Reasons for hanging seats off the inwhales
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Russell
Reasons for hanging seats off the inwhales
I am nearing the completion of a 16 ft strip canadian canoe. Is there a reason that the seats are hung from the inwhales as opposed to attaching them to the inside of the boat. The fibreglass boats I have paddled have this set up and it looks easier to build.
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Glen Smith
- Posts: 3719
- Joined: Sat May 08, 2004 9:08 am
- Location: Baie-St-Paul, Quebec, Canada
Hi Russell, this is taken from "Canoecraft" page 171: "The seats in a canoe are normally hung from the inwales, rather than fastened to the hull, so that the canoe can flex and absorb stress evenly."
However, I have seen several canoes on internet sites where the seats have been fastened to blocks that are epoxied to the hull sides and the owners have not reported this as being a problem so far.
However, I have seen several canoes on internet sites where the seats have been fastened to blocks that are epoxied to the hull sides and the owners have not reported this as being a problem so far.
Last edited by Glen Smith on Sat Oct 01, 2005 5:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Tom's Huron
Gilpatrick's book recommends attaching seats to cleats epoxied to the hull. I used this approach because of my lightweight construction design of a single gunwhale system which is too narrow for hanging seats.
Here's the link to my website that the post above meant to link you to. Instead they linked the website service provider and not my page. I guess it'll take us awhile to get used to this new format. I hope this works:
http://tomangelakis.tripod.com/Cedarstrip.htm
Or just click here for Tom's cedarstrip page. [/url]
Here's the link to my website that the post above meant to link you to. Instead they linked the website service provider and not my page. I guess it'll take us awhile to get used to this new format. I hope this works:
http://tomangelakis.tripod.com/Cedarstrip.htm
Or just click here for Tom's cedarstrip page. [/url]
That post by Tom's Huron above is me. I just registered.
Epoxying seats to cleats on the hull is a more permanent seat placement than hanging from the gunwhales. Moving the cleats involves cutting them from the hull (destroying the cleats in the process) and possibly damaging some of the underlying hull fiberglass if you are not careful. So you want to get the seat placement right the first time. Hanging from the gunwhales allows for easier raising or lowering (by different spacer sizes) and even moving forward or back (drilling new holes in the gunwhales). Attaching seats to cleats with bolts might give you a little more flexibility with height adjustement. But if you have the gunwhales (especially hardwood) to support seats I don't see the point. The weight saving is minimal as I am sure nuts, bolts, and spacers are only grams heavier than cleats.
I did not like my first seat placement. Luckily for me I ripped the seat out with my feat during a flip while playing at Palmer Rapids. The cleats were too small (not enough surface area to the hull) and the seat simply epoxied to the top of the cleats. I've since raised the seat and moved it closer to centre on thicker cleats with tongue (seat frame) and groove (in the cleats) providing more surface area for a good bond. It is much more solid now and I haven't had any problems since but I find the seat just a bit too high. :roll: I am going to leave it that way because removing cleats is a big job compared to seats hung from the gunwhales. I also removed the front seat and it is now a dedicated solo tripping canoe.
Some hull flexibility is sacrificed but unless you expect to be impacting rocks in a current then I don't think it is really an issue. And even then you would have to hit at or near the cleat to cause damage because of the rigidity in that area.
Epoxying seats to cleats on the hull is a more permanent seat placement than hanging from the gunwhales. Moving the cleats involves cutting them from the hull (destroying the cleats in the process) and possibly damaging some of the underlying hull fiberglass if you are not careful. So you want to get the seat placement right the first time. Hanging from the gunwhales allows for easier raising or lowering (by different spacer sizes) and even moving forward or back (drilling new holes in the gunwhales). Attaching seats to cleats with bolts might give you a little more flexibility with height adjustement. But if you have the gunwhales (especially hardwood) to support seats I don't see the point. The weight saving is minimal as I am sure nuts, bolts, and spacers are only grams heavier than cleats.
I did not like my first seat placement. Luckily for me I ripped the seat out with my feat during a flip while playing at Palmer Rapids. The cleats were too small (not enough surface area to the hull) and the seat simply epoxied to the top of the cleats. I've since raised the seat and moved it closer to centre on thicker cleats with tongue (seat frame) and groove (in the cleats) providing more surface area for a good bond. It is much more solid now and I haven't had any problems since but I find the seat just a bit too high. :roll: I am going to leave it that way because removing cleats is a big job compared to seats hung from the gunwhales. I also removed the front seat and it is now a dedicated solo tripping canoe.
Some hull flexibility is sacrificed but unless you expect to be impacting rocks in a current then I don't think it is really an issue. And even then you would have to hit at or near the cleat to cause damage because of the rigidity in that area.