Author Archives: CleanSlate

Mockhorn Island / Chesapeake Bay Crossing

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I went on my first over-night kayak camping trip courtesy of DogsLife organizing a little excursion across the Chesapeake Bay to camp on desolate Mockhorn Island. The group consisted of one Triak, three Hobie Adventure Islands, and one Prindle 18. We had high hopes for good wind this early in June but were not so lucky. The wind died on us and we were forced to paddle/peddle much of the way. At least the Prindle with its big sail was able to capture a bit more wind and didn’t have to paddle quite so much. There was one particular slog through a canal where we had to battle not only head winds but current as well. I don’t have video of that section but if I did, it would look like a still image since I was moving so slow.

The following video captures the trip as seen from my Triak wing.

Paddle Clip

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When I use my spray skirt, I need some place to put my paddle when I am not using it (like when I am sailing). My previous strategy of putting one end of the paddle in the cockpit won’t work with a spray-skirt in use. I’m experimenting with using a light-weight ZRE canoe paddle. A canoe paddle will actually be preferable for use with the sail up if I want to sail and paddle at the same time. It is also easier to find a place to store it since it is smaller.

I found that it fits nicely right on top of the boat just behind the seat if I install paddle clips right on the hatch cover. This location will allow me to gain easy access to the paddle while I am in the seat whenever I need it.

A paddle leash will always be used.  You don’t want to lose your paddle!

In these pictures, the wing is not in place but the paddle should easily clear the thickness of the wing.

One inch diameter stainless steel washers were used on the other side of the hatch for better support.  The clips were positioned near the edge of the hatch were the material will be stronger.  A little epoxy was added for good measure.

When using the spray skirt, I should now be able to easily reach back and put the paddle there or retrieve it while underway.  When I don’t use the spray skirt, I will probably just keep the paddle with me in the cockpit for even more easy access.

 

Rudder bracket improvement

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The stock rudder bracket on my TRIAK is prone to some deformation when excessive force is applied to the foot steering. Since I want my boat to be expedition ready, I decided not to wait for a better rudder bracket from TRIAK but to augment my own with re-enforcing aluminum bars. The original rudder bracket is made out of aluminum so adding aluminum reinforcements would have the same thermal expansion.

I added a custom-cut bar to the top of the rudder bracket to keep the bracket from separating but also allowing full range of motion of the rudder. I also added two supporting bars to the sides of the rudder bracket to help prevent any bending at that point. To add some extra strength, I inserted a bronze bushing through the rudder hole and used a smaller bolt that could be tightened down all the way for the rudder pivot. The bushing is slightly longer than the width of the rudder so the rudder is free to freely pivot even though the bolt is tightened all the way down. These side bars are also held in place with counter-sunk bolts and epoxy.

These modifications should make the bracket much stronger than the original.

See the video below for some pictures of the manufacturing process.

making a wing bolt

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Since I sometimes put the boat together on a floating dock, a real risk is one of the necessary metal parts falling into the drink. If I lost one of these important parts a couple of days before a Watertribe event, I might not even make it to the beach.

I’ve been working to get spares for everything that could be lost or broken. This post is about the metal part that attaches the wing to the mail hull (the handle part if it is used to attach the ama to the wing). I found all the raw materials I needed at local hardware stores and West Marine. The video below shows how I made the part from the raw materials. I now have two spares in case I lose one or two.