A shape not seen in a long time

That, was this yesterday,,,

This poor boat had been put together likely a decade or so ago and left that way. Most all the sliding bits are currently stuck bits and while I did manage to get the frame out, I also broke some of those bits. Access to metals and shop tools means this is a no worry area, but it also means more time between yesterday and her next time on the water.

Received some excellent news for me today: Doug Simpson, the founder of FeatherCraft and current cottage industry based supplier of parts for them, returned my query on available parts to bring this girl back up to par. Of her missing items, only one is no longer available and the rest are either in stock or being made still. Soon, she will have a seasock, skirt and thigh braces. The only thing missing that isn’t available; the backpack. Looking at the internal dimensions of the pack,(described in the owners manual, still available via pdf online) a military seabag should do just fine and likely give even more room for stuff. (Ya’ain’t gonna get that on as a carry-on Dio! Yeah, not without paying, but since I refuse to fly commercial while the Testicle Squeezers Association TSA exists, thats not a problem.)

So,,my evening project (🤣 get in line yak, ) is to finish disassembly of the frame, without breaking anything more, clean and lube the slidy bits, fix what I broke (mostly rivets holding guides in place.) And clean out all the old sand and mud from the skin. I mentioned in yesterday’s post that the frame flexes like you wouldn’t believe. Thats a good thing as the boat absorbs wave action and impacts gently, allowing a more relaxed paddle session. The down side is, ANY sand and grit that gets in (and it will, you can’t stop it) will slowly wear a hole wherever it gets between the frame and skin. More sand, more active water, faster wear.

So rinsing the boat out is imperative. Occasional takedown, cleaning, and lube of the small parts: essential. Even on my skin boats, that can’t be taken down; I flush them out after a few times on the water. You’ll get sand on feet, getting in the boat in shallow water will pull it in. Its unavoidable, but a simple chore to get out.Now.

About kayaks, but along a different line. One of my gripes about my own boats has been the seat, always the daggum seat. Don’t say much about it on here normally, but both Duh!kee and Serena have had several variations of backside padding as I figure out what works for a long day. (Those of you who have met me in person can attest that I don’t have a lot of padding in that area: I’m not joking when I say “my narrow @$$”. ) The K1 has a sling seat with padding and lumbar support. A set up similar to what is in the perception though in the perception the sling is rigid and fixed at coaming and keel. Since yesterday, I’ve been reverse engineering it (in my head) to something that could be adapted to Serena. Duh!kee has a fair decent setup now and she isn’t my expedition boat so I won’t mess with it. And I have oodles of scrap nylon left over from Serenas build. Good heavy stuff,,,Yet another project 🙄🛶🛶🛶🛶🤣

Oh yeah, took Duh!kee out today. Nice little summer shower while out and felt flat wonderful in 90° weather. Had a couple of fishing kayak types rush by me towards the put in, when it started and they tossed me some odd looks. Not having to worry about water getting in your boat because your wearing a skirt,,,, float bags, skirt, PFD,,,, vs: big plastic tub with huge open cockpit, no added floatation, and only a 16oz Mountain Dew bottle to bail with,,,, Yeah, I know what I’d rather be in, on any type of water and in most any weather (lightning being the exception)