Centered foot braces for kayaks: new fitting

New fitting. Consisting of a rail and a slider unit.

A rail mounts to the kayak floor with epoxy. Raw material is a hardwood stick 3/4W x 1H x 32L". 3 lag screws are driven down into the rail 4.5" apart

The slider, a 10" long t-track, is the unit that moves over the rail for adjustment. A base 4" x 9" x 1/2-3/4" for the foot board mounts on top of the slider.

The foot board, 12" wide by 4.5" high by 1/4-1/2" thick, attaches to the base (glue or hinge). The foot board mounts at an angle of ~12 degrees. two wedges of wood attach to the base behind the foot board to keep the base-footboard joint stable.

How the slider moves over the rail: the t-track will slide over the lag screw heads on the rail. The screws endure some stress, but not as much as the rail.

How the slider locks:

• A cleat mounts on the stern end of the rail. The cleat holds the adjustment cord from the slider. It must endure stress at the bow end of the rail. Pluses: easy installation, infinite adjustment & rail can be shorter. Minuses: could slip if the cord is bumped & force is applied higher than the axis of the rail. OR
• The rail has notches drilled and cut per page 149 of "The Strip Built Kayak." The adjustment cord/cable is a loop that attaches to the slider. One adjusts by placing the loop from the slider into one of the notches. Pluses: may weigh a few grams less and may be less prone to slippage. Adjustment is less fussy. Minuses: requires more work to build. might be more prone to breakage if holes drilled too close. 1" adjustments only.

Note: rudder controls can be added consisting of hinged flaps atop the foot boards & cable wheels if you can find a source. front cable end attaches to front of brace, rear cable end attaches to rudder.

Cost:

1. rail: $3.51
2. t-track:

Weight of this rudder system:

Below, a picture of foot braces viewed from above.

Top: Keepers foot braces weigh 12 ounces w/mounting screws.

middle: Sea dog foot braces weigh 24.25 ounces w/mounting screws. The square shows how the footpad tapers such that one's foot tends to slide off.

bottom: Sea dog foot braces with rudder control weigh 29 ounces w/mounting screws.

My note to SEA LECT designs:

• I have Sea dog foot braces in my 23" wide kayak. love the adjustment and the sturdy build. But, on every paddle, when I put the pedal to the metal, I found my foot slipping off frequently during forward stroke technique. I removed the unit and saw the tapering of the unit toward the center of the boat probably didn't help. With the Keepers units, while not built to last, my feet slipped off but rarely. I don't want anything from you--this is just FYI. Part of the problem is my boat's 23" beam and my using the boat as a fast cruising vehicle. I am working on a widget to attach to the foot brace to improve the angle and the foothold. Again, the Sea dog is a huge step up from the Keepers and for most kayakers, the cat's pajamas.
• Thanks

Tax returns

Dropped in the mail: Jelly Baby and Babar

Deb N. does she need a kayak for the Manchester race?

Car washed. Mindless activity is therapeutic.

Epic has epoxy on all bare fiber, got washed. rigging being removed in preparation for refinishing.

Making bread for Vadim's Manchester race.

next time you finish a kayak:

find out how it would cost to have clear coated with two or three part urethane by auto body shop

But isn't' it just a kayak?

This old kayak

fiberglass inside of seam defect on L side of cockpit. epoxy coated bare carbon cloth on R outside of hull. taped bottom of hull outlining bare areas of carbon cloth.

planted one zucchini seed.

inspected Coho hatch cover hold down tabs for possible improvements, attached rear hatch cover to bungee bolt.

Dinner was pasta chicken choysum, sesame oil, soy sauce, pepper.

need buy fruit.

4th & 5th varnish coats on hull of the Tern 14

Yes, I applied a 4th coat of varnish in the a.m. and 7 hours later a 5th coat of varnish. It looks great.

I used http://www.walkjogrun.net/ to map out my kayaking route this p.m. 10.5 miles!??? Went to ride some waves on the Chehalis, but they kept rolling right under me after very brief rides. Perhaps I'd have more fun on the ocean? I'd paddled the Coho, as I have the Epic on disabled list for epoxy, fiberglass and varnish.Coho would be much nicer with centered foot braces, thigh support & maybe a rudder. I've never paddled a K1 but I keep hitting the deck of the Coho as if I was a K1 paddler. Have to be more careful.

