Kayak Color and Visibility

I will be purchasing a Pro Angler in a month or so and was wondering about color choice.
I really like the green but that would blend in to the surrounding area and water. My second choice is sand color.

How much is safety a factor when you chose your color?


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Fresh: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE02E23641B7FE360

Salt: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeb5zOGDfoKlEPsMK5GBUOge_Qz5u2koH

In an ideal world, I'd like to blend in to my surroundings. But in the real world, on the sea, I accept the possibility (a) that I might need to be rescued at some time, or (b) I might get mown down by some idiot in a power boat who can't be bothered to keep a lookout.

I don't have a Hobie at the moment, plan to get one when I retire, and it will probably be red.

Mary

I would guess yellow...the color of the school bus. Next would be dune. The green one is great for camoflage in my opinion...but Camo = not seen. I plan on purchasing a dune colored one in a couple of months.

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2011 HPA
2006 Wildy Ride 135
2019 Hobie Compass
2020 Hobie Outback

On the ocean here in Hawaii, we can see the yellow Hobie AI's and TI from twice as far as the red ones.

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Hobie Island Sailing since 2006

It really depends on where you use your boat. If you like one color over another, choose the one you like. If you want to be seen, wear a ridiculously bright, or reflective shirt. If you're regularly out in high traffic area's, then I'd consider getting a brighter boat too. But if you're mostly in quieter waters, you can usually dress bright enough to be seen when you need to. Safety is far more about the guy controlling the boat as it is about the boat.

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Plus the reality that a % of males are red color blind, probably makes the yellow even safer.

I posted before about my wife and I being at Bodega Bay on the south ocean Doran beach side. Some blue yaks came out from the harbor/bay to our west and went into the ocean, headed east and immediately disappeared from our sight about a half of a mile away. My eyesight is 20/10 and my wife's is 20/20 with her contact.

They came back into view about 300 yards away to the west and continued on an Eastern course. When they got about 300 yards east of us, they disappeared again. This is a busy bay/harbor and a lot people in boats are moving in and out of the harbor.

Our older son has a fast and powerful boat that he uses in our Delta and the San Francisco bay, and he has incredible eyesight and no problem with any color. He has said that blue yaks and green yaks present a problem in seeing them. He sees yellow first, and yellow yaks stay in his vision longer.

White yaks in an ocean environment, when capsized are apparently very hard to distinguish from ocean white caps. As per a previous posted here by a member, who has flown ocean rescue missions.

A new acquaintance, who does a lot of after market things with yaks agrees with the above re safe color. He is getting into interior color of yaks and impact of color on temps in side the yaks on warm days on those in the yaks. Red is apparently the hottest due to UV reflection. We have noticed that our Red Oasis on sunny/warm/hot days can get very hot. We often put our feet into the water to cool off as well as getting our hats wet and wetting our face to cool down.

My new Freedom Hawk Pathfinder which should be heading west this month will be yellow, and my wife bought some Under Armour yellow outer wear for me. I intend to use this yak for fishing in relatively open areas on local rivers and lakes. Being seen is a priority. I only use my green Freedom Hawk 12 on a speed control lake and in a local river area where the speed limit is supposedly 5 mph. On the river in isolated areas, we still have idiots in boats doing high speeds. Fortunately, the upper river where I go is loaded if snags, submersed logs trees and a few boats that didn't make it.

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2009 Oasis
2012 Freedom Hawk Pathfinder

Points well taken.

The vast majority of my time is on freshwater, closer to shore away from any fast bass boat traffic I like the green model so I probably will go with that and incorporate a safety orange flag and/or bright clothing


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Fresh: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE02E23641B7FE360

Salt: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeb5zOGDfoKlEPsMK5GBUOge_Qz5u2koH

I have an Olive Hobie and a Malibu that is grey. I try to compensate by wearing bright shirts and choosing a paddle with orange blades. I personally think all paddles should have BRIGHT blades. It really makes a difference.

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2011 Olive Hobie Revo

My Outback is olive so I always run my orange flag and cary a whistle. I alo tend to stay away from high traffic areas when possible.

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Perception Caster and Proud owner of a 2012 Hobie Outback

FWIW IMNSHO flags are useless and an absurd waste of money: if you can see the flag then you can already see the kayak...

