new solo coming

[larry]

I've been researching and dreaming about new solo canoes for a quite a while, really ever since I bought my first one back in the 90s. I sold 3 of my canoes to help save for a new one. I have trouble deciding what to order at a restaurant, so went back and forth on several different canoes for well over a year. I thought long and hard about a Starfire, 15' Prospectors by a few companies, a couple Swifts, the Clipper Caribou to name a few that were in the running. I have an SRT and a Rendezvous that I will not sell, so I didn't think very hard about getting a new model of those two hulls. I will give a shout out to Charlie Wilson and Jerry Nyre who's input was very helpful. In the end I decided onto order a Northstar Phoenix in the BlackLight hull with wood gunwales. I have mostly bought canoes off craigslist and have gotten some great canoes that way, so the idea of a bran new canoe is pretty exciting and kind of hard to believe. I have visions of paddling it all over the continent drifting through my thoughts whenever I allow my mind to wander.

Now that I made a decision, I am beginning to wonder a lot about outfitting it. What to do about knee pads? Should I put in mounts for thigh straps, what about float bag cages? I do most of my canoeing on rivers in the west. My home river is the Yellowstone and it can be challenging in places especially in high water. I very rarely paddle anything over class II, but when I tip I appreciate the floatation and it helps shed some water in waves too. Or, would a canoe cover work, never had one before. More often than not my canoeing is day trips, but I try to do trips when I can (try to get a permit for the Smith River here in MT every year and you should too!) and hope to do more of them if I ever get to retirement. I would love to see photos of how the experts on this site have set up your solos. Thanks in advance for any ideas you folks provide.

 

[ShawnD]

So I will be of absolutely no help to you Larry but I'm very interested in the answers you get back because i have been toying with the idea of buying the same boat to use as a river tripper (only in IPX not Blacklite.) I have a Keewaydin 14 right now which will remain my flatwater solo.

Exactly the same questions about the best way to outfit it as you.

 

[Guest]

Now that I made a decision, I am beginning to wonder a lot about outfitting it. What to do about knee pads? Should I put in mounts for thigh straps, what about float bag cages? I do most of my canoeing on rivers in the west. My home river is the Yellowstone and it can be challenging in places especially in high water. I very rarely paddle anything over class II, but when I tip I appreciate the floatation and it helps shed some water in waves too. Or, would a canoe cover work, never had one before. More often than not my canoeing is day trips, but I try to do trips when I can (try to get a permit for the Smith River here in MT every year and you should too!) and hope to do more of them if I ever get to retirement. I would love to see photos of how the experts on this site have set up your solos. Thanks in advance for any ideas you folks provide.

Opinions on all those outfitting options and techniques will vary from paddler to paddler. I am far from expert in anything. My outfitting preferences are excessive, and aimed in part at comfort and convenience.

Knee pads. There are some very comfortable manufactured kneeling pads available. They tend towards the pricey, and I am not a fan of loose outfitting sliding around in the canoe. My preferred solution for kneeling pads is to DIY minicel pads, contact cemented to the hull. They are always there, I do not need to remember to bring a pad, and they do not slide around.

The minicel does not need to be very thick, half inch minicel works for most of my floor cushioning needs. For my purposes they do not need to be very large. Two ten inch squares, centered where typically knee need, allow plenty of movement. I am not doing freestyle funstyle stuff facing my work at the gunwales, so I do not need padding half way up the chines.

I just round off the corners of the minicel squares, and bevel the top edge of the minicel to lessen sheer forces that might peel them up. Three timed coats of contact cement on the bottom of the pads, two on the hull, when the last coat is almost dry hit both surfaces with a heat gun or hair drier and press with carefully aimed instant adhesion.

Thigh straps. I have only had straps that came with one used WW canoe. And with one used flatwater canoe, an Independence, but that is another story.

I do not paddle serious WW and have never considered installing them in any other boat I own. I do not see the need or enhanced functionality in Class 1, 2 waters, but I do not kneel much, or for long, in any case. When seated straps are kind of in the way, and maybe an additional entrapment hazard.

