DGW Posted November 4, 2017 Report Share Posted November 4, 2017 Has anyone fitted thigh braces to a Shad? - or to any other SOF for that matter? I am accustomed to using thigh braces for edging and for rolling and would like to fit thigh braces to my Shad before sheeting it - but I am not sure how to go about doing that. Any ideas would be appreciated. I have finished my Shad frame and given it two coats of urethane. I am very pleased with the result and will post a FROG (frame on grass) photo soon. Cheers, Denis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy00 Posted November 4, 2017 Report Share Posted November 4, 2017 Denis: On my Ravenswood, I get enough purchase for edging with my knees under the edges of the (plywood) coaming. You can see the dirty knee print in the attached photo. The edges could be padded for comfort and/or a better hold, but I haven't felt the need for that. I don't know if this would be different with a laminated coaming. Coincidentally, I was doing a lot of edging yesterday as I paddled a couple of miles across the Hudson with a south (beam) wind in some beautiful early autumn weather. Second photo serves as evidence of that weather. Fair winds, Andy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kudzu Posted November 4, 2017 Report Share Posted November 4, 2017 While I never support alterations to the plans, you could easily take the lower ring on the coaming and cut it in a keyhole shape on the inside to provide knee braces. Then glue on some minicell foam and shape it to fit. I actually looked at this once, made a few drawings but don't remember ever cutting one out? Shad is pretty low volume so the deck is rather low. I am with Andy and just buy my knees in te deck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DGW Posted November 5, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2017 Many thanks for you advice Andy and Jeff. Do either of you roll your kayaks without thigh braces? I will do some more preliminary sitting in the unskinned kayak frame and see how I might feel about using the kayak without knee/thigh braces. It might be that I simply add some foam to the lower edge of the coaming as sugested. If I feel uncomfortable with that idea then I might take up Jeff's suggestion of modifying the shape of the lower ring of the coaming. On another note - Andy, your photo suggests that you have glued something to the fabric at the point where your heels would be resting when you are using the foot braces. Is that correct? That's a great shot of your boat on the shore of the Hudson Andy. It looks like a pleasant place to paddle. Cheers, Denis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy00 Posted November 5, 2017 Report Share Posted November 5, 2017 Denis: While I haven't mastered rolling, I've practiced some and feel that the knees are locked in enough for the maneuver. I can do a solid sculling brace on either side with no fear of the knees slipping. However, I understand if you feel the need for additional area to brace your knees for a bombproof roll. What you see in the photo isn't a patch but paint in the areas of heel contact. A couple of years ago, I noticed that the skin was stretched out a bit in those areas. I thought that I might be able to heat shrink the polyester without affecting the paint. I was wrong. So when I repainted the areas on the exterior I also painted the interior as a little insurance against seepage. If your curious to locate the little cove in the photo, google "Irvington NY" and you'll see it at the south end of Matthiessen Park. I launched from the opposite (west) side of the river. Cheers to you mate, Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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