I took my Finkenmeister on an 18 day trip down the Grand Canyon from Lee's Ferry to Diamond Creek . Here's my assessment of the Fink on a long big water trip:
1) It's a comfortable boat. I was much more comfortable this trip in the Fink than last trip. Last trip I was in a low volume Extrabat (I know the meaning of pain).
2) Lots of storage capacity. This came in handy.
3) Good stability in the big stuff, despite the 19" bottom width of the Fink. This is due to the excellent secondary and dynamic stability .
4) This boat is difficult to roll! I had one swim and one close call. The big bulbous bow seems to be the reason. The boat waddles back and forth once upside down, and the curvature of the bow near the cockpit makes it difficult to set up the 'C to C' roll and get the paddle on the surface.
5) The boat was very responsive when upright. It stayed on-line, was fast, and ferried well .
i have thought of some tripping, how many people were in the group?
I think im going to try a short week to 5 day trip this spring on some chill creek stuff in canada that i saw on a previous trip. and wanted to do it in the fink since i have no other boat that would work for a tripping style paddle.
I actually found my boat rolled easier when loaded, probably due to the lower center of gravity.
One thing I noticed about the roll is that, contrary to my low volume playboats (Sith, Wheelboy) which almost roll themselves, you have to set up properly to roll the FM. In my other C1's I can most of the time get away with the sloppiest technique, not so in the FM, I have to execute it propperly.
One other point is, how secure is your butt planted on the saddle when you are upside down? I noticed on my boat that any lifting really makes the roll harder. You mentioned in your post about installing thigh straps that your upper anchoors are fairly far forward, in fromt of the factory hip pads. You might want to consider moving them further back, I use the holes for the hip pads as upper strap anchorage (I modified my saddle and included the hip pads in there).
Just my 2 cents.
Isaac,
I did a 3 day trip this spring in the Finkenmeister, it's a great tripping boat! Tons of storage space and at my weight (~185 lbs) it is even more stable loaded with ~50 lbs of gear than without. Catching microeddies however is much more work now.
martin a.k.a. The Great Gonzo!
Everyone must believe in something. I believe I'll go canoeing - Henry David Thoreau
both of you say that you modified where you attach your hip pads, have you just moved them around to use the holes differently, or have you drilled new holes, i was going to try to incorporate the hip pads into the strap set up, so that i pull in on the strap, and pull in on the hip pad, to doulby lock myself into the boat. as of now the boat is in a garage a few hours away so the construction will have to wait till the spring, or at least until thanksgiving break.
cheers
-isaac
if my memory is correct, then Bruce left the original hip pads in and attached the uppert anchor points of his thigh straps forward of them.
I did however completely remove the factory hip pads and used the bolts holding them in to hhold my upper strap anchors, which are thus far back, preventing me from lifing my butt, but also requiring me to open them to wet exit the boat (all my boats are set up that way).
I modified the saddle and integrated the hip pads in there. They don't hold me in the boat any more (that's the job of the thigh straps now), but prevent me from sliding sideways in the saddle and provide me with geat boat contact and control.
There is, IMO, no good way of installing thigh straps in the position where I like them and keeping the factory hip pads in the boat.
If I get my hand on a digital camera, I will post pictures of them.
martin a.k.a. The Great Gonzo!
Everyone must believe in something. I believe I'll go canoeing - Henry David Thoreau
I'll vouch for the fact that setup in the Fink is especially important for executing a roll. The roll can't be rushed. It seems my butt does stay on the seat, but I'll pay more attention to that and see if it's a problem.
Keep in mind that one does need to be able to wet exit a boat at times, without needing to loosen straps. I have some boats that are difficult to wet exit because of their low volume and thigh stap placement (Viper & Extrabat) - fortunately they are much easier to roll. Thank God I've never had to wet exit the Viper - that is a bear to get out of even when upright on a sandy beach! Sure, the philosophy of never swimming is a good one, but practically speaking you don't want to be trapped in your boat if a roll just isn't happening. You guys know this stuff. So putting thigh straps close to the groin or rigging the hip pads so that they pull in with the thigh straps (clever idea), does have some increased risk.
There were 16 people on the Grand Canyon trip, 4x18 ft oar rafts and 10 hard boaters (8 kayaks, an OC1 and a C1). My swim came on Day 2 after trying to punch a wave-hole thing in the middle of a wave train .
Eighteen days in the Grand Canyon was a terrific experience. The Finkenmeister was a very good choice for this trip. Hats off to Robson for introducing this boat to the C1 community . It had been a long dry run of marginal kayak conversions until this C1 became available.
What was the water level? It was a constant 8000 cfs when I ran it in an Atom, and I gather some rapids were easier and others more difficult (technical) -- according to some on our trip who had run the Canyon before at higher water.
bruce.. blah blah grand canyon blah blah blah finkyfantastic blah blahhhhh.....
good to see youre back!
now, how about a real adventure?
i wonder, can the fynkunmister handle a relatively high elevation class iii- iv creek with a juicy 600cfs and lots of rocks (you remember those)and wood (:evil:)? a creek that never EVER has boatable flows except for the next week or so? a creek that has only been run by a hand full of people, probably never in a c1? no guidebook. no pictures. no logistics. short, cold days.
what am i trying to say?
south silver below ice house will have flows for a little while, i'm running it with aaron and keith saturday. and if it's good, with squeekleaf on sunday . join us!
Bruce / Martin,
I have a friend near Alberta, Canada who would probably benefit from a Finkenmeister. We both have Atoms (which are relatively heavy); the weight bother Jack more than it bothers me. Where can you purchase them on the west coast or Canada? Thanks Lee Thonus / thonus@comcast.net
Bruce, I am aware of the inherent dangers of having a thigh strap set-up inm my boats that reqires me to open them to wet exit, however I do regularly practice them (not only in flatwater, also in WW) and I am quite comfortable opening them, even when getting worked in a trashy hole (don't ask how I know )...
martin a.k.a. The Great Gonzo!
Everyone must believe in something. I believe I'll go canoeing - Henry David Thoreau
speaking of robson,
i dont know if i posted this already, but i got ahold of anna(through a friend) and have my skirt on its way to be replaced, or fixed, which is sweet. now all i have to do is finish outfitting, and ill be set.
cheers,
-isaac
race boats are so fast, i bet its in the speed wing.
. Here's my assessment of the Fink on a long big water trip:
.
I had one swim 
and one close call. The big bulbous bow seems to be the reason. The boat waddles back and forth once upside down, and the curvature of the bow near the cockpit makes it difficult to set up the 'C to C' roll and get the paddle on the surface.
.
.
blah blah grand canyon blah blah blah finkyfantastic blah blahhhhh.....