merijn wijnen questions: <snip> Q. I will have to modify the boat a bit. First thing is mounting a compass. Has anybody experience with building a compass recess in an existing deck? And what brand of compass? A. Unless you are prepared to cut a recess into the deck, then the best course of action is to mount the compass (doesn't matter what type/brand, as long as it is compatible with your mounting methodology) on a mounting board that ties down or shock cords to the deck. There are a number of commercial units that do this for you. You might want to look at the Current Designs compass mount. It requires cutting a whole into the deck, then caulking/glueing in an ABS plastic compass recess that holds the compass. No fancy fiberglass work needed, but unfortunately, the compass mount only fits certain decks and I don't think the typically fairly flat VCP decks would work, but perhaps if you check their web site you might get some ideas. I would have thought that a Nordkapp copy would have had a compass mount molded in someplace. There have been three mounting recesses used over the years to fit the Silva compasses. Q. I still am thinking about deck layout, as there are few lines on the deck now. I might ad a running bowline, but am not sure if it is worth the effort and clutter on the deck. A. You need something in my opinion. I don't paddle with people who don't have some deck lines and some kind of bow painter. My choice of course. For me, it signifies the person hasn't thought through their various rescue permutations. It may not be you who needs to grab a deck line either. Q. Third change is fitting a knee tube. Doughs knee tube with deck acces seems a quite good solution. A. 3 mm plywood mounted and sealed box style with epoxy is a quick, cheap solution. Pad as necessary. A true round tube also works well, and requires less fabrication. A closed tube with top entry involves a lot of fabrication unless you have a flat fore deck. Q. I want to mount a handsfree pump. A footpump seems the most interesting solution, but I have rather limited room for movement with my size 13 feet mounted on my long (1.94 m)8'6'' body. I am worried if I will be able to pump for a long enough time. The other solution is an electric pump, but reliability is the problem in that quarter. A. You can still mount a foot pump, but will have to use a sideways foot pumping style, as opposed to leveraging the pad of your foot from the heel. The stock VCP hand pump that mounts on the fore deck with a separate handle rod that you stick into the pump (the handle is usually tethered) isn't a bad option. While not hands-free, you can easily get a few strokes of the pump in between waves, while still holding the paddle with the other hand. 8' 6" body, eh? I'd like to hear your fishing stories. :-) Q. Last job is changing the rear bulkhead. It is mounted far aft of the cockpit, and I would like it more to the front. Is it a good idea to skip the rear bulkhead at use the seat instead? That would limit cockpit volume very much. A. The hot setup theses days (other than the Aussie alternative) is to mount a bulkhead with a slight curve in it (picture taking a flat bulkhead, then holding each end left and right, then pushing the middle with your knee to give you the shape I'm referring to). This curved bulkhead is then glassed in just behind the seat, but at an angle than would match the angle of your lumbar area if you sat in the boat and leaned back a bit. This aids water drainage for rescues, and helps dissipate stress risers along the hull. With a bit of room (a few inches) remaining behind your lumbar area, you can still mount a backband and shock cord a paddlefloat to the back of the backband. Q Last question: I am used to work with epoxies (I build recumbent bikes with it). Is it possible to carry out modifications on a polyester boat using epoxy, or should I stick to polyester? A. I use polyester resins and matt or cloth to fabricate actual parts, but all repairs, mounting of parts, etc, are done with epoxy. It is the only way to go for the home shop. Professionals can do very good post-green work with quality polyester resins, but epoxy is very tenacious at bonding, and is easier to get good, permanent results for most of us, as is not so temperature/humidity/correct catalyst amount, etc, dependant. It also seals wood the best. Doug Lloyd (who will probably make his own mold one day, combining characteristics of the Romany, Nordkapp, and Mariner, complete with a properly designed deck layout, recessed coaming, recessed paddle mounts, etc) *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). 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>merijn wijnen questions: > >Q. >Third change is fitting a knee tube. Doughs knee tube with deck acces >seems a quite good solution. As Gabriel mentioned, I have a page that shows how I put in a knee tube and a bilge pump tubein under my deck. http://www2.bitstream.net/~pmaun/kayak/outfitting.html I like this solution and it has never gotten in the way. I've had a Henderson footpump sitting on the shelf for almost two years now. One of these days I'll actually install it. But even with a foot pump, I think it is a good idea to carry a backup hand pump. Stowing it under the deck keeps it out of the way and readily accessible. I'm just sad I won't be able to knee tubes into the Khatsalano I'm getting for my move to the Netherlands ;-) -Patrick *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Valley sells the mounting recess for the Silva (Nexus) compasses. Just cut the hole and glass it in. cu *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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