Here’s me heading out:

And a quick shot of Nick checking something out on shore:

Last week when we kayaked on the Squannacook River, we saw lots of beavers. Last night we saw (and heard) quite a few Great Blue Herons. Since the W60 also takes video, I recorded this clip of Nick trying to sneak up on a resting heron. You can hear him squawk as he flies away.

I know the canoe/kayak launch for this part of the Squannacook can be difficult to find, so here is a map to help out. The biggest soure of confusion is that there are 2 Townsend Roads – one on the east (or Groton) side of the river and the other on the West (or Shirley) side. You want the one on the east (Groton) side of the Squannacook. If you are coming off of Rt 225 and heading North from West Groton, look for the Groton Water Department building on your left – it will be past the Vose complex (on your left) and shortly afer the Vose Field (on your right). Turn left on to the dirt driveway and continue across the abandoned railroad tracks. You’ll see the river ahead as you follow the left bend in the driveway.

(click for larger map)

The launch is upstream of a dam and is a large flat body of water. Once rounding the bend to the main river , paddling upstream became more strenuous in some places, but as long as we kept momentum it wasn’t too bad. I paddle the Squannacook a few times (6ish) a year and this was the fastest flow I’ve paddled. There were also lots of newly downed trees which made progress difficult in 5 spots.

We paddled up to the rapids at the Bertozzi Wildlife Management Area and took a short break. For a little fun, we paddle up the rapids as far as possible,and made a 180^o paddle turn to coast down the rapids. It was fun!

The paddle back to the launch was fast – going with the current was a lot easier. Just round a bend, we heard a huge splash as we saw first one and then a second beaver slapping their tails when they saw us. We paddled over them and turned the next bend. There they were again, just sliding down the bank back in to the stream! They slapped again and disappeared. We continued on around the next bend and there they were again! More slaps and splashes. 

The river straightened out a bit as we closed in on the launch. We surprised 4 more individual beavers out on the water. I think this was the most beavers I have seen in one time!

Now that I’ve had my kayak for a few weeks, I decided a rudder would be a good thing to have. I like fly-fishing on the local rivers by drifting downstream with the current. Without a rudder, it is a bit of a chore to keep the kayak facing the direction I want. For ocean fishing, I’ve had many recommendations for a rudder – so here goes!

I looked at a couple of different options including the manufacturer’s kit, the Smarttrack rudder kit, and the KFS rudder kit. I even considered making one from scratch, but time is a precious commodity to me, so I opted for the Native Watercraft kit. Here is what came in the box:

There are replacement sliding footpads, the rudder assembly, plastic tubes for the cable sleeves, the cables, and a bag of hardware that included:

the SS rudder bracket, screws and lock washers, 2 bungee cords and mounting rivets, pins and rings, 3 custom pad eyes and mounting rivets, shrink tuning and crimp ferrules. Everything is high quality and the instructions are clear, well written and have decent B&W photographs. I think this tutorial with color photographs might help other installers.

The first step is to locate and drill the three 3/16″ holes to attach the custom pad eyes. Native actually punched the location for these on the kayak from the factory! No measuring required. Find the punch mark, drill the hole. Here is where they are located:

One is in the stern, the second 1/2 way to the cockpit and the 3rd is next to the mounting point for the cargo bungee. Once the holes are drilled, use a pop rivet gun to attach them. I dabbed a bit of Marine Goop on each pad eye before attaching. Here are the pad eyes installed:

The next step is to attach the 2 short bungees. One is for the rudder control cord up by the starboard carrying handle, the other is in the stern by the rear carrying handle – it is used to hold the rudder for transportation and storage. Here is the starboard bungee installed:

It is pop riveted with a dab of Goop to seal it. The location for these bungees is also punched at the factory. Here is the rear bungee that holds the rudder:

The next steps are to install the plastic rudder tubing. Basically, you drill 1/4″ holes in the pads at the stern and footpad area, flare the plastic tubing with heat (details below), route the tubing (the only tricky part of the installation) and cut and flare the other end. Here is a photo sequence showing it all.

