Several savvy  paddle-sailors are utilizing  marine rail mount and accessory mount hardware to attach their Kayaksailors.

Some of the notable features of these mounts are that they can be found in many marine stores, offer a convenient quick release option, and are designed to withstand the rigors of the marine environment.

Here is an example of a Rail/Bimini mount:

Ron Waclawik  shares these photos of his Prion touring kayak outfitted with stainless steel rail and bimini mounting hardware.  He purchased them online from marinepartsdepot.com

Quick release pins make for easy removal.

The mount raises the rig up for convenient access to the storage hatch.

Here is a view of the mounts without the rig.

Note the safety lanyard for the release pin

Care should always be taken when drilling into the bottom of the main body tube.  It’s important to avoid hitting the thru hull pulley or the mast car bungee with the drill bit.  The forward mount can often be positioned farther aft to avoid the pulley and a drill bit spacer can be utilized to limit the drill bit penetration.

Below is a good example of a marine accessory mount.  These are often used to attach fishing rod holders and electronic equipment to boats.

Trevor Lowe, owner of Yakattack NZ Ltd. in Auckland, New Zealand shares these photos of his personal boat outfitted with marine accessory mounts from Railblaza.

Here is a view of the cross tube mount.

For the front he added an aluminum channel for the main body tube to rest in.

It’s a technical and sophisticated looking mount,

and also has a clean look when removed.

If you have any photos of your own  Kayaksailor mount that you would like to share, please send them!

Happy paddle-sailing.  🙂

Having a destination or goal and holding a course to reach it is an essential part of sailing as well as an essential part of navigating our own lives.

Sailing teaches us many important things about life – respect, persistence, and the ability to adapt to changing situations just to name a few.  But one of the most important is learning about choosing a destination and understanding the steps necessary to get there.  The Roman philosopher Seneca is reported to have said:

If man does not know what port he is steering for, no wind is favorable to him.

This quote obviously speaks of the benefits of having goals in life, but part of the significance and power of this eloquence is that it is based on an aspect of sailing reality.   If sailors haphazardly change the direction of their craft, the wind always appears to be coming from different angles, and therefore the sails are always in the wrong state of trim.  This requires maddening sail trim adjustments and can make it appear to the poor helmsman that the wind is always working against them.

The idea of having a destination and choosing a course to get  there is a simple one, but to many novices at the helm, a myriad of distractions make it easy to lose focus of the intended direction of travel.  Wind gusts, currents, boat traffic, among others can often be happening simultaneously and require extra focus.

Not only is it important to have a destination goal but one often needs several sub-destination goals to get there.   Sailing to a windward destination may require several close reaches on different tacks to reach the desired destination.  Each of these tacks requires a different course to be held.   An ideal destination or goal should be something fixed, like a house on shore, or an anchored buoy.  It’s easier to steer and trim sails while one is traveling towards a non-moving target.  Destination goals should also be realistic and within reach, no pun intended.

As in life, courses often need to be adjusted on-the-fly – winds shift, tides change, storms occur, etc.    Skilled sailors are able to make smart rapid course adjustment decisions easily.  For example, they will instantly recognize a wind shift and use it to their advantage to bring them to a windward destination by either changing tacks or by using the shift to allow them to point closer to their destination.  Adapting to change is part of the fun dynamic nature of sailing.

Destinations and courses are important keys to sailing and to living life, but to people who truly enjoy both, the real joy comes not from the reaching of the destination, but from the process of traveling to it.    So, keeping that in mind, let’s all get out there, set a course and have some fun!