
 
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