Re: paddleing

Posted by Mac on Oct 13, 2004

Peter,

I too, hated the idea of drilling the hull for foot braces - especially the risk of getting them wrong. I toyed with the idea of the circular metal internal braces sold by CLC, but as I'm in a foreign country and was in a hurry, I decided to use some scrap okoume and cut eight 2 1/2" disks - drilling four with holes the diamenter of the bolt head, and four the diameter of the threads. The first four were the thickness of the bolt's head and therefore provided for a flush mount. Once the eight little assemblies were epoxied and cured, I bolted on the rails (snug - not - tight) and then epoxied the pads in place inside the hull. Held em there with the kayaker's secret weapon - packing tape - ha! (thought I was gonna say Duct Tape eh? which would also work. Just that I'm always afraid of that grey stickum coming off).)

At first I worried about the strength of this method - well I've litteraly "stood" on the pegs doing silly things all summer with nary a creak. If you think about it, the stress is spread over a considerable area - more than just the bolt heads for sure.

Not having the bolt heads on the hull's surface sure made for easier finishing.

The only downside to these internal attachments is that you loose some space for your splayed feet - I'm thinking of our discussions regarding us Big Foots in a WR18. (If I build a WR I'll try to position the foreward bulkhead back where I can eliminate footpegs alltogether.)(Then the boat will be mine - ALL MINE!)

Enjoy the rest of the season - which is way longer in a yak than any other small boat!

Best....

In Response to: Re: paddleing by Peter on Oct 12, 2004

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