From: "Derek Henson" <dhenson@skybus.com>
To: baidarka@lists.intelenet.net
Date: Sun, 29 Jun 1997 20:26:59 +0000
Subject: Re: new baidarka, numb legs and toes
> The boat is a little tippy but secondary stability is good. The only
> problem that I have with the boat is that my feet and legs go numb after
> sitting in it for 30 minutes or more. I put floor boards under the ribs at
> the seat and heels and have tried using a 3/4" foam pad for seat cushioning
> but without improvement. Help!
Hi Scott,
Same problem with mine which I finished early last fall. The
numbness was so severe on one occasion that I still hadn't fully
recovered my feeling a full day later. I fooled
around with various bits of padding and positioning, and finally
found that positioning was the more important of the two. Initially
I had my feet and legs more or less straight in front of me but found
that if I kept my heels close together with my toes pointed towards
the gunwales, I could bend my knees slightly and splay them towards the
sides of the boat. This puts my knees slightly higher than my
bottom. It felt a bit awkward at first, but since my lower nether
parts were staying awake (very handy when trying to exit the boat...), I
decided to stick with it. In short order, it came to feel very
comfortable and is a superior position for leaning the boat. As of
late last fall, I abandoned all seat cushioning and now sit directly
on the floorboards. I can do this for hours at a stretch without any
lower body numbness. While I suggest positioning is important, I
also suspect that it may just take a while to adapt to the position.
I do use a padded back strap to alleviate lower back strain.
Hope this is of some use.
Derek