Knee pain and boat choice.

[Danny]

I've been having trouble with knee pain and this summer has sucked. I've been running on a torn meniscus for years, have no trouble running, biking, skiing, but OC doesn't work so well. A few years ago a got into a Ledge and I've never been able to get too comfy in the bulkhead. I've got a 37" inseam so I'm not a conventional fit. This weekend I got my old Encore out, with a strap system , and found it much more comfortable. The seats the same height as my Ledge but he big difference seems to be bigger distance between my knees. I measured things up and it appears I could get about the same spread in my Ledge if I went nuts carving the bulkhead so my knees touched the side of the boat like in my Encore. I'm pretty new to all this and wonder if to vets have any feedback on this. Should I be able to have the same comfort in a bulkhead as a strap system, or is a bulkhead more difficult since there's not much flexibility? I'm a little afraid to get too aggressive carving my bulkhead up but I love the boat. I've given kayaking a little try a little and I'd prefer to stay in an open boat if I can mange the knee pain. Now I'm good for about 10 mins and after a day of boating my knee kills for days. Any thoughts?

[Walsh]

Do it!

It was more important in the Prelude and Fly-series boats, where additional knee spread increased stability, but increasing spread is one of the most important parts of adjusting a bulkhead.

I think a bulkhead is the most comfortable outfitting, but it takes a lot of customization to get it to fit an individual. As someone with a 35" inseam, my guess is that you are going to have to modify the saddle extensively from its stock form.