TV 19'1"- 32 racing pirogue

[tx river rat]

I would play with my seat height and also figure an extra padd and the inches it will add.
I would build a possibles box under the seat, moltrin, snacks, sponges,water, you could even mount a camels back under there and it is always handy.
I mount my seat leaned back just a tad , I can sit straight up and power paddle with the body twist or lean back and rest muscles with a different angle stroke.
Ron
PS The front of my seat in the T-V is level with the gunnels

 

[mosportsmen]

TRR,

I think I got it, yes a "box" The sides of the box will include extensions that will ride in my track attached to the bottom of the boat. Probably going to go with a 7.5 inch height. I will be adding padding from there that will range from 1 to 2 inches through the race depending on how I feel at any given moment.

I can see this seat mount design in my mind and i am ready to start on it. The necessity for perfection of four pieces of wood built separately being perfectly parallel makes me wish I had a good chop saw, table saw, and router table though. I think I am going to humbly pursue, hat in hand, finding access to these tools before I start attempting this with my bag of tricks.

Tom

 

[mosportsmen]

Just found me some true 1x6 rough sawn cypress. I think I got the wood for these tracks and seat bases now
UPS man left Wisconsin with my new plastic seats this morning about 4am if you see him on the road cut him a wide berth.

 

[mosportsmen]

Update on splash cover.

Wow met up with my partner for a training session yesterday. Big Corps Lake, 30 mph winds, partner drove 2 hours to get there, we gave it a go.

We survived. We speared 2 ft waves over and over the splash cover preformed very well, without it we would have been swimming.

Now I just need to formulate the splash cover for the middle and back. Waves hitting this boat from sides we pretty much bobbed over. We got a taste of what sea kayaking is like. We held pretty close to shore so don't worry bout my sanity. Not too good a work out but great test for the splash cover we only held up for about an hour and decided it wasn't worth the trouble we might experience.

Tom

 

[Kayak Jack]

Tom, as you design and make the rest of your splash cover, here is a caution. Do not seal yourself in so well that you cannot easily escape in a capsize. Cooke Custom Sewing has some pictures you may find helpful.
http://www.cookecustomsewing.com/canoecovers.htm
http://www.cookecustomsewing.com/solocover.htm
http://www.cookecustomsewing.com/tandemcover.htm

Good paddling.

 

[mosportsmen]

Nope, the design I am formulating is not too restrictive. I thought about making an actual custom spray skirt but it would actually be dangerous. The way I am designing it we will pop right out if we capsize. There is no way we could ever possibly accomplish a double ekimo roll even if this boat would do it, so no, we won't be locked to the boat.
I am waiting for epoxy to dry on my latest set of blocks with holes that will be glued to the sides to hold the cover stays. I think I have the positions along the gunnels where they will go planned out.

I have a hard top rear deck 90% built but I am starting to think about scratching that idea and just going with a soft top on the rear. Even thought how I could integrate a semi dry storage bag into the the rear cover. This would certainly push the limits of my sewing ability......can anyone say zippers? OH MY :shock:

Tom

 

[mosportsmen]

Got the middle section done.

I have not taken photos of how I attach the stays. They are just simple PVC water pipe. I made little blocks and drilled a hole in them to hold the pipe. I used 5 minute epoxy to stick them to the inside of the gunnel. I shot this photo before I put a cap on the front of the center cover. These covers will provide us with several benefits. The primary benefit is reduce wind resistance so the front of the cover goes to the floor to keep wind from getting under it from the front. The other benefits are sun protection and wave, paddle splash and rain protection.

 

[ZipSnipe]

Looks great , I'm just trying to see where your sitting in the boat,the rear?

 

[mosportsmen]

It will have two seats. I will be in the rear mostly. I should have pictured it with seats.

I just got the seat tracks that will be attached to the bottom for the seats to ride on. I am making new seat bases. These custom additions feel like they are taking longer to do than it did to build the boat.

Really want to get it done and hit the training hard. Got a little more accomplished this weekend......no photos though.

 

[mosportsmen]

Got the new seat bases and sliding tracks put in place.

The tracks and seat base sides are made of cypress I will probably put a thin layer of 1.5 oz cloth over the bottom of the seat feet and on the inside of the track.

