[Paddlewise] Cockpit Modifications

Hi Folks,

'Very glad to be a part of this new list.  Kudos to the list-owners for conceiving a
spam-free semi-moderated list without commercial contributions.  Thank you!!

I've been an avid sea kayaker for several years and am more or less continually
working to improve my skills, technique & gear.  My latest kayak gear project has
been to modify my cockpit for better comfort & performance.  I usually paddle a
Current Designs Solstice GT, but the procedure should work (with enough fiddling
around) for virtually any boat.  

I enjoyed the article in Feb '98 Sea Kayaker magazine which included instructions
for building a custom seat, hip & knee braces out of gray minicell foam,
self-adhesive foam and speaker grill fabric.  The author happens to live only a few
miles away, so I paid him a visit to get some more detailed info.  Yesterday I
"sculpted" the seat bottom & installed the back band.  Today I carved the hip braces
and will start on the knee braces as soon as I have more time.  Total cost for the
materials including a $45 back band was about $112, but you could probably do better
with a little shopping around.

'Haven't tried it out on the water yet, but I already have a very good feeling about
this.  The boat is *very* comfortable - not surprising since the "butt dimples"  :-)
 were carved to fit yours truly, and overall I sense a much better contact between
my body & the boat at 3 key areas - butt, hips, and knees/thighs.  All told, I've
spent about 8 hours on it so far and anticipate about that much again before it's
completed.  The old seat in my boat was an absolute bear to remove, due primarily to
some incredibly effective adhesive they used to glue the bottom in place at 3
locations.  I had hoped to remove the seat in one piece, in case I wanted to put it
back in but I actually had to cut it into pieces to get the thing out.

Ken, the author and local paddle guru, says "you won't believe what it'll do for
your paddling!"  I can't confirm that yet (give me a couple weeks) but, so far so
good!

Anybody here have experience with this?  Stories to tell?

Craig Olson
Bellingham, Washington
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