Paddling tips, tricks, news and gear reviews from an Unsponsored point of view
Getting a spraydeck that fits you and your boat is crucial if you want to keep the water out. All boats are different and all decks are different, so it’s important to do a little research on what deck fits your boat the best.
One of my favourite resources is Skirt Fit. It is an online database that contains most of the popular boats and decks that are currently on the market. It is well worth checking out.
Part I can be found here.
Part II can be found here.
Part III
Setting the correct feather of your paddle is critical. In the past I have always used an existing paddle and lined the new one up by eye. This can be hit or miss.
In order to set the feather correctly on this paddle I have decided to deploy a little bit of maths.
I want my paddles set at 35 degrees and I know that the diameter of my paddle shaft is 30mm. Using this I can calculate the length of the arc (this will make sense later on). I can rotate the two paddle shafts to match this distance and therefore set the feather angle. Continue reading
If you haven’t read MYOG – Split Paddles Part I then you can find it here.
Part II
The 27mm spigot arrived and I offered it to the paddle shaft and found it was a touch too big – less than 1mm at the most. Therefore half of the spigot that was to be fixed into the paddle shaft was sanded down with some aluminium oxide paper until I had a good tight fit. It’s important to try and sand evenly at all points around and along the spigot to prevent slop in the system later on.
I took the Recon out for another spin yesterday and took an allen key along with me. I spent the day lapping the Tees Barrage International Whitewater Course and making fine adjustments to the seat position each time.
Footrests play an important part in the outfitting of your kayak. They help keep you locked in place and also provide a level of impact protection. It’s therefore important to know about the key types of footrest systems.
Foam
Foam is probably the most common form of footrest system for smaller boats. Foam is shaped to fill the void within the kayak and form a stable platform for your feet.
A couple of weeks back I modified the outfitting system of my Wavesport Recon. The bolts that hold the thigh grips in place do not have a great deal of purchase – with only a couple of turns of thread holding the bolt in place. The condition of the brass insert in my left hand thigh brace didn’t look too healthy either.
The Whitewater Troubleshooter series is an awesome set of videos covering a wealth of information that all paddlers would find useful. I have posted quite a lot of them previously but I thought it may be useful to gather them all in one post. I have thought about doing something similar in the past but could never hit the high quality information, instruction and production of the following.
If you ever need to call upon the set of spare (split) paddles stored in the back of your kayak the chances are that it must have got a bit fierce for you to lose/damage your normal set. If that is the case your spare set must me up to the job. Having an inferior set of spare paddles may not be the best idea. However shelling out hundreds of £’s on a fancy set of splits is quite painful on your wallet. Now and again you can find split paddles on ebay.
A couple of months ago I started a search for a suitable paddle to modify into a set of splits. The tools for the job were assembled. 1 x saw, 1 x tube clamp/cut guide, 1 x tape measure, 1 x Vernier gauge (everyone should have one these!).
Today I spent a few minutes taking the care of creating my own spare set of paddles. This started by cutting a perfectly good set of Werner Wenatchee in half. The Wenatchee design is a superb symmetrical blade made by Werner in the late 90’s/early 00’s. This set cost £40 a few weeks ago.
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