Safety Modifcations on a V10 Sport

January 19th, 2008

Safety Modifcations on a V10 Sport

Heather asked me to describe how I added deck-lines and a toggle to our Epic V-10 Sport, so here goes….

Written By Dan Moos, Puget Sound, WA paddler.

Since Pat (Dan’s paddle partner and the owner of this V10 Sport) and I have had a background in rough water rescues (at the coast and in tidal races) in sea kayaks, we both know the values of deck-lines and toggles in these situations. Not only do deck-lines help you keep contact with your boat, they also give a rescuer something to grab onto. Fiberglass is slippery stuff when it’s wet. Toggles are great for pulling someone out of danger.

So, how do you do that on a boat where there is no access to the inside? I took this problem to Tom Wilkinson on Camano Island (Washington). He is a long time kayak repair guy with much experience. Our first thought was to drill a hole near the bow that we could thread deck-lines through but when the hole was drilled we found (as suspected) it was hollow. That meant that Tom had to do an end pour of resin so there would be something to drill through. He did this by drilling a half inch hole near the bow and then turned the boat upside down and raised the stern so that the resin would flow into the top part of the bow. He then repaired the hole. You can hardly see where it was. Then another hole was drilled and countersunk.

The next problem was to attach fittings for the toggle and deck-lines. For the toggle (and stern deck-line) fitting we used a pad-eye attached by using expansion nuts. Expansion nuts are great! They are rubber fittings that have a brass nut imbedded in them at the bottom and a rubber flange at the top. You drill a hole then slide the nut in. When you put in a screw and start tightening it forms a double rubber doughnut much like using a toggle bolt but it is waterproof. It’s amazing how solid they feel when tightened.The photos should explain how they work.

For the forward deck-lines I threaded the lines through the bow hole and then secured the ends on the existing fittings at the front cockpit. I put four other fittings between the bow and the cockpit, two on each side. These fittings were found in the electrical section of the hardware store. It’s good to have the extra fittings to lessen the chance of entanglement and also if the system fails at one point you still have attachment.

The same was done on the stern except the deck-lines were threaded through the pad-eye at the stern. The toggle was tied to the pad-eye high enough so it wouldn’t drag in the water yet long enough so it could be grabbed. The last thing I did was to tie a loop on the bow through the hole for a point of tow if some one had a tow-line. (We always wear tow belts). I also applied strips of solas reflective tape to the deck to help visibility. It’s on our paddles too.

A few notes: When drilling holes for expansion nuts – drill a smaller pilot hole then when drilling main hole, run the drill backwards to minimize chipping of gelcoat. Use stainless steel screws. Don’t use deck-line that is too thin-it’s hard on hands. 5mm or 1/4″ is good. You can buy reflective tape in bulk off of rolls at fishing supplies. You can also buy smaller packages in sports stores, etc. but it’s much more expensive. SOLAS stands for Safety of Life at Sea. As I understand it, it is an international organization charged with safety at sea and they scrutinize safety items and either approve or disapprove the item. They’ve been around a long time and and they’re worth checking out.

All the fittings and expansions nuts were purchased at our local hardware store for about $7.00. Tom’s end pour was very affordable but since I don’t know if he has a set price for these things I’ll let him quote the price. His number is 360-387-8420.

I would be happy to answer any questions you have about this. My email address is barcoo@earthlink.net

Dan Moos

Hole after endpour