The idea of taking the kayak out to the local lake is getting more appealing after watching this. My seat is too long and I haven't even taken it out once. It was a gift from my Cousin and she needs to see me take it out. Thanks for this
The great movie! However, when the chair is raised and installed, the center of gravity of the body is lifted up and the kayak can be easily overturned.
the rubber well nuts are the only way to go..they are more forgiving in plastic than metal.i mount all accessories.with them. McMaster carr carries all sizes.
Thanks for the idea of the "Well-Nuts" , I had gone to several hardware stores and best I could find was the drywall lock thingies. That was a total waste of time , effort n $$$$.
I have floated with the kayak and the seat is far more comfortable. It is also a better casting platform, much easier. There is a little trade off in stability and I can lower the seat a few inches. Much depends on your style of kayak.
I raised the seat on my Sun Dolphn Bali 10 which is the same as the Journey 10. But before raising the seat, you need to add outriggers, because the kayak is hot stable enough. Here is a video of the project. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hG0fM5CxvVE.html
The kayak handled okay, however because the center of gravity was higher it was less stable. I eventually lowered the seat at the rear and this gave the kayak more stability in white water. So, I would follow replacing the seat with well nuts, but you can lower your seat modification to better suit moving water.
I don't exactly remember, but the seat is from Ascend. I believe Amazon sells some of their seats still, although I don't know whether that same seat is available.
Matt, I found that I did lose a little stability as my center of gravity was raised. I opted to lower the replacement seat a little more, particularly in the rear. It is a little difficult to see in the video, but near the beginning where I take the original seat out, there is a raised area at the rear of the seat well. To this I mounted an aluminum bar. I also lowered the front of the seat a little. The seat was eventually a bit lower and tilted a little more towards the rear. Following that modification the seat and stability has worked very well on a number of floats since. Many newer sit on top kayaks are wider than mine, so a modification might depend on a few factors.
