Saw this on a used kayak, searched the forum and couldn't find anything.
The past owner put shock cords onto the rudder pedals to keep the control cables tight. Which is a problem I have on occasion with the slider rail rudder pedals slide backwards.

Seemed like a cool idea.. ?

Do it on all my ruddered boats. Requires a pad eye or bolt anchor to the bulkhead forward of the rudder track on each side. Pygmy have the hardware to make end fittings on bungies, or your local kayak shop may have them. The aft end goes through the hole at the forward end of the sliding part of the rudder control assembly.

Well what a great idea !

I saw these at MEC but didn't see the bottom piece..
do you just tie a knot ? in the bottom piece then clip it to the hook ?



LOL

That is what my fishing kayak has. Bungeed so the foot pedals always come forward. I'll post a pic tonight.

Camshaft wrote:
I saw these at MEC but didn't see the bottom piece..
do you just tie a knot ? in the bottom piece then clip it to the hook ?

The bungie goes through the "sleeve" and then into the bottom of the clip part. then the sleeve is pushed onto the clip 'till it clicks into place. All locked together they are very secure.
I was concerned at first about the whole mess exploding under load, but they seem to be very reliable and do NOT pull apart with a great deal of pull on the bungie

thanks Redguy..

My issue was at MEC they had a bin of them and all the round sleeves where in the bottom. Then looking closer I clued in that two tags that stick out get forced in as the sleeve goes on. Duh.

Now my issue is can't seem to find any strap eyes or inchworms other then western.

Camshaft you might want to look at this stuff from Lee Valley.
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.a ... 3326,59481
trying to do this on my iPhone so might not work!

Industrial Paint and Plastics (ippnet.com) sells all kinds of marine gear including plastic "inchworms". They have stores around BC and even into Alberta. You want page 552 of their marine catalogue.

I didn't think about those places
Lee Valley. or Industrial Paint and Plastics

Can't recall seeing inchworms at Lee Valley or Industrial Paint and Plastics last time I was in. But that really doesn't mean anything.

I found a kayak/sailing place in vancouver and they had plastic and metal inchworms..
As well two marine stores had inchworms but the prices where nuts. Like stupid expensive a plastic clip you can get at MEC for .25 they wanted 3.50 ??????????????

What's wrong with Western?

*****

Nothing is wrong with Western but I was downtown at VGH today.
A side note I'm a little miffed with Western on how I was treated the other day about my order that came in and was wrong. I don't really appreciate being treated like i'm stupid. Which is a shame because every other experience I have had with western has been golden.

What is the best way to route the shock cord?
Rudder pedals to a inchworm on the right and left of the bulkhead...
Or to run a continous piece of shock cord from one rudder pedal to the other with two inchworms ?

A padeye (inchworm = padeye) on each side, set forward on the bulkhead (or, through the hull), with the bungie looped to the forward end of the pedal slider (most have a hole on their forward end). I form loops on bungie using two cable ties around an overlapping inch or so. Pulled bull-tight, never had a failure with this system, many applications. Size the bungie loop, attach to the slider, and then place padeye with bungie in the eye, using pre-drilled holes and SS hardware. Helps to disconnect the rudder cables to take tension off the system until the padeye is in place.

Western also sells a deck rigging kit with bungie, padeyes, and more rigging hardware than you will ever need for jobs like this: http://www.westerncanoekayak.com/produc ... on_id=6021

Ya for 22.95 not bad for 14 eyelets (14.00), and 7.00 hardware and 24' of bungee
Easy to install kit includes 24' of 1/4" bungee, 14 nylon lacing eyelets, and 28 bolts and rubber-coated well nuts.

Thanks Dave..
So you are running a two bungee (shock cords) on on each side then. I was just thinking you could run one complete length of shock cord. Have it run from the pedals to the padeyes then across L to R with a slight pretension. So when you push one pedal the cord slides to give slack to the opposite side. This way not creating as much bungee spring tension on the rudder pedal that is moved forward. Which would happen on the two bungee cable set up.
Does that make any sense ?

No need for the complication. And, sliding bungie will wear.

You want the pedals to be pulled ahead firmly; your leg muscles will have no problem countering the pull of doubled bungie. Set the loop so it is tight when the pedals are neutral, as the bungie relaxes over time.

Having the bungies in place allows you to steer with one foot when needed ... such as when you get a leg cramp or an a** itch. [that last part's for DarrenM's amusement]

Very true Dave..
Looked at the kayak that I got the idea from and it has them connected with one long piece. But then watching the operation of it the shock cord it didn't move so no point in running one complete line.

If you have not already found what you are looking for, I sell those clips and pad eyes or can order in most anything from marine wholesaler and will match prices

Thanks for the post OB some seriously amazing boats

Dave, Is there any way you can post a photo of this setup. Try as I might, I just can't picture this in my head.

I will post a picture later tonight...
Was a bit of a challenge to dril the bulkhead holes and install the eyelets. Not to metion holding both ends of the bolts by myself.

Keabird,

That boat is elsewhere for a while, and I don't have any images of the setup.

If you stick your head inside the cockpit, and look at the footpedal on its slider in the track, you will see a hole in the forward end of the slider. Fasten one end of the bungie to the slider, using a standard bungie hook, and some 10-24 hardware, using fender washers to trap the bungie hook. The other end of the bungie gets attached to a padeye (aka inchworm) by forming a small loop in the end (two cable ties is enough). Thie padeye is placed on the aft surface of the bulkhead, directly forward of the slider.

As camshaft says, the hard part is attaching the padeye to the bulkhead. Locate the place to put the padeye and drill holes for the two bolts needed. Attach the padeye to the rear surface of the bulkhead, using 10-24 hardware and fender washers on the forward side of the bulkhead.

It is easiest if the slider is temporarily disconnected from the cable running to the rudder, so the bungie is not under tension during the last step. I sometimes get a helper to hold the nut and fender washer in place as I screw the bolt through the hole into the fender washer/nut on the forward face of the bulkhead. You can also use hot melt glue to affix the nut and washer while placing the bolt, or even duct tape. Once you get it started, attach a pair of visegrips to the nut and rotate the machine screw until it is tight.

finally completed..

Was going to drill a hole in the rudder pedals for the shock cord. Then came up with the idea a loop would fit over the pedal just fine. As well lets you just pop the loop off if you wanted to remove the pedal assembly..