Advice on outfitting kayak

[skoobi]

Hi im new to the world of kayaking and I was wondering what the best way to improve my comfort in tere... I currently have a dagger cortez 15' which I like but a long story short my knees are killing by the end of it and ive narrowed it down to either ive set it up wrong or I need to change it or do something with it. Are there aftermarket kee braces to be had??? or does anyone have an idiots guide to setting the seat and kneepads up... Also I was looking at th sweet cheeks inflatable seat. has anyone had any experiance with these on long trips...

Cheers

[Chris Bolton]

Hi skoobi,
Can you tell us a bit more about the problem? What position are you sitting in (legs straight, bent up, bent outwards, etc - and what angle are your feet at) and what fittings do you currently have? Is is pressure on your knees that's hurting them, or the angle they are at?
Generally you can sit fairly loosely and relaxed in a sea kayak, and only engage the knee braces if you need to edge it. Many people set the boat up so that they can change position - for example, I can put my toes on the footrests and my knees in the braces, or relax my feet straignten my legs.

Chris

[skoobi]

Thanks for your reply. Basically the Knee brace are curved and my knees are right on the edge of them when I use them. Just wondering if there were aftermarket ones which are adjustable.

[PhilAyr]

Hi Skoobi

The best way to go is to customise your cockpit with minicell foam and contact adhesive.

http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/290673179256?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&adtype=pla

Try sitting in your cockpit and mark the position of your knees/hips etc and cut the foam to shape with a knife and use sandpaper to fine tune the finished block. I use foam for my knees under the cockpit rim, for my hips on each side of the seat and a big block for my feet against the bulkhead. This is velcroed to the bulkhead and can be removed when required to double up as an emergency paddle float. I have removed the foot-pegs that came with the boat.

For normal forward paddling my feet rest on the foam block with my legs straight down the middle. I only adopt a frog leg position with my knees resting inside the braces when I want to brace or edge, or to give my legs a rest by changing position.

I have found that a customised cockpit adds to your safety and comfort and gives you extra confidence when confronted with bumpy conditions.

http://kayakfit.tripod.com/instructions.htm

http://kayakfit.tripod.com/

Phil

[skoobi]

Ah that sounnds like a good idea. Ill give that a go. Im still a complete novice and just need to practice as much as I can and more than likely its me doing somethiong wrong but ill be going on a cource end of this month to sort that out and get the basics learned :)
Cheers for all the replies

[skoobi]

One last question... And im probably going to be slated for it so before I do I know I know, hot and plastic... even while im typing this im wondering why im asking!!!

But has anyone tried using one of them Jetboil flash cooking systems while on the kayak... My reason for asking is in september I will be paddling accross to ireland for a sponsored paddle but even though I have a support boat with me who should be able to provide hot beverages and so on I was wondering if I was able to just do it my self providing the swell isnt an issue and conditions are reasonable (won't be crossing if its not).

Im assuming that the Jetboil system isnt going to get hot underneath so that should be fine and if something does go wrong I can roll the kayak lol... Just wondered if anyone else has done this and is it normal or not...

Cheers

[MikeB]

Have you ever heard of something called a flask? You cannot seriously be considering trying to boil water in a kayak, while afloat. I admire your plans to paddle to Ireland - - - -

[skoobi]

No not considering it and yep got my flask at my side always :) just saw that system and wondered if anyone had done it... Kind of guessed it was a stupid question when I wrote it but you dont know till you ask lol...

[MikeB]

There is an old story of some Inuit who, as they were cold, lit a fire in their kayak. The boat burned, it sank, they were drowned.

The moral of the story of course is that "you can't have your kayak and heat it". I thank you, and good night.

[skoobi]

Lol ye kind of guessed that one :) ...