My kayak do-it list is growing and my Christmas week off is now looking shorter and shorter. I am going to add several things to my kayak over the holiday. I have ordered a kit containing minicell foam, tools, glue, and fabric to add some support pieces to my cockpit. I have ordered enough of the foam to partially fill a void in front of my pedals and also to provide a mount for a foot pump. I am going to add the foot pump and plumbing. I am also hoping to add some protectant cover to constant abrasion point on my boat, like the paddle holder behind the cockpit. I picked up some hard rubber mounts that I am going to use for a spare paddle. And I am going to make a couple of cockpit “disks” to keep the covers from filling with water.
I guess I need to plan to use my second boat during the process or I wont be able to get out and paddle.
Happy Paddling,
Mark
"Precious Time…"
Precious time is slipping away
But you’re only king for a day
It doesn’t matter to which god you pray
Precious time is slipping away
It doesn’t matter what route you take
Sooner or later the hearts going to break
No rhyme or reason, no master plan
No nirvana, no promised land
Because, precious time is slipping away
Yuu know you’re only king for a day
It doesn’t matter to which god you pray
Precious time is slipping away
Say que sera, whatever will be
But then i keep on searching for immortality
She’s so beautiful but she’s going to die some day
Everything in life just passes away
But, precious time is slipping away
You know she’s only queen for a day
It doesn’t matter to which god you pray
Precious time is slipping away
Well this world is cruel with its twists and turns
Well the fire’s still in me and the passion burns
I love a medley 'til the day i die
'til hell freezes over and the rivers run dry
Precious time is slipping away
You know she’s only queen for a day
It doesn’t matter to which god you pray because
Precious time is slipping away
Precious time is slipping away
You know you’re only king for a day
It doesn’t matter to which god you pray
Precious time is slipping away
Precious time is slipping away
You know you’re only king for a day
It doesn’t matter to which god you pray because
Precious time is slipping away
Van Morrison lyrics
Why is it that you have to do…
that with a boat that you pay big bucks for ??
I must be lucky. I got in the same boat as you and paddled it away and have loved it ever since with out having to do a thing to it. (other than repair the hole I punched in the bow)
My wife is like you. It seems that no matter what boat she gets in, it needs modifications.
Cheers,
JackL
Some people , especially engineers,
have never met a design they couldn’t improve.
I Resemble That Remark
Happy Paddling,
Merry Christmas,
Mark
Jack
I look at it as the boat is perfect but I am not.
One of my goals for next season is to venture offshore more. (Almost none to date) I paddle solo often and expect to continue to.
I dont fall over, and if I do I have a 50% chance of rolling back up. Well if I do paddle offshore by myself, and I do fall over, and if I hit the wrong side of the 50% line then I have to get back in and pump out by myself. Pumping with my hand pump with the skirt off, in slop seems a difficult task for me. So, that is where the pump comes in.
I am really happy with my comfort in my cockpit. But I am looking for a little help to improve my 50% closer to always so I want to try a little padding.
I am scratching the heck out of everywhere that I normally place my paddle and I want to try some protective covering.
Iffin I were perfect then I would not be fixin to do all this to my perfect boat, LOL.
Merry Christmas,
Mark
Modifications
Modifications are not really driven by boat deficiencies per se, or hard to satisfy paddlers, as JackL’s comments seems to indicate. More to do with the specific needs and expectations of the paddlers. Some just have lower expectations and settle for whatever they get 
I could have left my QCC stock too, and been pretty happy, but after a couple hundred miles a stiffer and lower back band and bare seat pan made more sense for me over the sloppy sling seat. While learning reentries and working on my roll it became clear that all that wasted volume ahead of the pegs was a serious liability (and after the foam it became clear just how bad the pegs were that I’d thought OK before), while paddling distance in wind it became clear that while the skeg worked great - the control cord sucked. While in chop (and during roll attempts) it became obvious that a slight lowering of the thigh brace surface would be beneficial. All small stuff that has made the boat much better - for me.
But - after many mods - I’ve decided to give up on them. I’m going to switch to paddling a stock boat just like JackL does, except mine will be one that I designed and built from the ground up! 100% customized.
As I was reading your post…
I was saying to myself; "why the heck doesn't he custom build his own kayak? "
Then low and behold, your last paragraph answered my question.
Am I reading between the lines that your are a little perturbed that I liked my kayak right from the get go and I was supposed to find out bad things about it.
You sure read a lot into my simple question.
I discovered quite by accident that I don't even use the back band (seat back)unless I am totally stopped just laying back soaking up some rays.
Cheers,
JackL
Naw, yer just lucky you like as is.
Since you have a rudder you couldn’t do/wouldn’t benefit from most of my mods anyway. Of the half dozen or so things I’ve done - only thing I’d have done as a strictly fitness/rudder paddler like yourself would probably have been to ditch the seat. But as you say - when your moving at a good clip you’re not really on it much anyway (so maybe that’s a bit roll related as well - and the band is MUCH better in that regard). Might have still moved my seat forward too - but mine was 3" aft of yours to begin with - and on yours I’d have left it be.
You probably don’t work on rolls or other recoveries much either, right? Ever had to pump that bathtub out?
While we do have the same hulls - we actually have different needs and use them differently - (you rudder/race - I Greenland tour/roll) and all my modifications, and your lack thereof, clearly reflect that.
custom build
Picture a Q700 (but prettier), with 2" less beam, a few inches more waterline, 1" lower foredeck, 3" lower aft deck, under 40 lbs…
Should be a sweet day boat. Not to favorably treated in race classes though. In the rare races I do, I’ll have to pray for waves to slow down those T-Bolts…
haha…
resembling that reMARK
HaHa That Too
I was trying to figure out how String knew I was an engineer.