Float bag cages. Absolutely. Most of our larger solo canoes are set up to accommodate either shortie end bags or larger bags that fill the bow and stern more fully, which in my installation methodology means using four strategically positioned D rings glued to the floor. Gflex epoxy works fine for vinyl pad D rings on any hull surface. It helps to lay of bead of Gflex around the perimeter edge of the vinyl pad once set in place. Those same D rings are of course helpful in tying in gear on trips.

The float bag lacing itself can be accomplished in a half dozen ways, via scalloped gunwales, P clips, webbing loops, drilled hull or etc. My preference is for any methodology that allows the lacing to be easily removed and reinstalled, so I can more easily switch between lacing for different float bags and no lacing when carrying a full gear load.

In my uses that lacing and relacing convenience eliminates using drilled holes in the hull. We have a couple too short for tripping canoes, designated for downriver day use, with through hull lacing, I always use the bags and never take that line out, it is too much of a PITA to unlace or relace in any use.

Personal peccadillo that makes me shudder, an open canoe with float bag lacing but no float bags. It just looks ugly, awkward, unnecessary and, without the bags, more prone to hanging up in some strainer. Just nope.

Whatever lacing method you use, any thwart or carry handle machine screws through the gunwales can provide a stout, already there, tie down point.

I just DIY attachment points with a short length of 1 inch wide webbing. Fold the webbing over, melt a hole at the folded together ends with a 20 penny nail heated over a touch to form a sealed 3 16 hole and put that loop on the machine screw shank end before reinstalling the washer and nut. That is about a stout a tie down point as you can achieve, and required no additional holes.

Canoe covers. Some people hate them. Some love them. I am in the latter camp, but only with partial covers, from the bow back to the front thwart, and from the stern up to near the rear thwart, leaving an easy access and egress paddler opening in the middle.

P1220458 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Near the rear thwart, I like keeping some space between the seat back and rear partial open for easily accessible day gear storage while paddling. I do not like keeping gear between my feet or legs.

P1220459 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

On multi-day trips I often only use the front cover. The wave and splash drainage is appreciated, as are the paddle pocket and straps, and on hot sunny days it stays cooler under the bow cover, in part from shade and in part from ambient water temp on hull.

P1220457 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

OK, I am definitely partially in the spray cover camp.

This link is long, and photo heavy if light on detailed materials, process and technique, but includes almost everything I install outfitting wise on a solo canoe. I am admittedly a comfort and convenience wuss, and this is considerably more outfitting than most paddlers want or need, but may give you ideas.

http://www.canoetripping.net/forums...35-mad-river-freedom-solo-outfitting-marathon

 

[Waterdog]

Larry,

Thigh straps can really be an asset in white water, but for class 2 white water I agree with Mike in that if you're not going to be kneeling 100% of the time they could be a nuisance. I only have one canoe outfitted for class III-IV white water (Mad River Outrage X-flotation, pedestal, foot pegs) and the main reason is so that I can roll the canoe. IMO, for Class II, I would only consider them if you are planning to play in the hydraulics such as front/side surfing. If you're running straight through and eddy hopping down, I'd skip them. I think canoe covers are awesome and could help shed waves, but would not be a replacement for float bags if you think you need extra flotation. My current boats don't have a good cover so I'm hoping to get one for my Bell Rockstar this year at least.

Keep us posted on that boat. I've shortlisted the Phoenix as a local day paddler along with a couple others (SRT/Colden Wildfire). A Yellowstone trip report would be cool too!

Barry

 

[pblanc]

If I understand correctly, you plan to use this canoe for both day trips and overnight trips on rivers. As I'm sure you know, rapidly moving flat water can be just as dangerous as whitewater. For river tripping on anything more than a very placid, slow-flowing stream, I prefer to set up my canoes for the possibility of a capsize and the need for a self-recovery. That means securing gear in the boat with some sort of "bag cage" lacing long enough to accommodate the load. I will then usually use a pair of short tandem end bags at the stems where you don't want to place heavy gear anyway.

