Safely carrying gear in small kayak

Just getting into Kayaking, and absolutely love it... Found some spots that are inacessable to others without a small watercraft, and some really beautiful scenery.. Would love to take my camera and some lenses, but ... still a little paranoid of putting thousands in equipment on a tippy little floatie raft... I am still a beginner after all.. Anyone suggest a good dry bag or box for a camera outfit? Would want easy to get to, but also safe for my investments.. This is a fantastic new sport for me, and it offers some great photographic opportunities .... just floated past a beautiful doe on the bank of the Snake River - probably about 20 feet away, and all she did was raise her head and look at me.. Appears I looked like just another fat frog on a bright yellow lilly pad I guess..

Tks,

I just bought an under water P&S camera for my Kayak trips. By the time you get your camera out of the dry bag the photo opp might be gone.

I am not sure what type of body of water you are on (lake I am going to assume?) but I have taken my camera in a kayak before its a Wilderness System Cap horn 170 and another smaller one that was wider (less tippy). I kayak only on lakes and have been kayaking for quite a few years now so I feel very comfortable in it. When I first started to kayak didn't bring my camera with me at all so I can understand your fears about bringing expensive gear.

Now that I do bring my camera with me, I don't use a special bag for my camera or lens. I've thought about getting one but I decided it would be to be of a hassle to take it out every time I want to take a picture since I would probably using it most of the time. Also once its out of its case then your still risking dropping it in the water so either way there isn't a perfectly "safe" way to bring a camera and still take pictures while in a kayak. Common sense and caution I think is the safest way to bring a camera while kayaking. The only thing I do bring is a towel so it doesn't get wet from paddling it works well. I've taken some wonderful images, some close up of loons, beaver, and other landscapes and wildlife it was worth the risk for me to bring my camera. Most of time its on fairly calm or light windy day on the lake along with having little to no boat traffic.

Maybe spend a little bit more time kayaking to get the feel of your kayak so you become more comfortable with it then maybe consider bring it. Hope that gives you more of an idea of what some people might do.

Bring a waterproof, floating box that you can stick it in and make sure that you are reasonably stable when taking photos. In case you don't roll out 100% of the time if you capsize in running water, mount the box to the kayak somehow, by a string I would say. Last but not least, fix the camera to the box or your hand or something when you are taking pictures. I already dropped a (waterproof) camera once while in a kayak. I was really lucky I blindly caught it about 20 inches below the surface on its way down.

I saw a waterproof camera bag in an outdoor shop recently, it looked pretty well made, sufficiently large and it closed with a watertight zip-like gadget. I would test it in the bathtub first though.

get a good smallish Pellican case that you can fit the gear you need into. close the latches and strap it on to or in your "floatie" raft

Pelicans are great. I have the 1200 which is one of the smaller ones but it still fits my slr / medium sized lens with room to spare for more accessories or even my camcorder. I got mine in florescent orange so it would be easy to spot if it ever got away from me on the water. I think it was only like $40.

I have a pelican case for mine. I dont take my main camera gear out, just an old D70 with a pair of kit lenses JIC I tip when the camera is out. I feel better if its just $400 in camera gear that gets dunked over $3000 of camera gear.