Arkansas Canoe Club Forums

So after many many months of waiting it is here. I feel like it's the holy grail after all the anticipation. I think i want an oar rig to keep around just in case. Have you ever put a frame on yours? what length of paddles for R2'ing? storage? maintenance?

fill me in

Josh

I use 6 ft oars with one ft extension, depending on what type of bite I want on the water. Maintanence, I've had to Glue my crosstubes back to the main tubes a couple of times(just small section) and due to some pinhole leaks in my right tube, I've had to paint acouple of times. Maintanence wise, most of the time mine is rolled up in it's bag, but ideally should be partially inflated out of wind and weather and sun. Hope you got the carry handles on the ends, along with a skid plate along the top of your tubes for your frame to rest on. Dale

the answer is no to both of the last questions. i imagine i could attach some d-rings on front and rear and make carry handles that way. i am pretty sure we carried the last shredder i paddled from the inside of the tubes by the yellow rope that is tethered all the way around.


but more about the frame and padding, i've looked around and haven't seen anything that will fit. would it be cheaper to build ? and the "skidplate' ... just extra material that i put on?

anyone have any raft knowledge they want to share?

JB

The skidplate is an extra peice of neoprene running on top of your tubes that protects your raft from extra wear from your frame, frame can be built out of lightweight steel or aluminun railing, end carry straps can be sent to you from Airtight. I sent my shredder back to them to have the skidplates and carrry handles on, took a couple weeks. Dale

Here's an off the wall tip: I always try to be especially careful about spilling any drinks or food on the raft tubes. If you spill something, try to wash it off ASAP. Unless you are sure you will always be able to store your raft in a 100% rodent-free environment, you don't want those little buggers getting confused and thinking your raft is something they need to chew on or eat.

The lady at Star rafts told me that rodent holes were number one cause of rafts needing patches. I was asking questions trying to decide if I wanted to take on fixing a said afflicted boat.

J, you are welcome to come look at my shredder and fram, just let us know. I see your profile says north of Russellville. Where? Dale

By the way, for R2, I use a 60 inch paddle and let the other paddler use a 62 in. paddle, unless the other paddler is a stronger paddler, then I would switch around. dale

i used to live on crow mountain, i have since moved to london area and havent updated this profile. i finally read the pm you sent me. Ill be working the next few days but next week i would definitely be down for checking out your setup.

jb

Stuart Little done a good bit of damage to mine. Three small holes and one big hole about the size of bowling ball. Thanks to Kerry Moore for an awesome repair job! Yeah i bagged Stuart and the raft stays in the bedroom.

Peace:H20gasm

i bought a huge NRS raft bag so mr mouse wont have easy access to the boat. what top off pumps you guys recommend.

jb

Hey Guys: I have one additional trick that helps keep the mice away from the boats while in storage. As Cowper has indicated a big part of what attracts mice is left over food particles or sugar from spilled drinks. When Gayle and I get home from a trip we inflate the boat and wash it with soapy water and baking soda. The baking soda helps neutralize any food smell that might be hanging around.

EAT WATER

Somewhat off topic... How often do you wash your rafts and 303 them?

Mine's out about once a year (sad-- ). I wash it with dilute soapy water, dry it well, and just roll it up loose, and store on a pallet in the garage. I haven't 303'd it as when i bought it 6- 7 years back, it was really 303'd. I might do it this summer.

Any feedback is appreciated,
ty

303 party T. i wont be able to set the shredder in the water until the end of this month, and when i do we wont have any big water. Ill be doing a 2 day down the north fork. last year this time it was low and the fish were out. it was a blast.

maybe