This old kayak. The Epic got fiberglass on the crack and a layer of varnish on the worst part of the deck where I slap it with the paddle. Varnish makes it look great. Need to sand & varnish entire kayak. Also some epoxy to cover the bare carbon cloth.

3rd varnish coat on hull of the Tern 14

The Tern 14 is getting closer to finished. One more coat of Varnish on the hull, maybe another one or two on the deck, some deck fittings (bungees) back band, and foot braces. Also a sea sock.

I finally see the Epic Endurance 18 for what it has become, a worn out kayak in need of a rebirth, epoxy over the exposed fiber, then clear coat, paint or varnish over the epoxy.

It should stay off the water 'til I've rehabilitated it. I inspected the defect and saw that it was an 8-10" crack in the fiber just above the deck-hull seam. I sanded 1" to each side of the defect and splinted the hull until it was level with the deck portion of the seam.

Drove out to Brady's to paddle the OC6 with Joost Z., Vern, Janet and Mara. 42 minutes to get to Westport Marina with a small ebb tide. Big ebb to fight back to Brady's. Right arm is still too high. Keith said that towards the end of the leg back, he'd begin to lose his grip after 10 strokes. I see an idea there for a claw, that combined with a strap that can help the lower hand function as Nordic ski pole straps do.

Using http://www.walkjogrun.net/ I mapped the path we took to the Westport Marina. using the most direct path, we paddled about 4.12 miles-- /42 minutes= 4.9 mph. I should have brought the GPS, as I'm SURE we're faster than that. Our speed at Rat Island was 6.68 mph. I am certain that Keith and Joost are stronger paddlers than Bill and Bela, all else being the same.

Dinner of hamburger, potato salad & beans at Keith's place. Garden of blueberries, apples, some tomatoes, cherry. Saw his upside down tomato grower--top reservoir was planted in herbs. No water reservoir, does not self water. Discussed a solution to keep tomato plants watered: wicking as in self watering containers.

Email to keith:

The commercial self watering container (swc) product is the Earthbox @ $50 each. I have 7 eighteen-gallon DIY swc's (see http://www.seattleoil.com/Flyers/Earthbox.pdf) with strawberries, 5 with tomatoes, one with a sickly eggplant that I just evicted, one with yellow crookneck squash, one with Swiss chard and two with snow peas. My cost was about $6 each. so 17 boxes cost about $112 instead of $850 for the commercial swc. I also have some mini boxes that hold a gallon each with things like choy sum (Chinese veggie), baby carrots, broccoli (just planted), basil (just planted), more strawberries. I have grown lettuce in these and they have absolutely thrived, but would quickly drink the water in the reservoirs. Wicking works.

Eggplant Haiku:

It refused to Fruit,

It got the composting boot,

who's next?, zucchini?

2nd varnish coat on hull

Left, das boot. I applied the 2nd varnish coat on hull of the Tern 14. Looking quite nice.

Planted some basil from a 2004 seed packet. Hope something happens. Also planted a bunch of extra dwarf Choy Sum. I hope.

The eggplant looks pretty pathetic. It will lose its place in line to zucchini if it doesn't fruit.

This Old Boat. Got in the Wishkah w/ Epic 18 to work on my form--setup, catch, power, release. Paddle length seems right at 210 cm--maybe could lose 1-2 cm. I turned back after 25 min when I looked & didn't find 2nd water bottle--figured it fell into water near put-in. I thought, "If I was a bottle in the Wishkah River, where would I go?" After letting the boat drift near where I thought the bottle may have dropped, it didn't seem that it would have gone much further than the swirling eddies where the Wishkah dumped into the Chehalis. After not finding the bottle, I paddled down the Chehalis to ride waves. Then the rudder's left foot pedal fell apart and the wind blew off my visor. Rudder was impossible to control. I picked up the visor & rode a few waves, but the boat wanted to broach--I wondered how the Pygmy Coho or Tern 14 would have behaved. I nursed the 18 back to the put in and found my 2nd water bottle next to the car. Then while removing the boat from the car, I felt a breach in the seam between deck and hull on the left side of the cockpit. Boat repair time!

Foot pedal easily reassembled, but who knows how many thousand turns before it falls apart again?

Tomorrow for fiberglass repair of seam. Boat will also need paint or varnish--no big deal to repaint this boat, right?