Happy Paddling,
Mark
Customized kayak outfitting…
Greyak, I hope you have better luck outfitting your SOF than I have my strip built kayak. I spent quite a bit of time building a custom backband and seat base of minicell foam and still can’t get comfortable on longer paddles.
One nice thing about the commerically produced kayaks is they start out with a base level of outfitting you can build on (or remove), even if it is a diaper like seat!
I’d be interested in seeing some pics of your project if you have some posted on webshots. Here’s some of mine…
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/tstheiii/album?.dir=26fa&.src=ph
Tripp
No rolls, but at least once a…
year a self rescue session.
With the off shore paddling I do it would be stupid not to.
I am not sure what you mean about pumping it out.
Mine is empty in less than a minute.
I have a large discharge pump which discharges on the push as well as the pull.
I think a neat feature of the boat is the fact that the cockpit never fills much more than half way do to the boyancy of the compartments. ( I guess if you were in breaking waves it would fill more)
My Eclipse fills all the way.
Cheers,
JackL
That’s too pretty to paddle! NM
SOF outfitting
I expect the SOF outfitting to be a snap - as it’s mostly done in the design/build, not as after thoughts. That’s the beauty of building a SOF to fit instead of building shell and adding padding.
I may ad a simple back band - or more likely a small block of shaped minicell to keep my off the coaming if needed. Otherwise - should be nothing to do.
I’ll just fit width wise (maybe a little wiggle room - but certainly no room for hip pads). Overall beam is 19" but that’s 17.5" inside, minus the gunwale angle (and then some) going down from the top - and by the time you get to the floor it’s just barely enough space for me.
No knee/thigh pads needed as masik and knee brace are made to fit. Since this is a touring boat - and not an extreme LV roller - I’ll have some room there - so possible I might add a thin layer. I’ll know for sure after the ribs are pegged and I lash on the stringers and can get in it again - and commit to masik’s final position.
Foot brace is built in to my size as well. That and the deck beam at the rear of the cockpit are the first things placed - the rest goes from there.
There are some things to play with - like a mat to sit on, or some built in floor boards, or both. I’m also considering ods and ends like a small day hatch up front, accommodations for hydration pack, and other niceties.
Though I’d planned to - I’ve take few photos so far. I have one right after I finished bending the ribs - but didn’t post it anywhere so I can’t get to it from work. Here’s a shot of the freshly bent coaming hoop:
http://appliedeccentrics.com/kayak/coaming1.jpg
I’ll take more pictures once the frame is finished (soon) as you can really still see just about everything concerning the construction then, and of course more again when skinned and deck lines added.
Easy.
Because boats are built to fit a certain RANGE of people, not a certain PERSON. I could get in a ‘yak that was absolutely perfect for me, but you would likely need to add thigh braces for any sense of security in the boat.
Look at it this way. My brother-in-law and I go to the local chevrolet dealer and buy two identical pickups. He’s perfectly happy with his just the way it is. The first stop I make on the way home with mine is to the parts store to pick up an intake kit, tow package, auxillary lights, bedliner, and a different set of tires. Why? Because my brother in law will drive the pickup solely on paved roads, to and from work. Mine will pull an 18’ fishing boat, be at the launch ramp at all hours of the day/night, and go places during hunting season that would destroy standard passenger series tires. Two trucks, purchased exactly alike, but the way the owners determines if they stay stock or get modifications. Simple as that-no big mystery, really. NO mass-produced, non-custom product is PERFECT for each and every person that is going to buy it, hence the modifications. Just because something may be the best in it’s general class off-the-shelf doesn’t mean the owner can’t tweak it a bit to make it even better for them, does it?
Or, more directly put, just because a stock Honda Civic with an out-of-the-box Yakima rack hauling a stock QCC works just fine for you, don’t expect it to work for everyone else, too.
"why the heck doesn’t he custom build…
Point I was getting at is that the modifications I have done have made it clear that having boat outfitted more specifically for you has many advantages. If I had not made the adjustments to my 700, all with positive effect, I’d have never seen the benefit of taking it another step further and doing a custom build.
Doing the SOF is certainly not a case of building instead of modifying something - or getting something not needing modification - it’s the ultimate (100%) mod.
Jack, I’ve done some outfitting on almost every kayak I’ve owned.
I didn’t modify my first, a Stearns IK116.
The Tarpon 160 SOT got thigh straps, extra bungees, perimeter lines, paddle clip, compass & GPS mount.
Heritage Shearwater was almost untouched as I didn’t keep it long, but did add a GPS mount and try a couple back band and thigh strap options.
Kim’s Findeisen Venture got a pair of side carry handles added.
My Findeisen UX got a hatch and bag put in and some custom graphics (plus a rudder tube repair job).
My QCC 700 has gotten a new back band, added bungees at the ends for GP storage, foot braces remove and replaced with foam, new skeg control, auto trim around the coaming edge, GPS mount, under deck bag, moved seat forward…
My Tsunami X-1 has no mods yet, but was almost completely restored. If I start using it more I’m sure I’ll find something to do to it.
Kim’s VCP Pintail got new knee brace foam (like original, but larger to fit her better) under the foredeck.
My Mark 1 ski has no mods so far, but skis are pretty basic beasts and the Mark 1 comes standard with a small hatch. If I hang on to it I’ll probably add some bungees on the aft deck.
Next boat will have over 50 completely custom components, not counting lashings, stitching, skin and coating.