steveJ wrote in :

The only thing I'm worried about is the weather, flipping over and
sinking.

Sharks, snakes, skunks, bees, rats, bears, mosquitos, flies, sunburn,
dehydration, starvation, disease, illness, fungus, infection,
loneliness, monotony, drinking water, collisions, theft, bleeding to
death, murder, boredom, dimentia, repetitive stress injury,
hypothermia, getting lost, legal problems, lack of money, and all you
are worried about is the weather and flipping over and sinking?
1. learn to do the eskimo roll in case you capsize.
2. Build your boat from wood so it doesn't sink.
You'll do fine.

Baloney. A wood kayak that is full of water is just as useless as a
fiberlass, kevlar, or plastic kayak full of water. Sinking should not be
concern as much as flipping over, having the cockpit fill with water, then
be unable to empty the water, reenter, and continue paddling.

I inadvertantly deleted the original message so I'll respond here...
Michael Zefas wrote:
Hello,

I'm considering the possibility of buying a large kayak in the Med.,
putting some stuff in it and going half-way around the world in it.

Never mind the fact that it appears that you've never paddled a kayak
before, how are your navigational skills? Can you read a navigation chart?
Do you understand how the effects of currents can effect your course or
tides can impact where you may be able to go ashore?

Will it make it? Are there any modfications I can make to it which
will make it more resistant to the weather?

Uh, I'm not sure I'd want to paddle a kayak half way around the world that
wasn't weather resistant.

Every night, I'll pull it onto shore (I'll be able to lift it) and
camp out on the beach or wherever I stop.

Sounds easy, assuming you have experience coming in through the surf zone in
6-8' dumping waves onto a rocky beach.

The only thing I'm worried about is the weather, flipping over and
sinking.

Can anyone enlighten me on this idea? Personal experiences would be
helpful


Before buying that kayak read "Deep Trouble" and Chris Duffs "Southern
Exposure". Chris has probably put more miles in a kayak than anyone in the
past 10 years. During his trip around New Zealand a couple of years ago he
was forced to land on a cobblestone beach in a dumping surf. Despite all
his experience, his timing wasn't quite right and the landing was less than
successful. A wave caught his boat and pulled it back out where move waves
tossed it onto the rocks over and over. By the time he was able to retrieve
it and pull it to shore half of the deck was ripped off.