As for bag cage lacing, I find that 3 mm nylon accessory cord works very well, and I prefer the variety made by BlueWater as it seems to hold up better than the typical paracord. You can certainly use P-clips or nylon "inchworms" secured to the gunwales to lace the cord, but with wood gunwales, remember that any hole is an entry point for water, which is typically what kills ash. Placing anchors on the inside of the inwales usually results in them being in an inconvenient location. Placing them on the underside of the inwales gets them out of the way, but now when you invert the canoe with any water in it, the water runs to the underside of the inwales and into the screw holes. So nowadays with wood gunwales, I prefer to drill holes through the hull, just beneath the gunwales.

It is a PITA to lace and unlace cordage repeatedly through holes drilled in the hull, as Mike says. If you plan to do that, an alternative is to drill pairs of holes closely spaced at intervals and through each pair run and tie a small loop of accessory cord through which the transverse lacing can easily be threaded.

G Flex epoxy will certainly work to secure vinyl backed D rings. I prefer to use vinyl adhesive, however, which will also work on composite hulls. Vynabond used to be the go-to vinyl adhesive but is no longer made. HH-66 and Vinyl-Tec 2000 are substitutes that work well. The simple reason that I prefer these is they will not damage your hull to the extent removing epoxy might if you ever need to replace, remove, or reposition the anchors. Contact cement will generally not provide enough adhesion for any anchor or device that is subjected to a tensile force.

I avoid securing any gear to anchor points up towards gunwale level. It is very convenient to attach stuff to thwarts or loops secured using the machine screws that mount thwarts, yokes, and seat frames. But any otherwise loose gear secured that high will likely hang out of the boat if you should capsize and will make it much more likely to hang-up, maybe in a place you can't easily release it from. Other than bag lacing, anything I secure in the boat is attached to anchors on or near the hull bottom.

Thigh straps certainly do increase control but only you can decide if they are necessary. It is always possible to attach the anchor points and remove the straps if they are not felt to be needed. There are a wide variety of thigh straps which can be quickly and easily installed or removed once the anchors are in place.

I also prefer glued in kneeling pads. Freestyle canoeists who like to move around in the boat, or those loathe to glue stuff to their boats prefer the large, loose pads and they work fine for kneeling. But if they are not secured to the canoe, they may float off if you capsize. If you do secure them in the boat, a large pad is once again likely to hang out of the boat and present an entanglement issue. I, like Mike, use minicell and glue the pads in with contact cement (DAP Weldwood flammable variety). I like to construct a bumper along the inboard edge of the pads. This can be done by cutting a length of minicell with a triangular cross section and gluing it to the top of the kneeling pad along the inboard edge. This helps to keep your knees from sliding inboard.

You did not mention painters. Although it is somewhat controversial, I prefer to have painters attached to both stems of my boat. I use short ones, no longer than the length of the boat. Although it is quick and dirty to tie one end of the painter around a carry handle thwart, I think it is much better to have them secured to grab loops going through the hull above the water line at both stems. Either synthetic rope or webbing can be used. I find webbing to be a bit more comfortable if the grab loop needs to be used as a carry handle. When placing your holes for the loops, take into account the length to which the loop will hang down and place the holes high enough so the loop does not drag in the water. I like 5/16" or 3/8" kernmantle constructed floating rope for painters. If the deck plates are large enough, I stow the looped painters on top of the deck plates with shock cord threaded through holes drilled in the plates. If the deck plates are too small to allow this, you can secure them beneath the bag cage lacing. Just make sure they are stowed in such a way that they don't come out on their own if you capsize, but can easily be pulled out if needed. There have been multiple incidents in which I had to self-rescue with a capsized boat in whitewater.. With a painter, I was able to free enough painter to be able to swim into any eddy, and then pull the boat in out of the current behind me.

