Re: [Paddlewise] retrofitting bulkheads

From: Alex Ferguson <a.ferguson_at_chem.canterbury.ac.nz>
Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2001 09:04:41 +1300
>Why do so many designs have/show the bulkheads so far forward/aft?  ... 
>inordinate amount of extra water (read weight) in a flooded cockpit?  ...

Seems to be a North American thing as glass boats here commonly have the 
seat making the aft bulkhead as far forward as the middle of the thighs and 
up to the coaming.

>Ralph Hoehn: I based a tortured plywood I built a few years ago on Chris 
>Kulczicki's "Yare" design. This design has a reputation for relatively low 
>stability and a wet ride. In both cases this reputation is deserved in my 
>experience.

But what a good boat for increasing skills.

>As it is, even when rolling ("practising "inversion recovery" ;-) without 
>spray skirt, the resulting water in the cockpit does not destabilize the 
>boat to what I wold consider a dangerous degree.

Becuase or at least on mine, the lowest point until at least at 45 degrees 
is the keel, water in the cockpit stabilizes the kayak i.e. more stable 
with a partly flooded cockpit.

My aft bulkhead is always vertical, maybe I sit more upright than some 
people? The seat is also a foam block (held in by a webbing strap) which 
fills that volume. I can unclip the seat to clean out the cockpit.

Alex
.
.
Alex (Sandy) Ferguson
Chemistry Department
University of Canterbury
New Zealand

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Received on Wed Feb 21 2001 - 12:09:03 PST

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