Deckline Mods to my Sixteen Foot Baidarka to Facilitate Fishing

After going out fishing in my 16 foot baidarka I decided to make some mods to the decklines to make it a better fishing boat.  The mods were not extensive but addressed two particular aspect of the existing rigging that could be improved.  One mod improved the ability to stow paddles on the foredeck.  The other mod improved my ability to get out of the boat quickly after landing on the beach. Let's go to the pictures.

 This photo shows a new addition, a longish piece of wood on the left (port) side of the boat. This used to be a feature on Unangan kayaks.  The piece of wood protects the skin from chafing by the fishing line when fisherman pulls in a fish.  Chafing of the skin is probably not as big a deal with a synthetic fabric skin as it is with a sea lion skin, but I thought it might be a good idea to have this feature in any case.

 Deck toggles, the two rectangular piece of wood on either side of the kayak are used to tighten up the deck lines that hold spare paddles in place on the deck.  I moved these closer to the front of the cockpit for easier access.

Here's a closeup of another deck toggle roughly in the shape of a little sea creature.  This is meant to keep a paddle from sliding off the deck when the paddle is just laid on the deck instead of being tucked under the deck lines.

One of the problems when landing in surf is the timing of the waves.  Even if you time the waves coming in and come in on the back of a wave and make a smooth beach landing, you have to get out of the kayak quickly because the next wave is coming in and is likely to pull you back into the surf.  This is especially problematic on steep beaches. With the size of this cockpit and with a lap full of fish, jumping out of the kayak is not easy.  I have to hoist myself up onto the back deck so I can step out of the cockpit.  I do this by placing my hands on the gunwales back of the cockpit and raising myself up.  Unfortunately, the deck is sloped an my hands tent to slide off, so I added toggles in back of the cockpit for a better grip.
If you're paying attention, you will also notice that I added another rub guard on the starboard side of the cockpit.  I thought that might also help with getting in and out of the boat.
And finally, I ran another line between the two deck toggles to keep them from sliding off the edge of the gunwales when I'm hoisting myself out of the cockpit.  I tested all this on the ground. I have yet to try it out on the water where it counts.

And finally, I formalized the padding in the cockpit.  Previously I just had a foam pad in the bottom of the boat.  I still only have a foam pad on the bottom of the boat, but now I cut it in half and doubled up on the bottom and tied it to the ribs and I also added a piece of foarm as a backrest.  This should help with sitting for hours while fishing.
More on the water testing is forthcoming. Stay tuned.

Kayak Seats

While looking for something which I did not end up finding, I ran across these pictures taken several years ago at SSTIKS, the South Sound Traditional Inuit Kayak Symposium which takes place every year in the vicinity of Tacoma, Washington.  It's time to dust off these pictures and share them with the world.
(Side note 1 - Dusting off is a metaphorical term from the age of printed photos.  Since these photos have never left their digital format, the dust they may have gathered is strictly figurative.  Digital of course is forever or at least as long as the storage medium lasts and as long as you have some display technology and so they do not gather dust, not even figurative dust.  In real life, they just seem to disappear never to be found again.)
I have no particular agenda to this posting other than pointing out that when you make your own stuff, you get to have it your way, within the limits of your ability, of course.

 This is a molded seat which you can just stick into your kayak or if ambitious, you can glue it in place with contact cement. Note the coaming attachment.  (side note 2 - the white stuff on the ground is oyster shells, hard on bare feet.)

 This boat may be one of the Tom Yost model kayaks.  Coaming rim looks to be plywood. Back rest is a block of foam and the seat cushion is of uncertain origin, possibly foam inside a cloth sleeve or maybe one of those inflatable seats.

 Here's another back strap version, adjustable, possibly home made.  Seating is foam pads.

 Yet another foam solution.  The seating mat seams to have a sculpted seat under it.

 The frame of this boat is made out of bamboo and the mouth has a fanciful dragon design painted on it. 

 Cushions of the dragon boat have a tie dye fabric cover on them.  Note the hull stringers of bamboo.  If you click on this photo, you can see the innovative joining of stringer parts with the skinny end of the tapering bamboo pole overlapping.

 And yet another seat cushion.  This one looks like the level of complexity that I usually aspire to.  One reason my boats have no fancy seats is that it never occurred to me to put fancy seats in my kayaks since a simple mat on the floor seems to work.  However, if you come to DIY kayaks from the commercial realm, you are more likely to feel like you should put a fancy seat in your boat like the commercial kayaks have.

One last seat.  Looks like commercial back band with foam seat.