I have never used spray covers and know little to nothing about them. I have heard they are good in the wind and to keep splash out of the boat. I do not find that flotation bags, even large and fully inflated ones, keep splash out of the boat. Any water splashing on top of the bag just runs down the sides to the bottom of the hull. Flotation will limit the amount of water that will enter the boat, but even if you use so much flotation that there is only room enough for you to enter the canoe, when fully soused the boat will still hold enough water that it will be very heavy and difficult to control.

 

[dogbrain]

Hi Larry - Good luck on finding the right boat and welcome to Canoetripping. The Yellowstone is my river too, it's just 2 blocks away from my home in Livingston. My favorite local river is the Jefferson though. I can't help much with the outfitting question, but just thought I'd introduce myself. I put in for the Smith River this year, so we'll see if my number comes up this time.

Mark

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

It wasn't clear to me what the Phoenix would offer that the SRT doesn't, but then I saw the weight. That would make it worth it. My SRT probably weighs 45 pounds.

I'm a kneeling paddler 90% of the time on easy flat water and 100% of the time in whitewater and windblown lakes. Here is how my SRT is outfitted.

You can see the kind of knee pads I like. I strongly prefer half inch neoprene over minicell for flat pads. It's softer, springier and less slippery when wet than minicell. A lot of top whitewater kneeling paddlers agree with this. If you want to make cupped knee pads, then the much stiffer and carvable minicell would be preferable. I'd only recommend knee cups for a dedicated whitewater canoe. On a flat water or mixed water canoe I like to be able to move my knees around -- up the bilges and sides for heeling the hull, and forward to pitch the bow down to enhance stern slide turning.

I like thigh straps for any situation that has gnarly waters: river rapids, waterfalls and windblown lake waves. Straps make me feel more secure and in control. My straps have Fastex side release buckles down near the dog bone D-rings. The long ends of the two straps are attached to the seat drops, and when not in use they are stuffed tightly between the seat drops and hull as in the picture. There is no entrapment hazard. (The seat is the danger.)

You can see a small D-ring on the bottom near the stern and there is another near the bow. They are positioned to be lash down points for 30" end bags. (Wherever possible, I prefer D-rings with small ABS plastic bases to those with round rubber bases, which I think are ugly.) I make a bag cage with line strung through the slotted gunwales. If you don't have that important feature, other posters above have explained alternative lashing options.

My painters can be stuffed under the Bungee Dealee Bobs I string through the deck scuppers. I also have two BDB's on each of my thwarts, which can attach paddles, poles, fishing rods, sarissas, packages from Mike McCrea or whatever when portaging, or to serve as clip points for any sort of gear.

Bucket seat cushioning is being discussed in another thread, but I've never found such cushioning to be at all necessary for my adjustable Deal kneeling bucket seat, even for all day paddling. The bathtub traction tape prevents sliding on a wet seat and covers some bolt heads. I sit about 10% of the time on calm water and have installed a Wenonah aluminum foot brace to assist hit & switch paddling leverage. I keep some spare wing nuts, regular nuts and washers in a small Ziploc bag inside the foot brace tube. I've experimented with putting pipe insulation on the foot brace, but have decided it makes most sense for barefoot paddlers, which I'm not.

The plastic base on the thwart in front of the seat is a Garmin attachment to clip in my GPS.

I have two short loops of cord on opposite sides of the canoe strung through gunwale slots forward of the thwart and out of the picture. That's all I need to securely clip-attach my WindPaddle sail in eight seconds.

 

[Jatfomike]

Great Thread! And timely for me. I picked up a Phoenix last May after a Winter of research and a little luck. I am a novice solo paddler and told myself I would hold off on any outfitting until the following season to give myself time to get used to the boat. The first change I am making is to raise the seat. It came from the factory with low seat drops for sitting. Too low to get my size 12s under. If I have done it correctly, there should be a link attached here for a review on the Phoenix by Cliff Jacobson last October.

