I am finishing up repairing a damaged QCC700 and finally got it watertight enough to take it out. The next issue is that my feet extend about 6" beyond the end of the foot pedal rails. I am 6’3" so I have long legs but not that long. The boat has a skeg so the foot braces are just simple pegs (no rudder controls involved). So I need to move the rails that hold the 6" but do not to drill more holes in the hull (it was hard enough taking care of the ones that were there). Anyone have any brilliant ideas? If I can not figure out how to extend the rails without holing the hull, I may just take them out and build up some foam blocks on the bulkhead, but that would make the boat less useful for others (short people!).
David
I agree
that making a footplate would be your best solution. No holes drilled, you can mover your legs and feet, and still have a strong connection to your boat.
Foam
I would remove the pegs, leave the rails in place and pad the bulkhead for myself. That way the boat can still be used by shorter paddlers by putting the pegs back in - the foam won’t get in the way because it’s way up front, right?
im confused
How your legs are longer than the rails. But that said, the best way would be foam and leave the rails.
Custom?
QCC may have installed the rails in a special location for a short buyer.
Extensions
Tempest 170 have extended foot braces which probably will not be enough. Make extensions out of plastic, stainless, or aluminum. New screws will be needed. There are plastic plates for height adjustments see Topkayaker. You can use minicel foam also. Then I would remove the braces and put in shorter screws.
JimZ
Foam?
Why with just a hacksaw and a few minutes of pain you could trim your legs so you fit them rails perfectly! No pain No gain.
holes
The 4 little holes which are needed to mount a pair of footbrace rails would take about 15 minutes to seal up with some epoxy.
For a skeg boat, I prefer to install mini-cell foam on the bulkhead thick enough that I can comfortably put my feet anywhere.