Is that wood bench your seat?
Yep. Not sure how comfy its gonna be and might have to add some foam. I just really like the varnished wood look and wanted to keep it simple.Is that wood bench your seat?
Ouch!Is that wood bench your seat?
Thats what I'll end up doing if i have to. Frame doesnt breakdown. No need for it to on this boat. Even with all my NRS frames ive never had to break one down.Ouch!
I guess you could glue some high density foam to it.
Does the frame breakdown?
From all my past experience in smaller boats I hate the fact that I feel top heavy from sitting to high up "level with the tubes". Especially on bigger white water rivers. For the most part visibilty will not be a issue. I can read rivers pretty well and when in doubt I either pull over or stand up to pick my run. I have not had it in the water yet with this frame set up and the oars I have for it are tiny. The oars for now are gonna be for smaller streams. I plan on getting some 7' mini mags though. Yes the oars will be slightly below mid chest. That is OK with me. From all my future rafting experience i believe this will be the most comfortable setup for what I expect out of it. Im 30 abd life is catching up to me so yea that hard wood definitely might hurt my ass.Interesting, that seat is quite low. Lower center of gravity, but your visibility will be reduced. If you seat was at the same level as your top tubes, your visibility will be MUCH better! Have you had it out in the water yet? What length oars do you have? It looks like your oar handles will be quite high when rowing(way above mid chest). The wood seat looks nice, but unless you're in you 20's you'll want some form of padding!!!
The oars locks are for the current setup. I actually have a pair of NRS oar locks that will take its place in the future. As of right now this whole setup is for small creek fishing where i need my oars as small as possible. My main concern at the moment is not being able to bring my seat forward enough to get the proper weight balance load in the boat. Only time will tell. If not this will work as a platform for a two person frame and I'll make another.Nice little project; looks cool. We recess the seat to be lower than the top of the raft if a customer is planning on using fins as part of their fishing, whether in a river or a lake. If not, then we'll keep the seat level with the top on a boat (with no standing floor) to increase visibility and comfort and for a little drier ride. If the boat has a standing floor, then we'll raise the seat 4 inches for even more leg room and ease of getting in and out of the seat. This approach has worked pretty well for most of our customers. The trick is getting the oar tower height right for each situation, taking into account a guy like Bandy with 8 foot arms and Freestone, with considerably shorter arms.
The 7' Mini Mags should work fine on that width of boat. At some point I would consider getting rid of those oar locks and replacing them with something a little more substantial.
Doesn't matter if nobody else likes it so long as you do.
Oars will be slightly below mid chest?From all my past experience in smaller boats I hate the fact that I feel top heavy from sitting to high up "level with the tubes". Especially on bigger white water rivers. For the most part visibilty will not be a issue. I can read rivers pretty well and when in doubt I either pull over or stand up to pick my run. I have not had it in the water yet with this frame set up and the oars I have for it are tiny. The oars for now are gonna be for smaller streams. I plan on getting some 7' mini mags though. Yes the oars will be slightly below mid chest. That is OK with me. From all my future rafting experience i believe this will be the most comfortable setup for what I expect out of it. Im 30 abd life is catching up to me so yea that hard wood definitely might hurt my ass.
Wetter ride? What are we talking about here? Doing small creeks or class III rapids? I just went out and checked and the oars being parellel to the bottom of the boat/concrete the handles are at my belly button...Oars will be slightly below mid chest?
Looking at it I thought you'd be at shoulder level or higher. What's the width of the boat? Tube diameter?
It'll definitely be a wetter ride being lower!!!