Mike

Ok, the link is confusing. At least to me. Click on the photo and that will take you straight to the blog review.

 

[larry]

Thank you all for so much good advice. I couldn't figure out how to respond to individual comments. I will go through Mike's link to his post on his outfitting more slowly before making any big decisions. I do think I will hold off on the thigh straps for a while. I have them on my SRT and Rendezvous and like them when the waves start splashing in the boat but don't really use them very often. I drilled holes in my Rendezvous for the cage and the SRT came with plastic loops screwed in. I would have a hard time drilling into the new BlackLight hull but I like the way it works in the Rendezvous and appreciate the comments that the loop screws allow water into the wood. I would like slotted gunwales, but not an option. I struggled with screwing through the deck plates for painters on the SRT, but did it. There isn't really a deck plate on the old Rendezvous, so I stuff them under a cage line when the float bags are in. I like having painters to grab onto and pull out of a bungy. I have mini cell for knee pads on both my old solos, but have read some people like neoprene as Glenn uses. I do like bigger pads so I can move my knees around more. I was real interested in how Mike, I think said, he trimmed his mini cell so it wouldn't lift up. That happens to mine and never heard of that. My SRT has hard plastic D-rings glued to the bottom by Hemlock. I like those better than what I have in the Rendezvous. I will put something in to tie down packs at some point before my first trip. Although, I figure to use the SRT for any rivers that are very rocky at least for a while, until the 'new' has worn off the Phoenix a bit. I had not seen BDB's before and will be picking up a few of those for sure. I enjoyed seeing how your SRT is outfitted, Glen. Where did you get your cover, Mike? Or maybe you made it. Thanks for introducing yourself, Mark. I would do a lot more paddling if I knew some local people to go with. I have done the upper Yellowstone above Livingston a couple times and really like it. But, most of my day trips have been between Livingston and Billings. I bought maps for the Jefferson and have wanted to learn it, but haven't yet. I was thinking it might be a good river to try early this summer. Good luck with the Smith draw. I like your sliding seat, Glen. The Rendezvous has one and I use it a lot to trim. It is attached to the hull, though, and I think that leads to more damage when you drag over rocks, compared to the way your hangs. I guess I will end this comment here, but thanks again for all the shared knowledge and experience.

 

[Guest]

I was real interested in how Mike, I think said, he trimmed his mini cell so it wouldn't lift up. That happens to mine and never heard of that. My SRT has hard plastic D-rings glued to the bottom by Hemlock. I like those better than what I have in the Rendezvous. I will put something in to tie down packs at some point before my first trip.

Contact cement application is probably the most important aspect of minicel adhesion. One reason for the timed multiple coats of the glue, beyond the first coat vanishing into the minicel, is that the application of the second and third coats shows where the minicel is still contact cement thirsty. On the hull, where the glue is not being absorbed, the second coat is insurance that the entire area is covered, especially the edges.

Er, a little beyond the traced edges, in case my aim is off a wee bit. Both sides really need to be contact cement to contact cement.

And then heat gun, aim and press, clamps or sandbag weights for several hours, or until the next day.

Actually I do more to the edges of minicel pads than just round the corners and bevel the edges. After the clamps or weights come off I run a bead of Plumbers Goop adhesive sealant around the edge, where the bottom of the minicel meets the hull.

I think that little bead of sealant helps keep water, dirt, sand and grit from infiltrating under the minicel, which will definitely hasten edge lift.

I do the same Plumber Goop thing with the edges of mincel knee bumpers. With D rings I use a tiny paint brush to apply a bead of Gflex around the edges of the vinyl pads for the same reason.

I have not yet needed to remove a vinyl pad D ring that I installed, on the RX canoes mostly with Vynabond and the composite boats with epoxy. I may someday regret that epoxy adhesion if I need to remove or replace a D ring, but I always have Gflex available in the shop. Knock wood.

Where did you get your cover, Mike? Or maybe you made it.

