I acquired an 2005 P&H Capella RM kayak. Unfortunately, it did not come with thigh braces or a skeg. It has a cable housing for the skeg. Has anyone installed a skeg? Is is something that I can do myself? Also, I called the manufacturer (P&H, now Pyranha) to ask about thigh braces. I was told that they do not sell thigh braces that fit the 2005 Capella anymore. Does anyone have a design around to retrofit other thigh braces? My other option is to borrow thigh braces from an older Capella and try to 3D print copies or at least measure the connections and make something work.
Finally, I was told that there are issued with the hull and the material and that they are prone to failure. Is anyone still paddling an old plastic P&H kayak that has the hull material that is gray on the inside and colored on the outside? Has it filed or is it holding up?
Thank you, your advice, suggestions and ideas are appreciated.
It looks like it had a skeg at one time. The slot and mount for the blade are there, and the cable hole is in the skeg box as well. Does it have the slot in the deck for the control knob? If you can find a blade that fits, it’s usually an easy job to install. All you’d need would be the blade, cable, tubing, and a knob for the slot on the deck.
I would check topkayaker to see if there are parts. Also, P & H has a FB group that is active as well as P & H Owners group. Depending on location, you could go to a local dealer (Northeast US would be River Connection or Starrkmoon) for installation help.
On thigh brace, you could make one out of closed cell foam.
Or with the screw holes already being there and looking pretty standard, you likely could get one from another manufacturer that uses similar and put in (with likely some minor adjustment or shimming).
The grey inside of the hull material suggests it’s Corelite instead of pure plastic, ie a sandwich of foam between thin plastic layers. It’s stiffer and lighter but less durable than a poly boat, but unless there’s long UV exposure it shouldn’t be worse than any other boat if it’s age.
EDiT: this p&h warning about pre 2004 capellas may be what people cite re: weak material:
