[Paddlewise] Bulkheads and footrests

snip. Does anyone know of any instance of a bulkhead/footrest failing, i.e.
the
bulkhead pushed out or a foot pushing through?
PT.snip

The footrests that came in my Arluk 1.8 were large rudder pedals, hinged at
half their height, and mounted on rails. I was always suspicious of their
strength and finally managed to blow them while on a steep face in surf. The
through-hull mounting bolts popped, and I slid down into the cockpit until
the whole sorry mess was stopped by the foam bulkhead. The following
desperate roll was of a style never seen before, or practiced since!

As a result, I built a new rudder, bombproof (anything short of
thermo-nuclear anyway) rudder pedals with crossed cables, a foot pump and I
also moved the bulkhead as close as possible to my feet.

I gained more comfort, better control, safety from the pump and reduction in
flooded area, and more storage space in the front compartment. I should have
done all this anyway, but it took the near miss to hurry the process.

As an aside, several years ago I assisted with an army sea kayak course,
during which we were given a new double that a manufacturer wanted to test,
before selling it to rental operators. At the end of the course we stopped
at his workshop, and he was keen for feedback. It was generally good, but
the weak foot pedals were commented on. The maker was horrified, and asked
how we had broken his stainless steel and kevlar works of art. At that point
we introduced him to one of the participants, a sergeant in the SAS who had
thighs larger than my waist. He had simply straightened his legs and
destroyed the lot. Better my friend than my enemy.

Cheers

John Kirk-Anderson
Banks Peninsula
New Zealand

***************************************************************************
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/
***************************************************************************