Was it calibrated DITB accurate.
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Grabbed some photos of it in the light after removing the resin from the seat bottom and reinstalling it. I’m guessing this is the original color peeking out under the purple repaint.
I think this is the only thing that’s going to require immediate attention prior to throwing it on the local lake to see how I like it. Though I’m tempted to throw some gorilla tape over it as a precaution and go try it anyways while the weather is warm this week.
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Very cool in bringing that Hawk back. The Arctic Hawk and, for me, its smaller sibling, the Sparrow Hawk, have been “dream boats” since early in my sea kayaking pursuit. Not being able to afford one back then, I learned to build SOFs instead. But the sight of those Hawks still pleases my eyes. 
Hope that boat serves/pleases you well!!!
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Resurrecting is a worthy and noble activity. Good thst you’re doing it.
I bought a book on building SOF boats last year with the intent that I’d make one rather than buy my next kayak to replace my daily driver roto-molded rec yak in a year or two. And then a coworker found this puppy… Which led to me getting into solo canoeing instead and putting building a SOF kayak on the back burner.
The problem is I grew up on a farm and the “Oh look a deal, and it just needs minor work!!” gene in me is unfortunately strong and I’ve bought several boats, all very cheap, over the fall/winter (think I’m up to 6 if we count the Old Town Tripper I went halvsies with my brother on with the intent of doing the MR340 next year). There’s going to be some serious fleet thinning come summer. I’ll keep the Dagger Sojourn as my primary, since I’ll usually have the dog along unless it’s dry suit conditions. One of the two poly rec boats (OT Vapor 10 and Necky Rip 12) will be kept as a buddy boat. And more than likely at least one of the two sea kayaks, the Arctic Hawk or the Looska IV, will go up for sale.
When I bought the Looska, it was because it was cheap and I intended to fix it up, try it out (mostly to get a point of reference and help dial in what I want for a more performance oriented kayak and my eventual SOF boat), and then flip it to help fund the next boat. However after trying it out on calm flat water I think it’s pretty easy to get a long with and have wondered about keeping it for a buddy boat. Not sure if it’d really get used that often or make much sense over one of the other two rec kayaks currently in the fleet for that job. The AH again was bought because “hey it’s cheap” and a chance to experience a composite sea kayak and get another point of reference for what I like in a boat, but also because it was cheap. Like the Looska I’m not sure where/if it’ll fit in yet as Kansas and surrounding states aren’t known for big open water.
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I built a SOF just to do it using plans from Yostwerks. Interesting project.
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Hey, a dog buddy is pretty good priority to have! With boats, you got yourself a lot of options. None of which costs you significantly in the monetary sense. I agree building and fixing on your own are actually great learning process for understanding boat design and construction.
Keep plugging away. Whether you keep the AH or not, it’s great project. That boat will serve someone’s needs. 
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Though I never build one of Tom Yost design, I have always appreciated his creativity and found of his folding SOF designs really cool. He was also pretty generous in sharing those designs.
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Yeah, I was dead set against getting another dog after having to put my last one down two years ago. Then my coworker brought this little gal in to the office…
She’s been a really good paddling companion, also hiking and all the other BS I get up to. It worked out nicely because otherwise I wouldn’t have started looking for a solo canoe and found the Sojourn which is a pretty fun paddle.
I bought Jeff Horton’s book on SOF boat building. It has plans for a couple of his different Kudzu Craft boats. Seems decently written and lays out the instructions well. For those interested in making their own SOF boat it would probably be a useful resource even if you weren’t building one of the boats he’s included offsets for in it.
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She looks like a blue heeler, otherwise known as a bundle of energy!
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Yeah when my coworker brought her in I knew right away she was some sort of blue healer mix. I’ve worked with them before herding cattle and sheep, their reputation as high energy, furry velociraptors is well earned. This one though, surprisingly calm and well mannered. She still has that puppy energy and loves to zip around the yard, but she’s practically sedentary compared to some of the working dogs/healers I’ve known. Get her wound up and playing and she shows that healer energy, but you tell her to stop and she calms right down. She’s also very much a velcro dog like those dogs were, sticks to your side as all times and very eager to please.