Try it for yourself: when you are looking at a kayak approaching from far away and you first recognise what it is, you won't be saying to yourself "oh look, a flag, I wonder if it's attached to a kayak...?" you will be saying "oh look, a kayak..." it is only much later that you will be able to tell that it has a flag attached to it.

Whenever I have been straining my eyes to tell what kind of craft a little speck in the far distance is, and it has ended up being a kayak, the giveaway is nearly always the rythmic flash of the wet paddle blades - ergo one solution to making yourself more visible would be to paddle, or wave, a wet- (or silver-) bladed paddle - you might try a silver flag but logic suggests that it is gonna have to be a pretty big one to be more visible than a paddle blade ! A better suggestion might be to carry a small signalling mirror in your survival at sea kit.

If you think you want a flag to try to make yourself more visible in swells wear a brightly coloured hat/jacket instead cos most of those little flags don't or only just exceed head height.

So my suggestion is: get a flag if you want to have the same badge as everyone else in the club, but if you want to increase your and your boat's visibility, spend your money on something else

As to kayak colour - I favour the yellow colour: it is well known that red is one of the first colours to disappear from the visible spectrum as light decreases (that's why so many deeper swimming fish are red). IMO the yellow ones are much more visible (I used to have a red one & it was pretty much invisible in low light) and my preference is to ensure that I am most visible in the event that the sh*t and the fan have come together or are about to. I once overheard a conversation between 2 search & rescue pilots looking for an upturned yacht in a storm, cursing the fact that so many boat hulls are painted blue and yellow (thus making them next to invisible) - this was enough to put me off anything approaching white or blue for my kayak.

I am told that great white sharks prefer yellow kayaks though... (seriously!). While they are definitely around NZ waters (probably in fairly large numbers) I am not sure of the science behind the claim and therefore that is a risk I am prepared to take, just as I am prepared to buy a lottery ticket but don't really expect to win.

Happy New Year everyone !

Personally, I don't put a lot of stock in kayak color in accident avoidance, so I go with my favorite color. If you're concerned about collisions, I think they're more likely to be caused by someone looking the other way rather than not seeing you in time because of your color.

Kayaks are low profile boats and at times can even be confused with buoys from a distance. In fact, from a distance, it often looks like speed boats are headed right at you, but they usually give wide berth in the actual passing.

I spend a lot of time in boat traffic areas and with no special equipment or visibility enhancements, and have had no problems so far. The only infrequent "close calls" I've had were from boats emerging from behind obstacles (jetties, peninsulas, etc) or thoughtless boat drivers who think they own the road. Color doesn't seem to play into those scenarios.

The only exception I can think of is possibly in rolling seas like in Reconlon's waters. There he has shown that yellow is the most visible color and streamers from the mast are instrumental in keeping track of each other when sailing in loose formation. For S&R, I would think a little reflective tape on the top and bottom might be easiest to spot from the air.

I simply painted the back sides of my paddles International Orange... Visible motion at a distance attracts attention.

We use half of our paddles with the t bar handle attachment when we launch and bring our Oasis back in. This year, I will probably replace my shortened paddle with the little BackWater Piranha wooden paddle. I got it for fishing in my Freedom Hawk, and it does a great job in the short tight spaces re manuvering the yak. My wife has become a good sailor with the shortened Hobie paddle and will still use that in leaving and coming back in.



Link to buy the Piranha: http://store.backwaterpaddles.com/pihapa.html

However, I may spray paint my AT paddle used on my Freedom Hawks both sides of the blade.

What paint did you use and how has it held up?

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2009 Oasis
2012 Freedom Hawk Pathfinder

But how much help is a coloured paddle if you are pedalling?

I used International Orange spray from the local hardware store. So far, it has held up well, but if it fades, just re-paint.



You have to be responsible for your own safety by being alert for boating traffic in your vicinity. Since peddalling leaves you 'hands-free,' if you see danger approaching, use one hand to hold the paddle up in the air (with the painted side of the blade toward the oncoming craft) where it will serve the same purpose as a warning flag, then wave it around so that, hopefully, it is visible to and noticed by the occupants. Just keep peddalling and prepare to maneuver out of danger, if possible. If all else fails, you can use the paddle to bash the inattentive SOB as he runs you over.