I have a polyethylene kayak and would like to know the best way to store it when not in the water.

—Steve

Annie's Answer:

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Great question, Steve!

You've identified a universal truth about small boats: Unfortunately, most canoes and kayaks spend more time out of the water than in it. And storage is one of those pesky details that are easy to forget when you've got TAF—that's Toy Acquisition Fever, an incurable and highly contagious disease.

For most boats, particularly rotomolded polyethylene, your primary concern is UV, or sun damage. If you don't have a barn or boatshed, choose a shady side of the house, under the eaves. A plastic boat is also likely to deform under its own weight, making the hull prone to"oil-canning," or rippling, when stored on the rounded bottoms. You want to store the craft upside down on a rack with supports located under bulkheads. Lacking bulkheads, you might try storing the kayak on its side to protect the hull shape. As for inevitable UV fading, you can treat it with a UV-inhibitor like UV Tech, a spritz-and-wipe liquid formula that acts like a sunscreen for your plastic toys (www.mcnett.com).