Another fix…
You can remove the pegs and rails then install them lower and where you want them. Fill the old holes with screws and you’re good to go. Not as comfy as minicel but cheaper and easier to do.
Minicell
>As gnarlydog mentioned earlier, that would take TONS of
minicells! Not to mention costing a fortune.
The more Minicell you need, the more I recommend this method, because your cockpit size is way too big. How far is the distance between bulkhead and your feet? Did you ever try to paddle with and empty your cockpit full of water? You can try it for 0 $$ with a block of used packing polystyrene, but need to replace it with Minicell.
grayhawk’s photo is quite similar to the one I posted
You comment doesn’t make sense
> The more Minicell you need, the more I recommend this method <
Why would it be more problematic that the extra space is in front of the foot peg than behind?
The cockpit size doesn’t change regardless where the foot peg is. The amount of water need to be empty is still the same whether the paddler have long legs or short.
When you have a 16’ boat, there will be 16’ of length. And a certain portion of that length is going to be the cockpit. This is a relatively narrow boat and have low deck. So the cockpit is actually relatively small compare to many other boats.
another explanation…
All of the space between the pegs and the front bulkhead is useless, it just increases the amount of water which decreases stability and needs to be pumped out, i.e. after a re-entry and roll. There are many boats with the front bulkhead placed too far away (to fit as many people as possible), they are very hard to handle if swamped. So all I wanted to say is with adding Minicell you get a comfortable footrest as well as a minimized cockpit volume.
yes and no
I appreciate the need of reducing cockpit volume. But this is a low volume boat. I NEED that space for camping trips.
In fact, the only reason I can camp out of low volume boats is because my body (legs, specifically) take up less space than an “average” paddler. So, filling that space with minicell is not an option, unless it’s VERY EASY to be made available when needed.
Furthermore, it would defeat the purpose if, after emptying out that space for gear storage, I’m left with un-comfortable footrest as soon as I setup camp…
(I usually put my sleeping bag in that space)
space betw.
pegs and bulkheads is not useless. I agree w. abc.
properly secured, lightweight things like, for example, a tent tarp (which gets wet anyway). Or a silnylon tarp like OR or MSR make for a kitchen canopy. I’m really liking that kind of tarp.
The key is to secure them so they don’t float out, even partway, and become entrapment. I like pack the tarp in a silnylon bag, inside a mesh bag, then hook it onto the back of the footpeg rail, some healthy inches from the pegs themselves. I’ve watertested this in capsizes to make sure it stays put and that I can do rescues by twisting back in. It’s never a bad idea to field test a loaded boat before the trip.
Cockpits for small paddlers’ boats are proportionately small. As said, there isn’t as much water to dump as in some of the big barrelled cockpits in longer, deeper boats. The day I can’t do that myself in my Fuego or Suka is the day I should stop paddling alone.
Our boats are also proportionately lower volume, so on occasion we will need to safely utilize all carry space. I prefer to enjoy a slim LV boat for 49 weeks out of the year rather than what is for me a barge for the occasional multinight fully self supported trip.
Modifying footwear, heel rests, and/or footpeg padding is way easier and doesn’t take away storage.
For me,
the space between the bulkhead and foot peg is just right for a sleeping bag!
I had to really squeeze the bag to get it pass the foot peg. So it doesn’t come out by itself.
I’ve been thinking of putting an air bag in that space when I’m not carrying camping gear…
sleeping bag
if it’s light and compact, and not too heavy that it would jar its way out, I could see the appeal.
I have done the wedge-it-in method and it survived a pretty good broach on a Lake Superior beach.
I just like the extra assurance of having it clipped in. Guess from my background it got drilled into me that if it’s not lashed or tethered on some part of the boat, it’s not secured. Don’t take that as a judgement, only an explanation of my methods.
I use a down bag for kayak camping so I am more cautious about keeping it dry. I squash mine into a Granite gear bag (some folks use a big Ziploc) then it slides muy easy into a full on drybag. Then it goes in a hatch. If this speaks to anything it’s my absolute love of a dry sleeping bag '-)
Anyhow the first things out of the boat I am looking for is tarp/tent/poles esp. if it’s raining, so having the tarp in the cockpit w. the poles snugged on one side of the skeg box on a pull rope saves time. I can make immediate shelter while the rest of the stuff comes out, which is more or less important depending on what I’m dealing with.
Again, I’m not trying to tell anyone how to pack other than to heed boat trim, think about rescue and entrapment, and prioritize what you need first. I learn more about packing w. every trip and there are many little tips learned from other paddlers.
As long as we humans are involved, nothing is 100% foolproof. The beauty is so many of us try and test different things and check in w. others. A
big plus of this board.
If you really
need that space, you’re right and Minicell is not an option. I’m from Europe and very much Brit influenced (aka keep it simple and safe as possible), I’ve seen people struggling with swamped cockpits, so this might explain this different point of view. However, I enjoy the more pragmatic, relaxed view on many things here 
Anyway, good luck with modifying the pegs. BTW - What type of LV boat are we talking about?
Dry sleeping bag
I too, value a dry sleeping bag (yes, it’s a down bag, otherwise it wouldn’t be small enough to have gotten pass between the foot pegs I don’t think).
On my very first camping trip some years back, before I knew better, I got it WET! Well, at least the stuff sack was wet anyway. Surprisingly, the sleeping bag itself wasn’t too wet. I realized, because I use a compression sack on the sleeping bag, it was squeeze to tight there’s no air in there. No space for the water to get deeper than the sack itself!
Now, I put the sleeping bag in a compression DRY BAG. So it’s double assured that it’ll stay dry.
I know a lot of people were taken aback when I said I put my sleeping bag in the cockpit, which isn’t dry even during the normal course of paddling, let alone potential capsize. But so far, it has stay dry despite being immersed in half an inch of water for a good part of a typical paddling day.
Avocet
– Last Updated: Aug-04-09 5:24 PM EST –
and contemplating go "down" to an Avocet LV.
Might these not help?
http://www.paddling.net/buyersguide/accessories/showProduct.html?prodID=222&manfID=61
Don’t think they would
Someone else suggested that earlier in the thread. So I looked…
The problem was I need a solid “something” to push my feet on. And the normal footpegs are just a tad too high for my size 6 feet!
So, it’s either (a) a simple layer of foam on the floor (without the fancy bells and whistlers) to RAISE my feet, or (b) a enlargement of the footpeg so it reach DOWN further.
So I’m looking for the simplest and most fool-proof way of doing one of those two. There had been some good suggestion mentioned by others. I just have to experiement with each to see which one works best for ME.