My primary paddling partner uses a Pelican Sprint 120xr kayak. I know a lot of people here don’t like Pelican kayaks, but if we could put that issue aside for the moment, I’m wondering if anyone had any creative ideas for if it might be possible to slightly increase the width/depth of the coaming lip on this thermoformed polyethylene kayak?
My friend would really like to have the option to use a nylon spray skirt sometimes just to keep out some splashes, paddle drips, possible rain, etc. No rolling, or white water or anything really wet like that planned.
The Seals website shows that they sell their “Splash Deck X” for this model of kayak, but I emailed them this week to inquire about having a Sneak nylon spray skirt made and the response I received stated that the coaming lip is too shallow for a skirt to attach, so they don’t make any skirts for that model of kayak.
So I was wondering if it might be possible to 3D print or mold or something, a bit of extra plastic that I could maybe rivet or bolt-on to the front and back edges of the coaming to give it a deeper, sharper lip?
Or something simple that might allow my friend to attach/use a nylon skirt?
Obviously, the Splash Deck is an option that could help some, but a skirt seems like it would be better if there’s an option at all.
I don’t know. I’m just wondering if there’s anything that could be rigged up, so I thought I’d see if anyone in this forum had any creative ideas.
I’ve used a bungee secured half skirt on a Trailblazer no problem, if the coaming goes completely around the cockpit. Keeps the sun, splash, and drips off your legs. You may have to add bungee so its not too tight and pops off.
You might try stretching an old rubber bicycle tire tube around the coaming. I had a kayak that the spray skirt wanted to pop off of because the plastic lip was thin and slippery. Tucking the inner tube under the lip helped the skirt grip the rubber material. I used it on another boat when I did not have a skirt that was snug enough to stay on without sagging and collecting water so I used the inner tube like a giant rubber band OVER the skirt to snug up the excess material.
If you wanted to add an external lip as you mentioned, just search ‘Kydex sheet’ on Amazon and pick the size/thickness you want. It’s easy to cut to the shape you want, and you can use a heat gun to mold it as desired.
What about semi-flexible plastic U-channel. You could se a heat gun to form it around the cockpit and glue and bolt or rivet it to the boat using one side of the U-channel and the other side to attach the spray skirt. You might have to trim the top side to insure that it would be reasonably easy to release the skirt for a wet exit. Lots of options for U-channel online.
@narrby Thank you for that link. I had tried to search the forum, but had not found that thread.
@narrby , @willowleaf , @High_Desert , @rstevens15 Thank you to all of you for these suggestions. It gives me a lot to play with and really helps me feel much more comfortable that I will be able to help my padding partner make something work.