Replacing foot rails

Hi again all. It seems the rail for my left foot in my sirius has taken on the shape of a ‘bow’ lol. Guess I’m pushing harder onmy left side than onmy right. Which doesn’t surprise me seeing as how I have always felt much stronger on my left side rather than the right. I was wondering if anyone has replaced these parts in the their glass kayaks? Did you replace the rail with another plastic one or switch to the metal rail system? I have always had the plastic system inside…any thoughts?


Switch to metal rails!
I rented a kayak with plastic rails. The darned things flexed an unbelievable amount. I could even SEE the warping under only moderate foot pressure.



You can buy aluminum Yakima footbrace rails from places such as Newfound Boatworks. I bought a shorty (7" instead of 14" one-size-fits-all) rail from them to put in my wood kayak. No flex.

Easy to do and long overdue.

– Last Updated: Feb-15-05 3:23 PM EST –

Best thing to do is to join NSPN, meet nystrom and find out the date of the next boat outfitting workshop and put in a padded bulkhead.

Next best is to get yourself a hacksaw, cut the new yakima rest down to the bolt hole on one side till the hole for the bolt is hole is now a U and put them in.

The distance between the bolts is close but not exact enough for yakima and keepers and other brands to use the same holes. I got my footbraces from CRCK, CLC and newfound has them as well.

Your boat will be a touch heavier but much more reliable, and safer when it really counts.

I have lambasted high end british boat manufacturers before for putting these toys in "serious" boats.

Edit: my addled brain thought you were from Boston; I forgot! Must nap more!

Make The Yakima Switch…
I did it with two boats way back when. Wasn’t complicated. The drill holes in the Yakima doesn’t quite match with up the Keepers. What that means is that you line up the hole on one end with Keeper rails and then elongate or drill a new hole in the other to match up. The aluminum is easy to work with. Yakima foot pedals are rock solid. Sand does get in and make adjustments a bit difficult. But, if you’re the sole paddler of the boat, you won’t be moving your pedals around alot anyway. Actually, if you’re the sole paddler, you far better off with a foam bulkhead/footrest which is far more secure and comfortable. And, it displaces more water, if you ever have to pump out.



sing

Just to make sure I understand
I am replacing my sliding foot pedals (rudder obviously) with Seaward’s bomber gas pedal style system. The holes on the Seaward rail do not match my current holes. Just so I get this right, I should match up one of my existing holes in the hull with the seaward rail system and then drill a new hole in the seward rail system that matches my other existing hole (in the hull). Does this sound right? I like this because I don’t have to re-drill a new hole in my hull. I suppose if there is significant “overhang” from the new hole I drilled in the rail to the original hole drilled by seaward, I could just saw that off. Does this sound right??

Yes.
that’s it. With the new elongated hole, you may need a small washer just help tighten it a bit.



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Yakima
I swapped the plastic rails on my Revenge for Yakima. Very easy and a world of difference.