I am new to my kayak hobby. I have rented kayaks in the past. I bought myself a Riot Edge 14.5 this past Christmas. I haven’t taken it out yet. I’d like to be more experienced before I get near cold water.
Unfortunately, my wife passed away the week of Thanksgiving. I think being on the water will be good therapy for me.
My question is about this used kayak I recently purchased. It’s about 12 feet, and is marked with “Mystic” and “Aquaterra”. I haven’t found much about it with a Google search.
What do I need to do with this cockpit to make it a little comfortable?
The boat is old, dirty, and scratched up real good. But is otherwise in good shape. For $90, I think I got a good deal and it included a paddle and skirt.
It will make a good creek beater that I’m not afraid of scraping on the rocks, or a spare for anybody who wants to paddle with me.
If the plastic has not become brittle with age and UV exposure, it should work fine. Back in the era that boat comes from kayaks were much longer, narrower, and faster than today’s whitewater boats. In the early days of whitewater creeking, paddlers used long, pointy boats like that because that is all there was. Today, for any serious creeking, most paddlers would consider a long, pointy boat of that type to be too hard to turn, and posing too great of an entrapment risk.
Today’s boats have outfitting that has much more adjustability. With that boat, the thigh braces are fixed in position. You will not be able to move them forward or backwards. You might be able to move the seat pan forward or back a little bit by loosening the two machine screws on each side of the cockpit that secure the side walls of the seat pan. Or you might not. On some seat pans, the machine screws go through a slot that allows adjustment and on others they just go through holes. If you loosen the screws be careful not to loosen them too much as the nuts on the underside may not be “captive” and if they fall off, you will have a heck of a time getting them back on.
Apart from that, any additional customization of the outfitting will likely be limited to glueing in some minicel paddling with contact cement. You can by a thin minicel pad in the shape of the seat to provide a bit of cushioning. Some thin 1/4" thick minicel padding on the underside of the thigh braces might help. If you want better control you can buy some pre-shaped minicel hip pads to glue onto the seat pan side walls. These would be especially important if you plan to roll the boat.
Does the boat have functional foot braces? If not, you can buy and mount a couple of Perception “Keepers” adjustable foot braces.
For back support you might be able to purchase and install a back band (Immersion Research is a common brand), or cut and shape a large block of Minicell foam for the purpose.
This hull design looks very reminiscent of the River Runner R5 I owned for a (very) short time. Maybe all plastic kayaks of that era looked the same. I couldn’t tell you, as I was way too young to care at the time. It was pretty easy to come across information for River Runners, and owing to the similarity you may find some useful information there.
I do recall that the tracking on the R5 was notoriously “squirrely”. There was a fixed skeg that could be slipped onto the stern that provided a much easier paddling experience for flat water.
Regarding your picture, I can’t help but give you a tip on car-topping. Your bow and stern straps should go to the front and rear of the vehicle rather than the rack system. Not only does this give you a secondary connection to the vehicle if your rack system fails, but at highway speeds and in high winds (or both combined) it will keep the bow of the kayak from lifting and putting excessive strain on the rack system. Not too tight, now. Especially in the hot sun! Just snug or ever so slightly loose.
@Sparky961 said:
For back support you might be able to purchase and install a back band (Immersion Research is a common brand), or cut and shape a large block of Minicell foam for the purpose.
This hull design looks very reminiscent of the River Runner R5 I owned for a (very) short time. Maybe all plastic kayaks of that era looked the same. I couldn’t tell you, as I was way too young to care at the time. It was pretty easy to come across information for River Runners, and owing to the similarity you may find some useful information there.
I do recall that the tracking on the R5 was notoriously “squirrely”. There was a fixed skeg that could be slipped onto the stern that provided a much easier paddling experience for flat water.
Regarding your picture, I can’t help but give you a tip on car-topping. Your bow and stern straps should go to the front and rear of the vehicle rather than the rack system. Not only does this give you a secondary connection to the vehicle if your rack system fails, but at highway speeds and in high winds (or both combined) it will keep the bow of the kayak from lifting and putting excessive strain on the rack system. Not too tight, now. Especially in the hot sun! Just snug or ever so slightly loose.
Thanks.
I figured somebody would call me out on the tie down. I know better.
It was a spur of the moment pickup. I hadn’t looked to see where it’s going to tie on the front and back of vehicle, yet. And, I didn’t want to spend too long in the nice people’s driveway. I stayed off the highways this time.
I’ll definitely figure it out better before the next transport.
@Allnicksgone said:
Thanks.
I figured somebody would call me out on the tie down. I know better.
Well, at least you put more than just the belly straps on. I see kayaks on the highway all summer long that are just waiting to slip out the front with an emergency braking maneuver.
