Frank sez:

ANCHORING

1) The traveler is the loop -the trolley as you correctly ID'd it -to which the anchor is attached, so called because it travels from stem to stern at the paddler's/anchorer's desire; the SS ring "travels" fore & aft, and therefore, the boat's anchoring point does as well.

2) The traveler is the loop that also acts as a pulley line; the "pulleys" themselves are the carabiners, clipped to the loops that hold the carrying toggles at either end of the yak. The ends of the loop are attached to the carabiners as well, of course.

3) The "pre-traveler" is the setup before the traveler was installed -the anchor, anchor line, and the Cuban yo-yo that I use to coil the line all just lay in the tray between my legs, the free end tied to a cleat.

4) I attach a painter of 10-15' to the fore toggle. I SHOULD attach one to the stern as an emergency safety/tow line, but I usually don't.

ATTACHMENT OF CONTAINERS

4) I've surrounded the tankwell with several plastic eyebolts, all attached via stainless screws drilled into smaller pilot holes liberally smothered in marine silicone caulking; the screws are as shallow-pitched and as wide flanged & narrow shafted as I could dig up at a good hardware store to provide the best grip (I've not lost a single screw to date).

I bought a cheap basket at a dollar store kind of place whose dimensions "fit" the width of the tankwell. I run short (<=12") bungies through the weave of the basket on each end and stretch them to hook on the eyes: the basket is pretty firmly attached.

Then I put my dive gear into a mesh bag which is in turn bungeed to the basket; the bag has a tensioned closure which is kept closed until I need to retrieve gear. This I learned the hard way when I was bunted off the yak in the middle of Bear Cut in choppy seas by well-meaning but inexperienced neophytes in a tandem merely a couple-three hours after this very shot was taken. I now have 2 NEW pairs of fins for Sally and myself, a new prescription mask for me, new snorkels for all ...and wisdom about the mechanics of taking along "stuff", LOL!

The protein jar is a wide-mouthed plastic jug into which I put my cell phone, the "good" camera, my keys, my cigars, cutter, & lighter, my wallet, and my fishing license, etc. If I don't put lead balls in there, it floats -a distinct advantage in tippy situations when considering the alternative! I merely place it in the area behind the basket, sometimes carrying it in the cockpit. If I'm not bringing the basket, I'll wedge it in between the forward tankwell strap and the forward tankwell bulkhead. I stick my small ~10"X14"X1-1/2" clear plastic ~12 compartment tackle "box" on end, vertically, wedged into the well or basket, and I run one of my aft tankwell straps through the soft-sided cooler's carry strap. While it WILL take on water, when closed it'll float for perhaps 10' or so -probably longer -so I'm not overly worried about a spill with it.

PFD

I sometimes don't wear my PFD in the shallows, and I'll wedge that in the basket or somewhere between the dry jar an another strap if the basket's not brought along, or loosely stick part of it under a front hatch strap.

It's not rocket science, and there's plenty of room for improvement -for one, I want to install an anchor cleat to better control scope, and I'd also like to put line guides on the starboard side and switch the anchor away from the paddle clip side. A hint, besides always using stainless (not brass, and most certainly NOT galvanized), is to use nylon for eyes, clips, and other surface mounted fittings -they don't break (I've replaced the rear clip because I snapped one of the prongs off). And, when it comes to fishing and outfitting, I'm a rank amateur -go to any fot the kayak fishing sites to see some truly amazing setups.

Thanks Frank for a remarkable and useful presentation!