C1 Remix conversion

[Pea Pod]

I converted a LiquidLogic Remix 69 kayak to a C1 these last few weeks. Most of the info that I used came from various cboats.net posts and the odd blog. Thanks to those folks for their examples, especially Larry Horne, Dave Eble, Scott Broam, Bernie, and Pierre LaPaddelle. I used a central rail method and knee straps (rather than a bulkhead) (summarised in photo A).

Photo A

I removed all the kayak outfitting (including the LiquidLogic central rail), left the foam pillars, then did the following:

1. Seat rail. This acts as the central spine for fixing straps to. Installed 100-mm x 50-mm PVC downpipe to mate with the fore and aft foam pillars. (Photo B)

Photo B

2. Lateral braces. The seat rail is braced in two places using 25-mm x 5-mm aluminium straps. The forward brace connects to the kayak foot rest adjustment bolts, and the rear brace to the original hip grabber bolts. (Photo C)

Photo C

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[Pea Pod]

3. The seat was made from foam. Dimensions are in Photo D.

Photo D

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[Pea Pod]

4. The seat was glued onto a short split section of the downpipe so that it can slide along the central spine for adjustment. There is 100-mm of adjustment, in 25-mm increments, with holes through the seat section to the central rail. (Photos E & F & G)

Photo E

Photo F

Photo G

[Pea Pod]

5. A 50-mm stainless steels cam lock (commonly used on diver’s belts) was bolted on the central spine, near the fore pillar, to receive and fasten the two 25-mm thigh straps but allow quick release for exits.

6. A D-ring was screwed on the central spine near the foremost adjustment point of the seat to receive the thigh straps and anchor them as close to the crotch as possible.

7. Snowboard bindings were attached to the original hip bolts, then extended with 25-mm webbing, that feeds through the D-ring and then side-by-side into the cam lock. (Photo H)

Photo H

8. A grab pull to open the cam lock was made using tubing and bungee cord, and runs from the gate to new hold in the front cockpit rim. A small piece of bungee cord between the gate and the D-ring holds the gate open upon activating the quick release so that the webbing doesn’t close the gate as they retract. (Photo I)

Photo I

9. Knee straps were made from snowboard bindings and screwed to the central spine and the hull.

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[Pea Pod]

10. Knee spreaders and knee pads were made from foam, and fixed to the hull using velcro to allow for adjustability. The kneepads wrap around the outside of the knee. (Photo J, K, L)

Photo J

Photo K

Photo L

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[Pea Pod]

11. Hip grabbers were made using the original aluminium seat-mounting brackets, cutting board, and foam. At the moment, I am too scared to paddle with these because in the shed they make exiting the cockpit very difficult! (Photo M)

Photo M

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[Mikey B]

Everything is easier to exit when upside down so the hip grabbers might be fine.

[Wodza]

I really like the way the lower knee straps look, however I don't understand what is holding them down if you were to lift your knees. Will it not pull the glue up from the knee pads? I'd like to do something similar in my 4fun is why I ask.


Also that's some really nice outfitting.

[Pea Pod]

The knee straps are fixed to the centre rail (visible in the photos) and to the hull, with a bolt in a new hole. I followed Larry Horne's ideas for positioning the knee straps, which are quoted below:

"The outer end of the strap needs to be anchored as low as possible and 6" or so behind your knee. There is no hole in the hull there, so you can drill one or make a plate that cantilevers back and down from the existing foot brace bolts. Another hole filled with a bolt is not a problem. You want your knee to be as far into the corner of the hull as it can be, but there will be a little gap there between the strap and your leg.. The knee pad has a corner that is loose and wraps up into the knee strap. This fills that gap and makes the strap wrap the leg better."

The knee-pads and -wedges are velcroed to the hull, to allow for adjustment. I don't think adjustment will be common, just in the initial phase of getting the trim right, and then for redistributing my mass when I load the bow up for overnighters.

[busterblue]

That is a very nice conversion.

What did you choose to do about the gap between the hull and the rail? Fill it in with foam, or let it be?

In what way do the hip pads hinder your exit? Are they getting in the way of your feet?

[Pea Pod]

Yes, I glued foam to the rail, cut to shape using the profile of the original rail.

And yes, I find that my feet feel like they'll get stuck. But I've only tried exiting with the hip pads in the she: dry and upright. Wet and upside down will probably make a difference. Any tips?

[busterblue]

My Remix 79 conversion bit the dust this year, but I really enjoyed it while it lasted. It's the only conversion I've done so far. Like you said, I also owe a debt to all those cboaters who posted over the years. You did a great job documenting your work.

My hip pads looked similar to yours, but they didn't come so far in from the sides. Probably because my fat hips filled up the space. I found they did not have to be super tight to be effective. I have have average-sized feet. I wonder if big feet would be more likely to get hung up on the pads.

I started out using 1" thick foam for my knees, but that felt overly thick after a while. I replaced it with some random piece of very thin blue foam (from a sleeping pad or something?) and that was more comfortable and ever so slightly more stable.

[Pea Pod]

The hip pads are in, and I have no problems wet exiting. I've slimmed them down a bit so that they just touch when I'm seated neutrally.

I've settled on a seat position that has my back at 8" from the rear cockpit rim. Half an inch forward and I felt that the bow grabbed eddy lines too much, whilst up to 2" back too light in the front.

The cam lock diver's belt tends to allow the upper thigh straps to slip a little, especially when I roll up. I will probably replace this with airline buckles with the lift-up release mechanism.

By the way, I didn't get the next size up in terms of the weight range of the boat and I have no regrets. I've paddled it exclusively at Penrith Whitewater Stadium (2000 Olympics venue) which is a pushy, grade 3 course. The Remix 69 is designed for paddlers 64-100 kg. The Remix 79 is for 77 - 118 kg. I have the 69 and weight around 72 kg.

All up, it's a sweet boat, and it's allowing me to take my paddling to new heights.

[Wodza]

I've had the same problem of the 25mm nylon strapping slip in the quick release. I now lay them on top of each other and close the quick release making sure to give it a good pull while pushing the quick release down. May want to give that a try before switching to an airplane buckle. In another conversion I just cut up one of my NRS cam style tie down straps and used that as they are a much thicker nylon. This also fixed the slipping.

[Pea Pod]

Wodza, thanks for that excellent tip! I had been trying to keep the two 25-mm straps neatly next to each other without overlap in the cam lock. But laying them on top of each other under the quick release prevented any noticeable slippage!

The nylon strap that I've used has distorted and worn quite rapidly from being cinched by the cam lock and strung tight by the snowboard bindings via the D-ring. I would replace with something better next time. Your tie-down strap suggestion is a good one. Cheers!