 

[tx river rat]

Just a suggestion leave the cloth off and just put a coat of epoxy on the part. Second make sure you have a tie down system for the seats , you dump it and loose your seats you will be in a world of hurt.
Ron

 

[mosportsmen]

I could probably get by with just epoxy on this cypress. That is as far as I have made it on the seat feet. This 1.4 oz cloth I have fills easy though and will not add much weight and I think I have sanded the two surfaces enough that there is enough slop in the fit to allow for the glass.

Believe me I know about tying them in. Already dumped in the middle of the Missouri with her. We had a bit of fun holding on to seats and all the other crap we had. Lost half a kayak paddle, prescription glasses, and a cell phone got ruined. I am thinking just a check cord so they don't get separated from the boat in case of capsize. Whatever I do as far as tie down, I'm probably going to have to glue something else to the boat to tie to. I originally was just going to drill a hole sideways through the track, then I decided to cut a quarter inch off the bottom of the track to make them lighter and have a lower profile, then there was no room for a hole big enough to put a rope through.

Gave it a shakedown cruise last night. Worked good, seat position stayed solid while siting and was not too difficult to slide and reposition when I wanted to.

Next step will be end pours bow and stern to accommodate lights and rudder. I have the rear deck pretty much ready to install after that.

 

[Kayak Jack]

I made some tie down points for my canoe. You can buy rubberized ones that stick on, for rafts. I cut from a 1" wide slat, some 45-45-90 right triangles. I sanded them smooth and drilled a hole in the middle. I glued them to various points on the inside of the boat and could then lash down cargo.

A tether on a seat, or any other cargo, can become a dangerous entanglement in a spill, especially in a river current. It's my belief that is is better to contain the load (gear, fixtures, etc.) within the boat rather than to let it float out on tethers. I may change that belief in light new, convincing information.

 

[mosportsmen]

Right KJ, I am wanting to keep the tethers as few and as short as possible. Yep, little triangles or round blocks is what I was thinking too.

 

[tx river rat]

A screw in the side of the runners for the seat or a block with a hole will let you use a tie down that are half the length of your adjustment.
There is always a chance of tangling in anything loose on a boat so one of the things you need attached to your belt or PFD is a good sharp knife.
I cant believe you turned over a T-V, tell us what happened
Ron

 

[mosportsmen]

You do not have to believe I turned over a TV cause we really didn't. It never went all the way over, just swamped and rolled us out.

Long story short, a ten foot tall ton of steal river buoy disappeared right in front of us and reappeared just as we passed over it. Hit us in the side right at my hip, just the crane hook on the top of it hit the boat. It punched a little crack in the side of the boat.

The boat did stay upright, my partner was able to pull himself in over the stern and was ready to start bailing so he could paddle us to shore, when a fisherman with a motorboat came along to rescue us. he grabbed our bow line and just about had us to shore when he got hit with a glancing blow by a big head carp that proceed over his boat and back to the river, that is when he dropped our bow line and set us adrift once again down the big muddy. Got her pulled up on shore and dumped the water out before we saw the hole, we could have slapped a little duct tape on it and went on but we were so close to where we were taking out, the fisherman towed the boat across the river and headed out to try to recover some of our gear floating down toward Nawlins.

We got real lucky, if that buoy had popped any harder and a little farther toward midships it might have ripped her in half. Kinda made me wish I hadn't spent the money on fancy expensive paint, she took on a few deep scratches as well.

We survived and got one heck of a story to tell. The repairs weren't too tough.

BTW......I was NOT at the helm!

 

[tx river rat]

Dang fellow
That will be a story to tell the grandkids.
Ron

 

[Kayak Jack]

Mo, when you say that the large bouy disappeared and then came back up - WHAT was powering the buoy? Current knocking it about? Underwater current?

 

[mosportsmen]

Yep, the river level was at 19 ft. That is about 4 ft under flood stage. The buoys get pulled under in current like that. I saw it bobbing when we were quite a ways away (2-3 hundred yards) from it and warned my partner, then proceeded to move my seat cause he was complaining about the bow being too deep and having a hard time steering the boat. Little did I realize my partner did not have the same confidence in the stability of the boat I did and while I was rearranging things, expecting that he was watching the buoy and keeping us well away from it, he was in the back of the boat white knuckling it and watching what I was doing. When I got done messing with the seat, I looked up and asked "where's the buoy". I really don't know if he was guiding the boat at all while I was messing with the seat. All I know is the boat was exactly where and in a position that it should not have been. Can't understand how it happened.

 

[Kayak Jack]

I'm going to guess that you chose a different partner after that. A river that powerful is more than I've been on to date.