 Rear Holes

Footwell Holes

Flaring the tubing ends is fun. I heated the tubing with a lighter and then used the head of an 8D nail to smash it flat. While the plastic is still hot, I pushed the nail in to the tubing to open the bore. Here is the result:

You only flatten one end of each tube so you can insert the unflattened end into the holes in the stern. Routing the tubing is a chore but the instructions recommend using a wire coat hanger straightened out – so do I! I pushed the tubing completely in to the hull and removed the rear hatch cover and insert so I could get my arm in there. The coat hanger is inserted in the foot well hole directed toward the stern. By reaching in the rear hatch, you can feel the hanger and the tubing. Using 1 hand, you need to slide the end of the tubing as far over the hanger wire as you can. That was about 1 1/2 feet for me. Once you have pushed as much tubing on to the wire, slowly pull the hanger out of the hole in the foot well. When you see the black tubing, gently guide it through the hole. I actually had to enlarge the holes ever so slightly. I also trimmed the end of the tubing to a bevel to help it through the hole. Do both sides, here is what you end up with:

You can see the black tubing extending out the holes behind the footpads. Pull the tubes taut so the flared ends at the stern seat nicely.

With the tube pulled tight, I held the end protruding out the foot well holes with pliers. In one continuous sequence I cut the tube so 1 inch extended past the opening, heated it, flared it, reamed it with the nail while still hot and held it for several minutes to let the plastic harden. Do both sides. Here is the final result:

Not bad, huh! The next step is installing the rudder bracket and the rudder itself.

I did have a little problem with the bracket – the holes were too close together and I could not screw it to the stern mounts. I drilled out the top hole with a 1/4″ bit until it fit. The bracket attaches with 2 SS machine screws and lock washers. The rudder attaches with a pin and cotter pin.

Now it’s looking like a rudder!

Now it is back up to the cockpit to replace the footpads. The old ones are removed and the new ones fitted.

These pads slide on the tracks – that is how you control the rudder. Adjustment is made with a nylon strap and buckle – that’s coming up next. First, insert the SS control cables through the black tubing from the stern. Then attach the pins and cotter pins to the rudder bellcrank.

Pull both SS cables taut. The instructions call for cutting the cable 1 1/2″ beyond the center of the front footrail screw. Make sure both sides are the same length! Once cut, remove the pins and cotter pins from the rudder bellcrank – this is so you have a little extra cable to work with. The next step is to make the loop end through the grommet in the nylon strap. First, push a piece of shrink wrap tube over the cable along with two ferrules. Then loop the cable through the grommet and back in to the ferrules. Here is what it looks like after crimping the ferrules:

After crimping, slide the shrink tube up to cover the ferrules and shrink it in to place. Do both sides.

That is basically it! Reattach the cable ends to the rudder bellcrank, then thread the nylon strap through the buckles on the footpads. The last step is to route the rudder control lines through the 3 pad eyes installed in the first step. These are looped through the starboard bungee hook and tied off with a barrel knot. Here is the completed assembly:

It took me 1 hour and 45 minutes from the time I opened the box to completion – and that included taking all of the photographs along the way! A reasonable estimate to complete would be about an hour.

Of course, this is the “after” shot since I forgot to take a “before” photo! Oh well, even EclecticGuys make minor mistakes sometimes.

To get started, gather your tools (you can never have too many tools) and supplies.

We need a tape measure or ruler, large Phillips screwdriver, center punch (or a nail) hammer, 3/16″ drill bit (in an electric drill of course), a socket wrench (this was a 9mm), a lighter, cutters or a sharp knife, needle nose pliers, and Marine Goop or Silicone Seal. Here is the hardware – I am putting a paddle keeper on each side so I needed to double everything shown in the photo.

At the top are the 2 bungee terminal end clips, Then 2 8-32 by 3/4″ stainless steel round head machine screws, an 8-32 by 1″ SS flat head screw, 3 #8 SS washers, 3 8-32 SS nylon insert lock nuts, and a keeper clip.

Start by deciding where you want the paddle keeper to be located. It should be convenient to the paddler but below the top of the cowl so you don’t knock your fingers on them while paddling.