Again, using the River Runner for comparison, I probably could have launched that off my roof a few times and only ended up with a scratch or two. Now, the people that get it embedded in the rear window of their car… that’s another story.
Immersion Research back bands are quite good but a bit pricey. If they cost more than you want to pay, SEALS has some cheaper padded back bands. A minicel block shaped to your posterior and notched to fit into the rear vertical minicel pillar will keep you from sliding backward off the seat pan. But it won’t give you much lower back support unless you make it big enough to extend above the cockpit coaming.
Interesting boat. Aquaterra was the separate division that Perception set up back in the early 80’s as a brand for their touring kayaks to distinguish them from the Perception line of whitewater boats they were best known for. Apparently Aquaterra was another small rotomold plastic kayak maker that they bought out in the early 90’s. But that “Mystic” you have is clearly a classic old school whitewater boat, along the lines of the Perception Quest, Dancer and Mirage. I’ve owned a couple of the vintage Aquaterra touring boats but have never seen a whitewater with that marque. So it must have been made by Aquaterra BEFORE they were absorbed by Perception, which makes your boat around 30 years old.
Yes, you can make the seat a little more comfortable with a back band or minicel foam. But you also need to make it safe by using inflatable flotation bags in the bow and stern, which don’t have bulkheads like your Riot does. If you capsize without them, the boat will fill with water and sink or, at the least, be extremely difficult to empty and get back into if you are a distance from shore. And you need to be aware, that as a boat designed to be maneuverable on fast water, it will not track as easily as the riot and will be slower on flat water. It will be a good “creek beater” as you say. But probably not all that good as a “buddy” boat as they would have trouble keeping up with you. It may be a snug fit for some people.
Whereabouts are you in western PA? (sorry about the Steeler’s loss today, BTW). I’m in Pittsburgh, east end, and sometimes paddle with somebody who also has a Riot Edge – nice boat. There are several local kayaker groups on Meetup if you are looking for paddling companions. My favorite nearby day paddles are the Mon from South Side to the Braddock Dam, the Yough from where it feeds into the Mon and upriver to Boston, and several different launches on Lake Arthur. For moderate creeking, Red Bank along Route 28 is nice, also French Creek. The book “Paddling Pennsylvania” is a useful basic guide with useful information on area waters. You can get guided instruction from Performance Kayak in Belle Vernon .
I live near Hopewell in Beaver county. I am about 10 minutes away from Raccoon Creek State Park. There is a nice, smaller lake there that will be good for trying out the kayaks and getting them adjusted.
I’m about a minute away from a launch point for Raccoon Creek. And I’m close to the Ohio River.
I have joined a couple groups on meetup, and look forward to joining in on some paddles.
If I need a buddy kayak, I’ll take the old one, and give the buddy the riot. Then stick to smaller lakes or short distance, slow paddles. The mystic can be tricky to get in and out of if your not used to it.
For securing your bags, or other gear in the boat, a simple trick is to use a short piece of small PVC pipe as long as your vertical foam pillars are wide. A piece of PVC pipe can be pushed right through the pillar. Pull out the minicel “core” and you can pass a length of nylon accessory cord or paracord through the pipe and tie the ends on to the lash taps or grommets of your bags.
It is kind of hard to find front flotation bags for kayaks these days as modern whitewater kayaks generally have no room for them. But in a long boat like that, it is good to have some forward flotation. If you swim and the boat swamps, without front flotation the bow will fill with water and wallow. This makes the boat much more likely to hang up in the shallows and much harder to recover.
Harmony Gear still sells some bag sets with front float bags.
You can also stuff the bow and stern with lengths of hard foam pool noodles to displace water and aid flotation. But you need to find a way to secure them in there or they will float out in a capsize. If you are ever traveling and spot an outdoor shop that appears to carry kayaks, check and see if they have any flat bags kicking around in stock. So many outfitters are shifting from kayaks to stand up paddleboards that they are often anxious to get ready of kayak accessories at any price. I was in one such store out in California last Spring and they sold me 3 touring kayak spray skirts, each worth $60 to $100, for $20 each. They also had a big pile of split and standard flotation bags for $10 each. if I did not already have float bags for all my skin on frame kayaks I would have bought some of those too.
small toy beach balls also work- mostly inflate and push in with feet past the pegs so that they’re real snug. Racheting backbands are great addition and improvement. One thing I don’t like about my Mirage is how hard the seat is. That’s something you might want to pad out as well. You’ll know after being in the boat a few hours if its worth the effort. to make your boat more comfortable. for your bottom Truth is, I just don’t like sitting in my mirage for more than an hour or two- getting soft as I get older.
It was pretty easy to come across information for River Runners, and owing to the similarity you may find some useful information there.