eric1978 Posted October 6, 2009 Author Posted October 6, 2009 Turns out the seat is perfect. Sat in it about 6 hours straight today with just two bathroom breaks. No aches, no pains, my butt's not even sore and I don't need a pad. I think it's the perfect height. Comfortable, yet pretty stable, although I did almost eat it once today on a ferry gone wrong. Very manueverable, tracks pretty good. Overall performance to expectation rating: 9/10. I can't say enough good things about this canoe for only $400! Paddle was perfect, too.
Al Agnew Posted October 11, 2009 Posted October 11, 2009 Eric, I love your rod holder! I might do something similar myself...it would be nice to have the rod handles out in front of the seat thwarts instead of lying on them. As for the seat, it looks comfortable and the mounting job is well done. However, I think I agree with RS in that a seat that deeply molded might limit your movements a bit. And I would have kept more room under the seat in order to place my battery box tackle box under there. Just for everybody's information, Piragis Northwoods is now selling a cane seat that is shaped pretty much like the molded butt seats.
eric1978 Posted October 11, 2009 Author Posted October 11, 2009 Eric, I love your rod holder! I might do something similar myself...it would be nice to have the rod handles out in front of the seat thwarts instead of lying on them. As for the seat, it looks comfortable and the mounting job is well done. However, I think I agree with RS in that a seat that deeply molded might limit your movements a bit. And I would have kept more room under the seat in order to place my battery box tackle box under there. Just for everybody's information, Piragis Northwoods is now selling a cane seat that is shaped pretty much like the molded butt seats. Al, Yep, the seat isn't perfect. The molded butt does keep you pretty much sitting straight forward, but you can turn to face another direction a little bit for short periods of time. It doesn't inhibit any torso or arm movement, which is really all you need to make one last cast behind you to that awkward spot. If I were to do it over again, one thing I would definitely do differently is use 6/4 or maybe even 4/4 Ash for the seat thwarts. The 8/4 is totally overkill, and just takes up space and adds weight, so lesson learned. The seat is durable and dryable and quite comfortable, too, and I'm happy with it overall. I will say, however, I think my modifications are probably prettier than they are practical, even though they work fine. The same results could have been accomplished with an oak 1X10 and a sitbacker, but I enjoy woodworking, so no big loss. I still have more room under the seat than the factory mount gives you, and I'm still in the process of rigging up a storage unit under there. There is enough room to fit two Plano boxes, one deep one and one standard size one (not sure about the numbers) which is plenty of tackle for me for even a week-long float. The rod holder works really great. I keep the rod I'm consistently using on the holder, and keep the other rods resting on the thwart on the other side.
eric1978 Posted October 12, 2009 Author Posted October 12, 2009 Nicely done! All you need is an anchor.... I thought about that. What do you guys use? In warmer months I've always just stuck my leg out to hold myself in place, but when it's cold and I'm not wearing the waders...
Al Agnew Posted October 12, 2009 Posted October 12, 2009 I rigged up an anchor system by attaching an anchor cleat (one of those things where the anchor rope runs through a hole in a swinging structure so that when you pull on the rope it comes through the hole freely and as long as you keep tension on the rope it will go out, but when you let it go the structure swings down and stops the rope) to a 1X6 board with an eyelet on the outer end for the rope to run through after it comes through the cleat. I attached this to the end cap of the canoe with bolts and wingnuts. I used a doubled length of rubber-covered chain for the anchor. It worked well, but I eventually decided it just wasn't worth the hassle of attaching it and operating it. I used it mostly for winter fishing to hold the canoe is slow water. It can be quite dangerous, especially in cold water periods, to use an anchor in any kind of faster water, by the way--if it gets stuck in fast water it WILL swamp the canoe!
RSBreth Posted October 12, 2009 Posted October 12, 2009 I use small chine anchor in Winter sometimes- and like Al said, never in fast water - the rope runs through a small eye-bolt on the stern, and I tie it off to a small quick clip cleat mounted to the gunnel right behind me. In summer or for floating I use a small mesh laundry bag filled with rocks for an anchor - easy to fill or dump out if I have to portage.
eric1978 Posted October 12, 2009 Author Posted October 12, 2009 I use small chine anchor in Winter sometimes- and like Al said, never in fast water - the rope runs through a small eye-bolt on the stern, and I tie it off to a small quick clip cleat mounted to the gunnel right behind me. In summer or for floating I use a small mesh laundry bag filled with rocks for an anchor - easy to fill or dump out if I have to portage. Think I'll wait until summer to play around with the anchor. Getting swamped in winter would be a real drag.
Members Sherwood Flycaster Posted October 23, 2009 Members Posted October 23, 2009 Wow....I rarely get to lookin' this far down on the topics list. Glad I did! Those are some freekin awesome mods, Eric. And I too am totally diggin' the rod holder(no need to mention how awesome that "stuff" pouch is as well!). Now you have me wanting to "recreate" my Penobscot! Maybe to do so will get it our more often.....thanks for inspiring! Oh, and I kinda like the camo......I wear mine all the time. Did you make that beer bag yourself or find em somewhere?? (You hearin me, Patfish?!) Three-fourths of the Earth's surface is water, and one-fourth is land. It is quite clear that the good Lord intended us to spend triple the amount of time fishing as taking care of the lawn. ~Chuck Clark
patfish Posted October 23, 2009 Posted October 23, 2009 (You hearin me, Patfish?!) Yeah, I hear ya, but what do you want me to do? I'm not having a baby. I don't have canoe to modify.... and I'm not modifying yours just because I'm unemployed. Did I miss something? Other than that I totally dig E's canoe. Oh and SF, do you know what they call a guy who wears camo in the city?
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