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I recently lost over 20 pounds, of which about half was across my rear end. This new lack of 'padding' caused me some grief on a recent canoe trip. I was using my solo canoe with my kayak paddle, which necessitates having my legs more or less spread out in front of me, kayak style. Well, the first night my inner thighs were determined to cramp-up big time!
Thinking about how the front edge of the canoe seat had perhaps dug into my 'leg & bum muscles', on the second day I decided to perch my 'bum bones' on the very front edge of the canoe seat. This prevented my 'bum bones' from sinking down into the seat's webbing area and stopped the front edge of the seat from digging into my upper leg muscles. While sitting directly on the wood of the front edge of the canoe seat was 'hard', it did prevent a repeat of the muscle cramping.
After the trip, I did some online research and found that the muscles involved were the 'adductors magnus'. Apparently they are the second largest muscles in one's body. Their top end connects around the lower parts of the buttock, hip and groin. Their lower end connects along the inner thigh bone and the upper knee. The discomforts involving them are often referred to as 'sitting pain'. While I did find online video instructions (both yoga and physio therapy) that definitely help stretch out knots and cramps in the affected muscles, I'm wondering if anyone has successfully modified their solo canoe's seat to prevent the seat's front edge from digging into their 'adductors magnus'.
I recall leg cramps having been a slight bother on other solo canoe trips. However, in the past I had more personal 'bum padding' and the effect wasn't very severe. But now that I've lost a few pounds, I'm looking for effective ways to apply 'bum padding' to the canoe seat itself. Any suggestions regarding material, shaping and fastening?
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A lot of Swift canoes have seats that are curved and bowed at the front and a lot more comfortable than a straight seat. I find it makes a huge difference.
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I'd hate to have to acquire a different seat and try to engineer it into place and hope it didn't also aggravate the leg muscles.
Rather, I'm hoping to somehow 'modify' what I have to reduce the offending 'edge'. Here's the seat in my Bell Magic solo, with the dimensions in red.
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It's just occurred to me that the force one gets from 'pulling' at the water with the kayak paddle is imparted through one's arms. through one's 'core' and then through one's 'bum' to the seat .. which then 'pushes' the canoe forward! If one prevents the seat's 'edge' from impacting the 'adductor magnus' muscle, then the canoe will not receive the force from the paddles and one will simply slide forward down off the canoe seat! The only other way to impart the paddling force to the canoe, is to either push one's feet against packs wedged against the hull or against blocks fixed to the floor of the canoe.
It's occurring to me that when I'm paddling in the stern of my tandem canoe with my single blade paddle, my knees are raised in a more conventional seated position, my legs are not laying across the front edge of the seat and my 'adductors magnus' don't get impacted like they do in the solo canoe.
I'm thinking that if I 'smooth-out' the solo canoe seat, I'll have to attach foot-blocks to the floor of the canoe, kayak-style! Does anyone have foot-blocks attached to the floor of their canoe? If so, how are they attached?
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Have you considered adding a spacer under the front bracket, between it and the seat thus tilting the seat forward?
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A couple of things- My seat is the contoured "Swift" one and is slightly higher at the back, and my kneeling thwart is adjusted to also be used like a toe bar (1" lower and angled back). this helps lock me in place and allows me to keep my knees slightly bent, making my calves take some of the strain and lifting those tender butt muscles slightly, helping relieve pain from chronic sciatica.
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BarryB wrote:
...I'm thinking that if I 'smooth-out' the solo canoe seat, I'll have to attach foot-blocks to the floor of the canoe, kayak-style! Does anyone have foot-blocks attached to the floor of their canoe? If so, how are they attached?
My boat has an adjustable foot brace.
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I have low body fat and find that after an hour or two of paddling, my glutes gets sore so I'll switch to a kneeling position to alleviate the pressure. A padded seat would help too.
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Thanks Cody. Those side rails look to each be attached by only a pair of rivets, one at each end, right through the hull. It looks like they are well above the waterline.
Before you went with that hardware, did you have any thoughts about hanging a brace down from the thwart and angling it down against the floor?
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i think i would be looking for a good cushion of some sort,,
how about installing oars ??
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The need to impart the force of propulsion to the canoe is paramount. Rather by feet than by the top of a sensitive thigh muscle! Whether by paddle or oars, when facing forward, the problem can be similar.
However, if rowing facing backwards, the force has to be imparted to the canoe by one's back-side.
I'm thinking that Cody's solution may be on track.
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Check out kayak foot braces, that's what is mounted in my Shearwater and a solo canoe is narrow enough for them.
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It came pre-installed on my boat when I got it. I had used the system before on rentals and really liked the setup, so I didn't consider any other alternatives really.
I prefer the full width bar over the kayak foot braces because it offers more flexibility in terms of where you place your feet. It also doubles as a nice grab bar when portaging depending on the overall size of your canoe and the placement of the bar.
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I also have a Magic. My boat came with sitting seat drops. Meaning they are quite long. I trimmed these drops so that the rear drop is 3/4" shorter than the front drop. I also have plastic spacers installed. This provides me with a height adjustable curved and canted seat. The spacers came from a TV wall mounting kit.
I dislike Kayak foot pegs. They limit where I can place my feet, and I like to move around during the day. Like Cody I use a foot bar. However my foot bar is not riveted through the hull. It is an aluminum bar attached to Carbon mounts with pre drilled holes for re positioning the foot bar. The carbon mounts are just 1/2" thick carbon that has been cut to shape and had holes drilled in it. The Carbon mounts are epoxied to the inside of the hull using a simple hardware store 2 part epoxy. I wouldn't go jumping up and down on these mounts but they have stayed solid so far.
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