Peregrine Owner’s Manual

First of all we truly appreciate you choosing a Peregrine kayak. We know there are many fine kayaks on the market today and we are pleased you elected to be part of our family. That’s right….by registering your Peregrine kayak you are now an official member of our family which makes you a POG! This stands for Peregrine Owners Group and POGs are special paddlers in our eyes. Please check the POG tab on our website and you’ll see why!

Care and feeding of your Peregrine Kayak

Racking up your kayak for transport. Peregrine kayaks LOVE to travel and are designed for adventure. Although beautiful, they are made to be paddled; not hung on the wall. But how you transport your kayak can make a difference in how your boat performs over the long haul.

Please use an accepted cradle set, J-carrier or quality foam blocks to support your Peregrine on your roof rack load bars or trailer cross bars. It’s not a good idea to just strap your kayak onto any load bars without it being properly supported.
Don’t use ratcheting cargo straps meant for furniture or appliances. The power ratchet can generate enough force to crack your kayak and you cannot feel it happening until it’s too late. The cam straps that come with your kayak carrier are the best since you can feel the correct tension and make adjustments accordingly.
Try hard NOT to place your tie down straps directly across the cockpit coaming if you can help it. Strong pressure across the coaming coupled with highway speeds can stress the adhesive bond used to set your cockpit into the hull. Better to go just ahead or behind the coaming with your straps.
Your Peregrine doesn’t care if it is carried on edge (J-rack or stacker), right side up or upside down as long as it’s supported properly and you can’t move it from side to side after tying down all the straps.
Peregrine strongly advises using bow lines in all cases and stern lines for highway speeds. Learn how to use a bow line properly to prevent lift and understand that you don’t crank bowlines down super tight. (we suggest the use of hood-loops for easy connection to your bow without having to crawl under your car)
A good cockpit travel cover will help reduce wind noise and also keep the critters out of your cockpit, and if your dealer doesn’t have one to fit, contact us.

Exterior Protection

Your composite Peregrine’s gorgeous color comes from a type of “paint” called gel coat that is made especially for composites. While very durable it can get scratched and nicked up which will NOT hurt your kayak’s performance in any way, but of course you would like to keep your kayak looking good.

We suggest 3M Fiberglass Cleaner/Polish if you would like to lift off dirt or paddle marks embedded into scratches. Carbon blade paddles in particular leave black marks on the deck area and they usually come off with a little wax- on/wax- off effort.
Your hatch covers, the corresponding lip on the hatch plate and the deck lines will love a twice yearly application of 303 brand protectant. This product is sort of like sun block for your outdoor toys and also keeps the hatch covers lubricated so they go on easier. Be stingy when applying the 303 since a little goes a long way.
Inspect your deck lines and carry handle cords or straps for wear and replace if they are frayed or show UV degradation. You can spot that when the lines lose their suppleness and become stiff and grouchy.
Skegs and Rudders: Pay special attention to these to keep them clean. Routinely check the skeg box for rocks, twigs, or other general debris. Remove debris and rinse if found. Same goes for the rudder. Ensure there are no obstructions along the cable line controlling the rudder, and ensure there is no dirt or debris between the rudder blade and housing.

The Inside Job

Wipe your kayak out with a sponge after each use and try to remove any water or dirt you've tracked in. Lake and river waters have naturally occurring bacteria that while it won’t hurt you, may stink like crazy over time.
It’s best to avoid having to get out the bleach solutions since they don’t do your seat or back band any favors. Better to use a mild solution of dish detergent to clean the seat and back band along with the foot brace region.
Its ok to use 303 on your footbrace tracks to keep them gliding smoothly. Don’t use any spray lube however that has petroleum distillates that could eat your plastic footbrace materials!

Nuts-Bolts and other Add Ons

Check your footbrace and deck line screws every year and snug up if they are loose. Don’t crank down super tight as you’ll only crush the deck and hull fabric. Snug is the word. Pretend you are snugging down the cap on a bottle of OJ and don’t want to have to tear your hand up getting the cap back off.

You can drill though our decks to mount accessories without losing sleep over it. Just make sure you use a small pilot hole with a sharp drill bit and a sharp drill bit for the final hole.
On the backside, you’ll do best if you use rubber or plastic washers against the deck material instead of metal ones especially if you are mounting on a curved area.
For added insurance against leakage, use Devcon Marine or Plumber’s Goop as a sealant since it isn’t brittle and takes a while to set up while you work and can be easily removed too.

Repairs and First Aid

Ok…..you did something dumb and either put a hole in your Peregrine or a big crack. Stop blubbering and get ready to bake some cookies. Well….not really but if you can bake cookies then you can indeed do a repair on your damage. There are many kits available for fiberglass repair and you will be surprised with a little patience how you can turn what you thought was disaster into a repair that will hold up longer than you will! Email us if you need to and we’ll commiserate to some degree but then get down to helping you out. The real beauty of composites is that they CAN be repaired and kept in service for just about ever.

Products can be purchased from US Composites at www.uscomposites.com.

Storage During the Off-Season

Ooh it’s so sad to even think about an off-season but some of us have to deal with water that becomes pretty darn hard as in ICE. So here are a few tips:

Don’t hang your boat by ropes or chains attached to the bow and stern grab loops or perimeter deck lines. No your kayak won’t warp like plastic kayaks but IF something comes loose and your kayak drops from the rafters onto concrete…well, it would be bad. Better to support the hull using wide straps around the boat in at least two but hopefully three or four areas and then you’re solid on hanging the boat.
Not good to put any type of shrink wrap or plastic bag that seals over the whole kayak. Better to use a breathable fabric bag or material thats used for garden mulching. The goal is if you have to leave your Peregrine outside, you want to cover it to block UV light from fading the gel coat and drying out the lines but at the same time you don’t want moisture to be trapped in there and stain your boat or create mold. It can work however to put a plastic tarp material around the kayak if you leave some air space by creating some foam doughnuts to put between the tarp and your kayak.
Cockpit covers are a splendid idea to keep the mice and spiders OUT of your cockpit.
We generally don’t recommend storing a kayak on one or the other ends as the more surface area you can support the better. But it can be done with care if you properly pad under the bow or stern and make SURE you strap the boat in several places so it cannot slide down a wall or slip off the shelf.

Final Important notes about your kayak

Kayak handles: Bow and stern handles (toggles) are NOT meant to carry your kayak, when carrying your kayak always grasp by the hull and carry. Handles are present to easily grab the kayak when in the water and for safety reasons
Dry Kayaking: Your kayak is ONLY meant to sit in when in the water and submerged. Sitting in your kayak when on dry ground will not adequately distribute the weight and could damage the hull of your boat.
Sitting on the deck: While your boat is re-enforced with multiple bulkheads, do not sit on the deck at any location as this may damage the deck.

Take care of your Peregrine kayak and it will provide years of enjoyment. If you have any questions regarding care, maintenance, or safety for your Peregrine please drop us a line or give us a call.

The Peregrine Team: www.peregrinekayaks.com; +1 248-481-8105