It would be nice to have straps or indent for the backbone

Damien · Post by **Damien** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:18 pm

I find that putting the backbone in the "right" place is a pain. It needs to be placed properly for good tracking. Basically it goes from the skeg to the front fin of the kayak and having to turn the kayak over to eyeball it isn't easy. Often I'll line it up and then top things off and turn it back over and the backbone has moved!

All that would be needed is a few little straps or an indent at the bottom of the boat to secure the backbone in place to make life a bit easier. Just a thought.

Post by **Pearly** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 10:12 pm

Just get it in the right place once and mark the position on the floor with a permanent marker pen. Then you'll get it right every time.

Daddy-O · Post by **Daddy-O** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 2:08 am

See the post by Lee Johnson (just below the picture of the kayak). It might help you. http://www.advancedelements.com/phpBB2/ ... .php?t=421
Daddy-O

Damien · Post by **Damien** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 9:38 am

Thanks for the replies. I line it up from the skeg to the smaller fin in the bow. It's just a pain because sometimes it moves when I go from partially inflated to fully inflated, especially the part that goes towards the skeg. If they had straps or an indent that held the backbone in place this wouldn't happen. It's important that the backbone be lined up for good tracking.

I just inflate once at the beginning of the season now that I have a trailer. Doing it every time I wanted to use the boat was just killing my back and part of the problem was fussing with the backbone.

lbang · Post by **lbang** » Thu Aug 13, 2009 9:29 pm

Is it safe to just stick some velcro onto the bottom of the boat and the backbone so that I can just velcro the backbone? That should hold it in place when inflating.

diemonde · Post by **diemonde** » Fri Aug 14, 2009 12:41 am

Hi,

See http://www.advancedelements.com/phpBB2/ ... .php?t=329

In one of the last messages I talk about pockets for the backbone on the floor. Let's not forget that with the backbone wrong people can get a bad experience out of the kayak and decide to drop AE brand.

sonar · Post by **sonar** » Sun Jul 17, 2011 1:27 am

lbang wrote:Is it safe to just stick some velcro onto the bottom of the boat and the backbone so that I can just velcro the backbone? That should hold it in place when inflating.

Very long strips of Velcro may and I say may do the job.

Something I have to look at myself spending too much time trying to get this in the right position each time.

Inflating it just to find i have to let it down again to move the backbone just a fraction to get it right.

Dispite marking the floor.

Amuzed2pieces · Post by **Amuzed2pieces** » Wed Feb 27, 2013 5:49 pm

Same issue, having both the Convertible and 2 Expeditions we found with the convertible the BB would often move or slip.

Ideally, in Version 2 of the boat, the BB would lock into the front and back skegs making realignment unnecessary. Just pump and go.

Right now we inflate the boat 80%, turn the boat over for a peek, then readjust the BB, and then do a final pump. Its a pain though, and we have reshored the boat a couple of times when it didn't track well to fudge it a little.