Outfitting a surf boat is not for the faint hearted. It’s taken sweat, toil, an electric carving knife and rubber cement. Finally, after a year of experimentation, the boat is feeling snug in key places: (1) back, (2) butt, (3) thighs and (4) feet. How did I do it? For (1) I ‘fess up- I cheated- Brian @Alder Creek Kayak and Canoe (ACKC) installed the back band for me. For (2) I also cheated by buying a foam seat from ACKC. It had some hip pads that I glued to some sculpted foam that I previously glued into the boat. (3) Had me begging ACKC for some old dancer thigh braces. I chopped ‘em up and drilled some holes (yes, girls can use power tools) and after some cursing and additional foam additions they fit well. In addition I installed a Jackson happy “ram your thighs into the thigh braces” inflatable-bag-thing, which works really well. Finally, for (4) I spent many a midnight hour sculpting foam with an electric carving knife. I think i found the perfect fit in the form of feet “tunnels”. It feels good, now I just have to actually paddle with it to test it out.
