We all have great days, good days, not so good days and sometimes really bad days. The pictures below are one of those really, really, really bad days.
We can thank Steve Kelly for the great shots below. Steve is the owner of the kayak, which he loaned out to a couple who were using the kayak for an adventure race. They had the unfortunate luck of having another vehicle clip the back of their overhanging fiberglas double. The results? Well you can see for yourself ....... a total write off.
Ooops ..............
So this got me to thinking (which is scary) that this might make a good idea for an article. Now this is not pointing a finger at the people with the damaged kayak and saying it happened because they had too much overhang. In fact, you will see that with their flag, they were doing the right thing.
What I have found after a little asking around is that no one is really all that sure how much overhang is too much, and just what are the rules. Just how much over hang are you allowed, and how should you make sure other people can see your kayak?
This is especially relevant when we have those in our society who feel that driving so close up your backside that they can inspect the inside of your exhaust pipe is a great idea!
Well .... a quick call to the Technical Services Section of the Roads and Traffic Authority in New South Wales got me this answer:
You are allowed 1.2 meters over the front and rear of your vehicle.
If you exceed that you need to have a flag hanging off the kayak and red is suggested. There is not any length or size specified (but it would make sense to make it as visible as possible - editor).
If you are driving at night, or it is foggy, then you should have a red light on the rear of the overhang.
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So there you go - now we can at least feel satisfied that if someone does run into your nearest and dearest (and we are not taking the missus here) then you will have done the right thing and you won't have your insurance company asking questions you don't want to answer.
Remember the above is for New South Wales in Australia and current August 2004 - so check your local state rules and be aware ...... things change OK. Now I suppose that raises another question. Would the kayak be covered by your car insurance IF someone did damage it on top of your vehicle??
That is something you should definitely check with your specific insurer BEFORE it happens. Not likely, but as you see from the photos it is quite possible.
Steve Kelly is a medical practitioner who loves to get away from his duties paddling with members of his family on weekends or whenever he can .... at the moment he is "boatless" .... kind of like homeless only worse.
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