The partial covers on the Wilderness were made by Cooke Custom Sewing. The raised lip drainage baffle and curved open ends are of cunning Cooke design. I like them enough that I had a similar set of partials made for the soloized Penobscot.

Again, even a partial partial is handy. Just the bow spray cover, reaching back to the front thwart, serves a lot of purpose. Rain, spash, wave and spray shield, paddles plural pocket, even some shade at times.

Dan later made a simple snap on center storage cover for the open paddler seat area on Penobscot, so that I could leave my paddling gear dry and safe in the canoe in tripping camp. I do not need to flip the canoe over, which I would not do with the covers on anyway, nothing gets wet in wind driven rain, or blows away or need be secured remote from the boat.

I liked that simple center storage cover adaptation enough that Cooke Custom Sewing is currently making one for the Wilderness

To some of Petes excellent suggestions.

Gear secured low is good. Most of our solo canoes have four floor mounted D rings. Or twice that in actual Ds, I like Northwater double D rings. These, in Nylon D.

https://northwater.com/collections/d-rings-anchor-rings/products/1-inch-double-d-ring-anchor

Glued in knee pads and knee bumpers, absolutely. Those are a near weightless additions, and easy to DIY.

Stem loops, and quality painter line, absolutely. I have stopped leaving good painters attached to the canoes stored outside, even high quality line degrades in constant exposure. I am slowly moving, and replacing, most of the painter lines with high quality floating rescue rope. Those painter lines are also my sized for boat length bow and stern roof rack painters, so the less exposure the better.

Those replacement painter lines are stored in boat length marked Ziplocks, and I attach them to the stem loops, before I tie down the canoe.

Drilled hull holes spaced closely together with an accessible cord loop tied between would be preferable to making additional holes of any kind in wood gunwales. We have one wood gunwale canoe, an old glass Independence, and it has no lacing availability in any guise.

I am wondering if I might, instead of drilling twice as many holes paired close together for cord loops, just drill single 3 16[SUP]th[/SUP] holes and use a pop rivet to attach webbing loops inside below the inwale.

I could spread that webbing loop load by using flange head pop rivets, as are used with some foot braces. If four of those wide head rivets will hold a foot brace then a couple dozen on either side of bow and stern oughta secure a float bag.

One thing I especially enjoy about wandering discussions on Canoe Tripping, I often end up with projects I had not thought about before. The Indy is heading for shop sawhorses eventually, but it is third in the wings at this point.

 

[Holmes375]

Mike, I used that Plumbers Goop trick o' yours when I put kneeling pads in my Magic the first year I got it. At the beginning of the second season I decided I wanted my pads a little larger in both directions - not much, just a little. I've become pretty good at removing contact cemented minicell pads from all kinds of boats over the years.... and then I met the Plumbers Goop! By the gods that stuff is durable. I does work well and makes one's foam add-ons rather bomb proof but make sure you have things as you want them before you apply that final touch. I still use it but I make a few runs with any new additions before I "set things in stone".

 

[Guest]

I glue in cut out and beveled 3/4" ensolote camping pad material. I make two pads and leave a center gap to slide my feet under the seat. I glue them in with clear silicone caulk. If done rite it holds forever but can be pealed off without a trace with a little work. I have bought and sold a lot of solos,so the pads have been removed by several new owners that don't want them.

 

[Guest]

Mike, I used that Plumbers Goop trick o' yours when I put kneeling pads in my Magic the first year I got it. At the beginning of the second season I decided I wanted my pads a little larger in both directions - not much, just a little. I've become pretty good at removing contact cemented minicell pads from all kinds of boats over the years.... and then I met the Plumbers Goop! By the gods that stuff is durable. I does work well and makes one's foam add-ons rather bomb proof but make sure you have things as you want them before you apply that final touch. I still use it but I make a few runs with any new additions before I "set things in stone".