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Well I did as I threatened and got both boats out on the water today for a little comparison. I figured the previous owner was using the boat as it is, so what more damage could an hour or two on the water bring. So I slapped some duct tape over the big spot on the side where the paint is worn through. Also ran some along the bow and stern keel where there are also streaks of missing paint. It was also a chance to test out the NRS dry suit and insulated neoprene gloves I picked up this fall when they were doing their big clearance sale. Weather was mid 40’s when I got to the lake and got up to around 54°F within a couple hours. No idea about the water temp, but there’s still plenty of ice on the lake at north and south ends, though the area I paddled was a half mile from south end and pretty shallow and didn’t feel terribly frigid. Wouldn’t want to take a swim in it without the suit, but I could leave my bare hands in it for a minute or so with no issues/real discomfort. The furthest I paddled from shore was around 100’ and it was only around 4’ deep (the lake is down quite a ways), I mostly stayed within 30’ of shore, which wasn’t much more than knee deep. The water was too disturbed to be called glass, but it was pretty damn calm thanks to the very little wind and power boats.
The Looska went first. I tried it initially with the paddle I got with the Arctic Hawk, and then a cheap aluminum shaft with plastic blades big box store special I keep as a loaner. I don’t love the boat. It’s surprisingly stable and as you lean it on edge it has nice progressive resistance, but I don’t like the seat and it feels like it should be faster than it is. The annoyingly feathered mystery paddle is, well annoying. It’d be serviceable if the feather was 0-15° instead of 90°. Switching over to the cheap loaner paddle made me more consistent in my paddling technique. And while it’s not as efficient a power transmitter, I was able to gauge that the mystery paddle isn’t much of a step up from it in the joy to use factor (even if the feathering was at an angle I liked). Also I really hate that I can’t just break it down into two pieces to store it in the truck bed and instead have to either let it hang out the back of the bed (which means I have to keep the bed cover rolled up) or I have to strap it to the roof rack.
The AH was much trickier getting into. The Looska I could straddle the boat while floating and put both feet inside, then lift myself up to slide down into the seat, and then reach forward with my feet then my knees under the deck if I wanted. The AH with it’s sharp v bottom and cockpit design made balancing while straddling and trying to get a foot inside pretty damn difficult (and that’s on very calm water with a paddle braced against the lake bed). Maybe I was doing it wrong, but the position of the thigh braces and shape/layout of the cockpit did not make for easy ingress for me. I had to slide straight legged, at a very low angle to keep my knees and thighs from catching on the inside of the coaming. And unlike the Looska I couldn’t fit my feet in with my Muck boots on (in fact with my feet on the foot braces and heels against the bottom, my toes were lightly brushing the top). For future use I would need to figure something out so as not to wear a hole in the heel of the booties.
But once in it, it’s quite nice. For starter the seat while far from cushy was comfortable enough to forget about it unlike the Looska. Though I did discover why somebody epoxied the seat pan to the hull (or attempted to anyways). When leaning past a certain point the seat shifts downhill as there’s a decent bit of flex in the part of the boat that drops down from the inner coaming that connects to it. As I predicted the AH didn’t feel nearly as planted in it’s initial stability, wanting to fall to one side or the other of the v bottom. Though once on one of those flat edges it happily sits there until you ask it to lean further. It doesn’t have that nice progressive feel when leaning it onto the side, and wants to snap over onto the top once it reaches it’s limit, but it was still comfortable to hold on edge.
Compared to the heavier Looska it moves out much easier, takes less effort to maintain the speed it wants to cruise at, and glides nicer. Though it wants to weathercock a LOT more. One thing that surprised me is that the Looska tracked straighter in general, despite the well defined full length keel line of the AH. However the weathercocking of the AH could usually be corrected with a bit of lean (which was super easy to maintain, pretty much “set it and forget it” thanks to the hull design), whereas the Looska when attempting the same thing wasn’t as responsive to that first little bit of lean and needed more effort and concentration put into getting the correct amount of lean and holding it there (not as easy to hold over a long distance, but it did weathercock less so I never had to do it all that long). I should note that while the Looska is equipped with a rudder I didn’t use it. Also the light breeze was usually around 90° to directions I was generally paddling. Honestly the Looska probably wouldn’t have weathercocked at all in those conditions if it didn’t have the rudder sitting back there above the deck.
