Brian said (snip): >I had it out this weekend and everything fit well --- except the coaming behind the seat. When I try to lay back on the rear deck, the sharp edge of the coaming cuts into my back (the coaming is not recessed into the deck). I tried to pad the area with closed cell foam, but that doesn't really help much --- It compresses too easily. I'm considering grinding away the hard 90 degree edge of the coaming (at the back of the cockpit) and then fiberglassing over the area to create more of a 45 degree bevel. Any other (lest drastic) ideas would be appreciated.< I find the VCP kayaks all have rather tall back cockpits inhibiting lay back's on the rear deck. I remember some footage taken of Goodman reintroducing Greenland kayaks to the Inuit. The one fellow in the video got into a Nordkapp, and it was almost as if he had never been in a kayak before (this guy in particular was an expert in skin boat kayaking too). When J. Babina designed the OuterIsland, he partly derived some of his inspiration from the Nordkapp, but made sure he modified the back deck/rear cockpit to incorporate better lay back potential (he's spoken with me personally a few times on this matter). The VCP kayaks are all fairly similar. I find it a real issue with the VCP kayaks, being both detrimental to good capsize recovery and can be injurious exiting big surf. I was not aware, however, that the Pintail had a hard edge on the rear coming, though it does sit high as stated. Perhaps other Pintail drivers can accommodate your question. I'd give the foam another chance however, and go with a dense layer first, followed by a more supple secondary layer. You may find yourself pushed a bit more forward, so the trim of your kayak will have to be considered. I'm toying with the idea of an article for Seakayaker on rear cockpit lowering modifications (like Shawn's), skeg builups (like Duane's), and such. Lowering the back deck cockpit rim and recessing it can be a big job, as I know from my wife's Huntsman. You could also try the instant foam technique, using expanding foam to form around the edge of the rear cockpit, then cover it with supple material. As far as lowering the seat, yes, laybacks would be a bit harder, and paddling a little less efficient, but you don't have to keep your bum fully on the seat during a layback -- if the back rim is softened a bit more than what your current state of affairs is. Doug Lloyd Victoria BC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ "Whatever can be said at all can be said clearly and whatever cannot be said clearly should not be said at all." Ludwig Wittgenstein ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ *************************************************************************** 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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