C-Forum

I just got my BigBoy in yesterday and I'm trying to get it all set up and had a few questions for those who may have set one up allready.

1) Does the saddle come out or is it epoxied in the boat? I've undone the 4 bolts on the floor of the boat and the pillar braces (which are held in by unslotted carriage bolts that did a lovely job of making thier holes larger when they spin, note to Marco - use regular standard or phillips head bolts instead of the carriage ones) and the saddle still won't budge.

I was hoping to get it out so I could widen the seat and attach anchors for thigh straps / lapbelt, which is my next question.

2) Where are you guys making the hole on the hull to anchor your straps? There dosen't seem to be a flat area large enough near the cockpit itself. Are you making the anchor point down further along the side of the boat (around 6" below the cockpit rim)?

Thanks,
Marshall

For the saddle, I'm not sure if it's epoxied in or not...if it's plastic, it won't be, but if I recall the BigBoys were to be composite....

For the straps, if it's a plastic boat, the upper straps I attached through the "decK" area near the cockpit rim (but far enough away that a skirt wouldn't abraid on it), just to the "rear" of what the "center" of the cockpit would be (in other words just to the right and left of just behind the center of my hips when seated)

If your boat is composite i would HIGHLY recommend glassing straps in (webbing, rope, whatever) to attach the thigh straps to rather than putting a hole in the boat....


Assuming your composite saddle is the same as mine, you could glass it it (with a bit of sanding) but bolts with washers seem to work very well.

i didn't and wouldn't remove the saddle to attach the thigh strap anchors. just drill an access hole in the top. i think i used a 1 1/8 or 1 1/2 holesaw bit, the hole is no bigger than the flat spot on the top of the saddle. now you can drill the side holes and stick the washers and locking nuts inside the saddle. i like to have easy access to these bolts because i have had them come off before (on day one of the middle fork feather) luckily, it was an easy fix, but would have been a real bummer without access to the bolts. drakkar should just make the holes, but they don't.

for the top anchors, i put the bolts right below the rim, there is a flat spot on top, right next to my hip bones. not down on the side.

Marshall,

I have been paddling my bigboy since the beginning of October, so I might be able to help with your outfitting questions.

1). The saddle is not glued in. To remove it, you have to remove the bolts you mentioned and then you have to completely remove the front pillar because it holds the front of the saddle down. I did not have to remove the back pillar. After the front pillar was out, I was able to slide the whole saddle forward to remove it. I did remove my saddle to install the lower thigh strap anchors, but drilling the access hole as Larry suggested might be easier.

2). I installed thigh straps in mine and have been very happy with this arrangement. I put my lower anchors 6 inches forward of the front of the seat, and put my upper anchors in the deck (not in the sides) close to the cockpit rim, 1.5 inches back from the front of the seat. You may need to adjust these locations depending on your size. I am 6'6" tall.

I have moved my seat back 1.5 inches to help keep the bow up on powerful forward strokes. I did this by cutting away the seat back.

Also, my outside seam did not hold up very well. After about a month of paddling, it was coming loose in many places, so I pulled it off in one piece and put a new kevlar outside seam on. I used black pigment in the epoxy and it looks really cool and is very dry now.

Finally, I really love this boat. It's fast and stable and short. Everything you could want in a play boat. It has become my number one boat. Hope you enjoy yours as much as I have mine.

Let me know if I can answer any other questions.

Matt

Thanks for the help guys.

The saddle finally did come out, it was stuck pretty good to te bottom of the boat (i guess some adhesives mus have been a little wet when it went in).

Matt, I noticed the same thing on the seam tape, in spots it not adhered to the boat and I'll probably be replacing mine also after a few months of paddling. Glad to hear you are liking the boat at 6'6", I'm 6'5" and as I'm sure you have found out, most conversions a quite uncomfortable at best.

Hopefully I can get it outfitted soon and ready for spring.

I got the BigBoys at 11, the day before Gauley Fest- I was supposed to meet a friend at 2 to drive up with-

So I think I spent an hour doing some rough outfitting - while extremely stressed. (PACI just drilled through the narrowest part of the saddle, just in front of the seat, so I could get a bow wrench in - removing the saddle would result in a much cleaner looking finished installation.

Almost parallel to the back of the seat there is a grooved area where I installed the top portion of the thigh strap-

You Matt and I are the only 3 BigBoy owners in the US.

HI


Here is a drakkar custom saddel set up. Can be used to any carbon kevlar fiber hull inc race boats. recomeded only for experienced and seriously skilled workers


1. rip out of all outfitting

2. trash all aluparts and screws

3. take the saddle's fiber piece and cut of the sleaves leaving only elevated part. Drill asembly 1'' hole to top to saddels narrowest part.

4. Match the cut piece to hulls rocker shape if needed.

5. Laminate saddle directly to bottom with thin glass and / or kevlar seam tape

6. Laminate back of kneecups to corrrect place

7. Add 25 mm pieces of foam to fill the space between the kneecup and saddle and laminate thin carbon/ kevlar to make it solid as rock. remember these spacers much be seaked to hull solidly.

8. use additional pices of foam to support kneecups outsides to hull if needed and laminati if needed.

9. If your back of seat is not meeting to backdeck add foam and laminate seat to deck.

10 front pillar can be reinforced / replaced with carbon tube (old paddle saft) to add extra stifness. Laminate both ends with thin glass

Now you should have rock solid and very light set up that gives your bottom an outstanding support.

hope this makes sence

mh