Rigging the new kayak today. Most of this is my standard arrangement: Slide Lock foot braces, Snap Dragon back band, English bridle leather deck lines with HDPE toggles tied through the gunwales for a deck line you can TRUST to actually hold things in place and to use for rescue and carrying. There are a few new variations though and I’m really enjoying the fresh perspective that this latest boat is giving me on my standard deck line arrangement.
For this kayak I spread the line spacing on the back deck 4 inches wider than normal and slightly carved out the underside of the toggles to allow for the possibility of setting up a paddle outrigger regardless of what type of paddle you’re using. I like it so much I’m considering making it standard on all my kayaks. On the front deck I omitted the second set of deck lines and put both toggles on one set of deck lines close to the cockpit. In retrospect I wish I would’ve spaced these holes 1 inch farther apart as well. Further forward I added a bungee loop on the second beam to hold my one piece whitewater paddle on deck when I’m paddling with my Greenland paddle in calmer water. I’m not a big fan of bungees on a kayak in general but I could see this loop being useful for all sorts of things.
In the stern I added a drain plug just like on the last version and of course the lines at the ends are tied in a continuous loop all the way through the gunnels providing a rock solid attachment point for carrying or rescue purposes.
Overall the boat looks nice with a fully rigged finished weight of 34 lbs, Which is a lot better than I was expecting considering how much bigger this version is, how much more coating it has, and using stronger wood at key points to add toughness. I also added a few non-standard features which means that a standard version would weigh about 33 pounds. I still love the magic of a 30lb kayak, but I can live with 33, and all this tells me I could make a bulletproof version with a much heavier skin for less than 40 if I wanted to.
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