Take my feet PLEASE!

[TommyC1]

Had a good day in the Slasher yesterday. Had it on an easy III and stayed %100 rightside up! Paddling hard, a little forward lean and a short (48") paddle have worked wonders, mostly thanks to tips I picked up here.
Problem is as I'm finally getting confident in the boat my feet have started going dead. It feels like no circulation and it takes me 5+ minutes after I get out before I can walk. If the water wasn't so F#*!ing cold I'd be better off swimming out of the boat.
I've got a 6" saddle that I don't really want to raise and size 9 feet that are just a bit too long to use toe blocks in that boat. In my Outrage I use toe blocks and alternate pointing my toes back and up on the blocks as comfort and performance dictate.
Does anybody have any ideas that might help? Stretches? Outfitting?

Thanks,
Tommy

[Bob P]

I took me a year before I didn't have to crawl out of my C1. They don't call us pain boaters for nuthin'...

You might try blocks under your ankles.

Or watch TV kneeling on the floor.

[the great gonzo]

Ankle blocks make a HUGE difference, In my Delirioius (6" saddle) I went from 15-20 minutes without ankle blocks to at least 1 hour with ankle blocks .
They are about 3/4 inches tall and do not affect my ability to exit my boat at all. Placement is fairly critical. I used double sided carpet tape until I found the proper position, then I glued them in with contact cement.

martin

[Mike W.]

How wide is your seat? I tried one that was 6" wide. I could only stay in 15 minutes. I didn't realize that the problem was the seat because the pain was in my ankles. I widened the seat to 9" & did not raise it to cure the problem. I was told that the narrow seat may have been irritating a nerve.

Also put ankle blocks in.

Get a basket ball. Kneel on it while watching tv. Over time let air out of it so that you go lower.

[TommyC1]

Can anyone describe or better yet point me to pictures of ankle blocks?
How long?
How wide?
Should they go right under my anklebone or where?

I have a Gyromax saddle. Could be a lttle narrow. I'll have to look at that.

Thanks,
Tommy

[the great gonzo]

Tommy,

Sorry, I don't have pictures of my ankle blocks, but the ones I made are tapered to support the upper part of my foot (towards my ankle joint, the blocks have the highest point at the joint, tapering off towards the toes), and they have a parallel part that supports the lower part of my shin. They are about 3.5 " wide and 8 "long. Made them out of some scrap pieces of minicell foam I found at work.

Mike,

That's very interesting about the saddle width, never thought of that. I'll definitely have to look at that in my Delirious.


martin

[CDawg]

"If the water wasn't so F#*!ing cold I'd be better off swimming out of the boat."

I boat the northen rockies, where the water is cold about eleven months a year. I frequently soak sore ankles or legs in the river before/during/and after paddling. It's not fun, but usually helps the symptoms.

[Guest]

hi,
take a look at the c-boater "components"-section:
http://www.cboater.com/cboater/equipmen ... index.html

It's an old description (think from 2001), but perhaps it helps a little bit.

greetings
olaf
I'm sure the day will come that www.cboater.com will be back
[/url]

[Bob P]

[img]http://www.erareplicas.com/misc/kneel.gif[/img]

You'll have to experiment with size and placement to best fit your bod.

[Ken D]

I have always used ankle blocks in my C1's. Bob P's diagram is exactly what I use. When I build them my goal is to fill the void between my leg and the boat. I did this by building them on a hard surface, my kitchen floor. That way I could easily mold and shape without having to get in and out of the boat. Once I did this I duct taped them into the boat and adjusted as needed. Once I was happy I glued them in. Mine a quite long 10 to 11 inches. The only part of my foot that touches the boat is the tips of my toes. This distributes the pressure on to a good portion of your leg and there is almost no pressure on the toes.

Another suggestion is to stretch. If I don't stretch I don't paddle!!
One stretch that helps me a lot is a calf stretch since when you are in the boat you are compressing your calf muscle. I stand on the stairs whith just my toes on the step. Then lower your heals as far as you can, hold for a least ten seconds. Then raise your heals so you are standing on your toes, again for about 10 seconds. Repeat a few times.