I usually have some paddling time in the canoe to find my marks for minicel padding on the floor and for knee bumpers. And then some seat time on the shop floor to make certain I have things positioned correctly. And later more shop floor seat time for custom shaping the knee bumpers.

Having a thick foam pad I can put on the floor below the hull makes those test sits easy. If I am working on a friends boat having them hop in and out a few times is a near necessity for custom outfitting.

One thing that should have been glued down minicel obvious, but was not, is pads, plural. Years ago when I install my first minicel pad I saw no reason not to use a single wide piece of minicel, similar to the removable pads from manufacturers. I did not foresee the tightly glued cofferdam the pad edges would create in the bilge.

Having the drip and splash water contained behind the edge of the pad was unhelpful. There was a half inch deep puddle where I might set a day bag to get something out, which was more of a problem when I went to put the day bag back and dribbled over everything. And the constant water soak did not help adhesive longevity.

One also obvious thing with Plumbers Goop. That stuff stores well over time in the tube, but the applicator nozzle is a necessity for future use, and needs to be thoroughly cleaned after use. Any Goop left in the narrowing nozzle end or the threads is the enemy. I lay out pipe cleaners to run through the nozzle, and a couple scraps of paper towel to run across the threads before I even take the cap off.

I have not had to remove, replace or or reglue any Plumbers Gooped pads, which may say something about having an adhesive sealant edge. I guess I would turn to the same tool I use in removing old, badly placed or poorly installed minicel on a used canoe. A pliable thin bladed 1.5 inch metal putty knife, with the corners rounded off so I do not gouge the hull, and some judicious heat gun and slow pull action.

The worst thing to remove has been the residue of construction adhesive previous owners used to glue something down. The adhesive is often stucco sharp, and Hard as Nails is a apt description. Its grinder and belt sander time.

 

[Guest]

I use the plastic window installation tools I have a lot of from my mechanic days to remove the silicone from the hull. They really save the fingernails.

 

[Holmes375]

I use the plastic window installation tools I have a lot of from my mechanic days to remove the silicone from the hull. They really save the fingernails.

Yup. We called them windshield bones in my body shop. Useful for so many things.

 

[Guest]

I use the plastic window installation tools I have a lot of from my mechanic days to remove the silicone from the hull.

Yup. We called them windshield bones in my body shop. Useful for so many things.

OK, I am Google curious about exactly what this window installation tool is or looks like. These things?

https://www.dkhardware.com/tapered-...MIv7b4tueq2QIVmMDICh0EHg2MEAYYASABEgKtU_D_BwE

Is there some pliability in that tool to better conform to concave surfaces, especially minicel up along the chines?

Looks worth a try.

 

[Holmes375]

That's the critter. Mine are white but it sounds like that's the only difference. I'm guessing they are made of a nylon composite of some sort. They are fairly stiff thus the tip won't conform much under normal pressure. The only flex is along the length of the tool and its minimal. Very easy to re-shape the tips in various configurations though. Good for working cloth in inner stems and other similar places. I took one and used a round file on the ends to create a kind of edged scoop to remove glue from the channels alongside the foam panels in some composites. Nice for making smooth fillets. Also very good for boning leather given the ease of tip shaping and they can be sanded to a very smooth finish.

I think you'd find them very useful in your shop.

 

[Guest]

we threw away dozens as they came with some window glass and gaskets.--wish I still had them.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Instead of drilling two holes for each cord loop for anchor points for the bag cage, you can also drill just one. Then, simply run the cord in/out through the holes in one long strand, and slip the cage cord under the inside parts of the cord in such a way that tension keeps it up against the holes (a zigzag pattern works for me). It leaves cordage showing intermittently on the outside of the hull - but, who cares? I'll have to see if I have some pics of the Prospector rigged this way.

Glenn - I like your bucket seat idea. Any current source? I now have a Mad River Guide that needs outfitting, and I think all of this thread is applicable. Also - where are you finding neoprene stock?

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Oh yeah, Glenn - is that seat on a slider?