> The foredeck has to be pretty flat to do this, but it's the best solution for > me --- nothing on deck that would challenge survival if lost, and a nice clean > deck --- except for the black deckplate. What I have done with my own design (It is easier to do up front rather that retrofit) is to use a small hatch in the deck immediately in front of the cockpit. If I did this again I would use a Kajak 6" hatch. The angles make it difficult to get your arm to the end of what I am describing with a 4 or 5 inch opening. Then I created a fiberglass glove box that is a little bit bigger that a big loaf of bread and glassed it to the underside of the deck. This actually runs all the way to the front bulkhead. This is like a knee tube but it opens up onto the deck. This provides a very convenient place to store things that are needed while kayaking, without having to violate your spray skirt. Problems are: 1. You need a fairly flat deck 2. People use the same area for charts and may perceive a "conflict" 3. Fiberglassing is not much fun and this requires some experience to create the glove box and then stick your head into the upside down kayak and actually glass it into place. Sized properly, it does not get into the way of your feet. Obviously this will vary depending on the height of your deck and the length of your feet and how wide you make the box. I never even know it is there getting in and out of my own boat. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Jan 23 2003 - 10:45:05 PST
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