What’s in Your Kayak?

The Luxury of our Home Waters

Nearly all of the kayaking I do is in the Salish Sea. A nice benefit about paddling in the same waterway over and over is that I am not concerned about introducing an invasive species. On the rare occasion that I paddle on a lake, the last place my kayak was paddled was in saltwater. The next place it will be paddled after the lake is saltwater. If I happened to pick up an unwanted guest at the lake, it would be very unhappy when it was introduced to a saltwater environment.

Our First Rodeo, Er… Boat Wash Station

Our trip to Banff last summer was the first time we planned on going Lake hopping. Our routine was to paddle in the morning and then go to the boat wash in the afternoon… and repeat. Before our first paddle, we kept our kayaks out of the water for a full 30 days (good thing we have a fleet of them, huh?). We self-certified that our boats were clean, drained, and dry for the mandated waiting period before we launched.

Our Second, Third, Fourth…

Our Banff trip was to meet up with paddlers from The Church of the Double Bladed Paddle. Once we were all together we were a large group. We planned on paddling different lakes every day so we got very familiar with the boat wash station. The people at the boat wash station got to know us as well. They were happy to see us and thanked us for bringing our kayaks to be cleaned between each lake. Since most of our group would arrive at the same time, we would talk about paddling, have an impromptu picnic, and generally have a good time.

Freeway Stations

In order to bring a fleet of demo kayaks to Minnesota and Wisconsin, you’ve got to log a lot of freeway miles. And those freeways have watercraft inspection stations. In June, our first inspection station was just over the Washington/Idaho border. With six kayaks on the trailer, remembering exactly where and when each had been paddled was a challenge. However, when I said they had been paddled in saltwater last they became much less concerned. They did a quick check and we were on our way.

Our First Midwest Lake

When planning our kayak demo days in the Midwest, one of our concerns was being able to decontaminate the kayaks when switching lakes. I left an entire day to take the kayaks to a boat washing station in Minnesota.

At each lake in Minnesota, there is a sign that says what invasive species are in that particular lake. At Bush Lake where the first demo was, there is a DIY boat cleaning station. It has a hose, wet/dry vacuum, compressed air nozzle, scrub brush, and tongs. Unfortunately, the wet/dry vacuum was out of order. I did use the station to rinse the kayaks and after mopping them out, I used the compressed air to blow dry the kayaks. Drying was also helped by the sun and warm weather.

The Next Boat Wash Station

The next day I drove the kayaks to an official courtesy decontamination station provided by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. They use 160°F water under pressure to kill any unwanted hitchhikers. The attendant was concerned about damaging the kayaks; he said he’d heard that some kayaks would deform from the heat. I assured him that these kayaks wouldn’t be harmed by the heat and we began the decontamination process.

Unlike the decontamination stations in Banff, there were no stands for the kayaks. So I unloaded them off the trailer onto a grassy area next to the parking lot. He would wash the top side of the kayak and move onto the next, I would flip the kayaks and he would come back and do the hull side. After each kayak was washed I would load it back onto the trailer. It took an hour and a half to complete this entire process. 15 minutes per kayak seems like a bargain to be certain I wasn’t carrying any unwanted guests from one lake to another.

Leave No Trace.

When I see a plastic bottle or garbage while paddling, I do my best to clean it up. But if someone brings an invasive species in it is very hard, maybe impossible to clean it up. While some species are visible to the naked eye, others are microscopic.

So if you plan on doing any lake hopping, be sure you know what is in your kayak. Your best bet? Clean. Drain. Dry. You’ll likely be able to find information and resources from your local Department of Fish and Wildlife, Department of Natural Resources, or similar.