Since I didn’t want to invite a swim by using a paddle that I wasn’t comfortable/consistent with in a boat I wasn’t familiar with, I opted to use another all fiberglass paddle (red blades) that’s about the same weight and length as the mystery paddle that came with the AH. Once I got comfortable with the boat and moved into water more than 2’ deep, I swapped over to the full carbon ONNO paddle that has absolutely spoiled me since I got it last year. With that featherweight power transmitter, the boat really scoots and I was able to keep a moderate pace with very little effort (which is saying something as I’m not an exceptionally conditioned, paddling athlete).
So I think once I get the Arctic Hawk fixed up I’m going to keep it awhile and likely put the Looska up for sale come summer. I don’t know that it’s a forever boat. I’d like something a bit easier to slide in and out of, with a bit more space around my feet, and preferably a drop skeg, but it’ll be fun to use for a season or two as an alternative to the solo canoe when it’s not appropriate to bring the dog along.
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Don’t know what you have for a seat in the AH. You might want to try a foam seat which may be lower to the hull and give you more stability. It will also give you a little more room to slide in.
With weathercocking (turning into the wind), this can be mitigated by moving your weight (or cargo) towards the stern. Depending if you have room for it, you can try to shift your seat back by an inch and see how that works to mitigate weathercocking. If you end with too much weight to the stern, you’ll end up leecocking (turning downwind). This is considered undesirable if you paddle venues where the prevailing wind is generally offshore and a leecocking boat will send you farther out to sea.
With a foam seat, you can use stick on velcro first to test out the location that works best for you before committing to a more permanent installation with Weldwood DAP cement.
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Don’t think I can get the seat lower, it’s just the thickness of the pan that separates my butt from the hull, maybe a 1/4". I may look into replacing the seat back with a back band though since there’s no way to get any support from it (it attaches to the pan with a pair of flexible rubber strips and doesn’t have a strap or anything to pull it forwards). The seat isn’t what gets in my way and makes entry difficult. It’s how narrow the cockpit opening pinches down to at the front and the thigh braces jut into that already narrow space just enough to make it extra difficult not to get hung up on them. I’ll figure out a way to slide in easier on the water with more practice, but it’s never going to be as easy as some of the other cockpit designs I’ve used.
As far as weathercocking goes, if I had a load in the boat (or some ballast) it’d probably have behaved better. I’m around 170lbs, and working to get back to the 155-160 range. So I’m right at the low end of what Nash Boatworks recommends for paddler weight for the AH’s they make (couldn’t find anything Wilderness Systems AH specific), which probably doesn’t help. It’s just got a lot of flat side showing above the waterline relative to the Looska, especially up at the front, so I think it’s just going to be the nature of it.
With the current seat setup I don’t think I can move it back at all. I might be able drill new holes and move it forward an inch, inch and and a half max, but I think even that’s going to cause fitment issues at my knees and feet (which currently while snug are comfortable enough). Easiest thing would be to experiment with some ballast first.
If this pic reflects your situation:
seems like you could move seating position back to adjust trim (and mitigate weathercocking). Guess you can’t do much about height of seat. But the sense of stability generally increases with seat time anyway.
Good luck continuing with this project.
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Close. That’s the seat pan I have, but they’ve removed the seat back and added a back band. With the seat back on mine it doesn’t leave me room to move it further back. If I switched to a back band like they did with that boat, then I could modify the mounts to move it back. How much would sliding back a few inches effect the trim in an almost 18’ boat?
Can make a noticeable difference. With my current boat, the Sterling, i did not like the way the bow was digging in on the down wave ride, leading quickly to a broach (side surf). I also noticed a tendency to weathercock in 20 Mph plus winds. While the kayak has a skeg, i dont like having to rely/use it. So, i carved the foam seat back by an .75". HUGE difference now with control of the boat on a wave. I described the overlong process in this thread:
The reason I thought to move the seat back is I had a stitch&glue greenland kayak, 17’x20", that was built for a heavier paddler than me. This kayak weathercocked more than I cared for. So, I moved the seat back and that mitigated the weathercocking.
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Good to know. Most of my boats are shorter and while I can notice some differences in how they paddle when trim is changed, I wasn’t sure how much of a difference to expect on a boat this long.