New touring kayak

I just bought my first touring kayak. Been doing whitewater kayaks and canoes for a bit.



It is a 15’6" custom wood boat that has been glassed.



I have a few questions. The boat is pretty bare bones, it has a back band, but no real seat. I use a cushion right now, but my feet fall asleep. Also coming from a WW boat I feel lost without foot pegs. How can I outfit this boat to do overnight trips. attached is a pic.



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/TCXJWAGONEER/Touringkayak.jpg



Tommy

Minicell foam seat
Here are some links on making your own seat out of minicell foam:



http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/551103741WbWdUH



http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/62890111LevzQW



http://kayakfit.tripod.com/instructions.htm



Here’s where I got my minicell foam:

http://www.sweetcomposites.com/Minicel.html



-Rich

Necky touring seat pad
Or for about the same money as a piece of quality minicell foam with some luck (may be a bit more), get a ready-made Necky touring seat pad. You can try one installed in their touring kayaks in a store and if you like it, get one online.



I bought one locally for $30, which I thought was a pretty good deal - istalls really easy with included velcro strips…

Nice
Do you have a link for the necky setup? I am open to make my own, but 30 bucks would be a good deal.



Tommy

Outfitting


Footbrace studs if you don’t want to through-bolt.

http://www.pygmyboats.com/mall/HullGear.asp



More footbrace & outfitting stuff:

http://www.pygmyboats.com/mall/HullGear.asp

Simple Seat

– Last Updated: Jul-20-08 1:29 PM EST –

We use a seat based on on the Thermarest mattress - very simple, very comfortable, in our VOLKSKAYAKs. There's an item at
http://www.nessmuking.com/seat
that explains how it's done.

I've also just installed SeaDog foot pegs in my VK, easy to install and adjust - seem to work just fine - really like the large sized footpads...

Redfish kayaks
Sells a pre sculpted minicell blank.



http://www.redfishkayak.com/foam.htm



And definitely glass in the Pygmy footbrace studs mentioned above.

easiest way to comfort
Jackson Sweet Cheeks.

Footbraces
How important are the foot braces? In WW i can’t go with out them, how about in touring?



Tommy

To paddle efficiently -foot braces
To paddle efficiently you need to be pushing against something with your feet as you paddle to anchor your body for torso rotation.



You can make footblocks out of minicell foam and cram them in place, or velcro them to the bottom of the boat so they are more easily removed. This is pretty common for surf kayaks.