Kayak stability physics question

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LowRange
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Kayak stability physics question

Post by LowRange » Sun Oct 03, 2021 8:21 pm

Ok so this is my Kayak. It's a pos on its last season. Note the seating position of this little seat I have in it made from the seat of my old inflatable pontoon I sacrificed. The seat is above the top of the kayak and it is quite stable. I regularly fish where I encounter pleasure boat wakes and that seating position is just fine.

Also make note of the square thing the seat is sitting on top of. That's plywood I have arewed in place to cover a massive crack that has formed across the top plastic of the kayak. Prior to this I just bolted a sheet of plywood across the top of the kayak and did away with the seat instead of covering the crack directly. My thoughts were that I could just sit on the plywood top since it is the same height as the seat. What's the difference?

It was unstable and unusable. As soon as I launched it I couldn't even balance on it from just my own paddling movements and had to turn back immediatly and rethink my approach. I had to remove the top plywood and bolt it to the floor and then put the seat back in. Even though my seating position remained the same it must be how and where my movements are transferred that actually impacts the stability of the kayak. By using the seat I must be transfering my movements to the seat base and onto the floor of the kayak and below or at what I assume is the center of mass. In the same seating position but on a sheet of plywood over top my movements transfer to the top sides of the kayak and make is rock side to side badly. In hindsight this should be obvious buy it was a learning experience for me.
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Bronzeye
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Re: Kayak stability physics question

Post by Bronzeye » Wed Oct 06, 2021 4:04 am

Thanks for sharing that discovery! Could save someone else from a dunk and lost tackle.

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