Canoe seat w/built in yoke?

Advice
#1

http://essexindustries.org/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=74



Has anyone used one of these? Did it work? Did it hurt your thighs?

#2

Similar seat
I have a similar seat on my Old Town Northern Lights solo. It works fine.

#3

Esquif
Esquif Canoes with a center seats use a similar if not the very same seat. If you are using this as a center solo seat the positioning would be funny. Put the seat in the correct place and the yoke would be too far back. Put the yoke in the right place and the boat will paddle bow heavy from having the seat too far forwards. I would put the yoke facing the stern and put the seat where you need it for trim. Then you wouldn’t have to worry about thigh contact and deal with it being a little rear (bow) heavy while carrying.

#4

I’ve used one
Those are the seat that were the standard ones on the Old Town Penobscott 15. I just recently sold it. It was a sliding seat. Slid aft for paddling and fore for portaging.



It didn’t your thighs paddling. The problem was portaging. Obviously there are no pads and you can’t mount any. So you either need some kind og padding system that needs to be put on every portage and taken off at the end, or go without.



What I did instead was to remove the sliding seat/yoke, mount a fixed seat, and use a removeable yoke and pad. When I sold the canoe, I included the slider and the mounting pieces in case the new owner wanted to reinstall it.

#5

Mounted backwards on a slider frame
I’m considering mounting the seat backwards on a sliding frame and carry the canoe backwards, which is causing me some stress for some reason. Seems like a canoe should always go bow first, in the water, on portage and on the truck. Superstitious I guess:)

#6

Good philosophy.
I knew a guy who carried his canoe backwards and he was hit by a piece of SkyLab when it de-orbited.



Jim