I started by locating where the hook should be (the top point in the photo) and position the bungee attachments 3-1/2″ down and 4-1/2″ to the left and right of that point. So, the bungee attachments will be 9″ apart for the mathematically challenged. I marked the points with a marker in the photo so you can see them, and then used the center punch to make it easier to drill. Here’s what you get after drilling the 3 3/16″  holes:

Drilling hole in a new kayak is not for the squeamish. It seems to get easier with each new kayak though! Now, it is time to assemble the paddle keeper. I like to start with the hook. Here is the hardware I used:

(notice the artistic spirals of drilled out plastic!)

You can also use rivets or Well-Nuts. I prefer to use stainless steel bolts for locations I can reach behind. The keeper hook has a countersunk hole so use an 8-32 by 1″ flat head screw, a #8 SS washer and an 8-32 nylon insert lock nut. The photo to the left shows the hook installed, I used a dab of Marine Goop on the screw threads to make a watertight seal.

Next, it’s time to assemble and install the bungee cord. Here are the parts needed for 1 side.

Here is the bungee “dry assembled” in the terminal end clip.

The end clip has 2 grippers that push in to the bungee when the sleeve is snapped in to place. I used a pair of needle nose pliers to do that.

Here it is assembled and ready to install. Of course, this is only one end of bungee, we’ll install the other end in place. Here is the end clip installed, same routine – a little dab of Marine Goop, a washer and nylon lock nut on the back.

Almost done now! Here is how I measured the length of the bungee – it extends about 1/4″ past the other hole.

Assemble the end clip and screw it to the kayak – don’t forget the Goop. Here’s a close-up of the finished paddle keeper.

And that’s it. It took me longer to photograph and write this up than it did to install paddle keepers on both sides!

You might first ask, “what is a fly rod holder?” Well, it is exactly that, a device that holds your fly rod while you are paddling out to where you want to fish. Rods tossed on the floor of a kayak are susceptible to breakage. Another use for a rod holder is to troll for fish while paddling. The holder positions the rod out of the paddler’s way and line is fed out to drag the fly behind the kayak. Sinking line helps get the fly deep where the fish might be hanging out.

Installing a rod holder is not that difficult, the steps are basically:

1. drill a big hole for the holder’s base (if it is a flush mount like mine)
2. drill 4 smaller holes for the attachment screws
3. seal with Marine Goop (or silicon seal) and screw the base to the kayak
4. let Goop dry
5. insert rod holder
6. fish

I have not rigged the yak for fishing yet, I want to get used to it and try it “raw” before starting to customize. I primarily fly fish with the occasional spin casting.

I have a reasonable amount of paddling experience with recreational kayaks and a lot with canoe. This is my first sot. Getting in and out is amazingly easy! The seat and cockpit are very comfortable – no knee banging like on a sit in. I’m 6’2 and 240# so cramped cockpits are a bummer.

The Manta Ray handled very nicely, had good speed and maneuvered well. I clipped my 9′ fly rod in the right paddle holder for this trip. Once I fished, I just tucked it under my leg and paddled to the next spot or re-oriented in the river. I didn’t bring an anchor – intending to just drift with the current and cast. It required the occasional paddle drag or stroke to keep oriented. Would a rudder allow me to control orientation while drifting with the current or do they only work when you are going faster or slower than the water?

From this trip I think I determined a few things:

1. I’ll probably rig my anchor trolley on the starboard side (I’m a righty fly casting).
2. The angled console seems like a good place to mount a ff / gps. Tonight I used a portable handheld Norcross Hawkeye FF3355 and a Garmin 60C GPS and duck taped them in place. I think a combo finder/gps makes sense.
3. I have a Scotty fly rod holder that I think I’ll mount on the flat top of the console. For traveling, I can keep an eye on my rod, seems like a good place to troll a fly from too.
4. I’ll outfit a crate with some rod tubes for trolling, an anchor container and tackle.
5. I need a foam cubby for my “beverage” can. My DC got warm too quickly.

It was a great 2 hours! Caught a really nice perch and several 2 1/2 – 3 # large mouths.