Brian, Thanks again for continuing the discussion!! Since I don't really know how to paddle a kayak, it follows that I don't know how not to paddle a kayak. Your input is great! I've bounced this off a friend who considers himself a beginner kayak paddler, but I believe he has much more knowledge than I have, and he voiced the same concerns as you. I drew up a diagram where I tried to locate all the points the paddler is in contact with the boat, then I included where I might put suspension for this whacky idea. I showed it to my friend, and without knowledge of your input, brought up every point you did. And here I thought I had an idea for a better mouse trap. Maybe that stadium seat velcroed to the floor isn't so bad after all. I'll incorporate lateral support into my experiment as you suggest. Something from the center might be more difficult, but I can imagine it. I agree with you that continuous preasure with feet on footbraces to maintain a snug cockpit fit would be very tiring. So far, I see suspension at the thighs, hips , cheeks and lumbar, maybe cargo netting would provide the material, dowls, inserted in an under coaming or inside rim, away from the paddler, cut flush with the cock pit opening, angled upward to form something like a peg for a coat on a coat rack. I see reinforcing the cockpit with laminated pieces, like ribs, but epoxied into the under deck at the points where I might be suspending myself, sort of a half circle, or a net type configuration spanning the fat part of the oval of the cockpit shape. I see recessing the cheek plates a bit to accomidate the net, or maybe not, I'll give that more thought. I could string a line from about the middle of the net to the forward part of the cockpit opening on the center line of the boat. There's still lake ice on the water, and I'm still stripping my deck anyway, so there's no rush. Any of these "additions" will only add weight to my boat, and what the heck? It's made to be paddled, not carried. I'll also install the velcro and buy the stadium seat. Making a seat out of mini cell foam wouldn't be impossible for me, but a NOALS instructor told me that they use the stadium seat thing when they take people out on the wilderness training expeditions. I've tried it in my wife's Osprey Std...and it's okay. Thanks again for the responses. If you think of anything else that might save my life, drop me a line. I love building boats. Sincerely.
Bill.

: No need to be so formal, Bill. Brian will do just fine.

: The issue is that in order to be able to shift your CG in the direction you
: want to, you need to be centered in the boat. While it can be useful to
: sit slightly off-center at times - say for paddling an extended distance
: with the boat edged - for the most part, you don't want to be slopping
: around from side to side. Picture this: You're sitting in a sling seat
: without any hip pads and the sling is not anchored at the sides, allowing
: it to swing. A wave hits you from the port side. In order to counteract
: the lean of the boat, you want to shift your CG to port, right? However, a
: free hanging seat will shift to starboard when the boat leans, shifting
: your CG that way, too. This is exactly the opposite of what you want and
: will push you closer to capsizing to starboard.

: Now, if you have hip pads and/or the seat in anchored laterally, your weight
: won't shift in the direction of the lean, but when you try to correct the
: lean, the fact that the seat bottom changes shape when you push against it
: can work against you. While we're taught to pull up with the inboard knee
: to change the boat's lean, I find that in practice, I tend to push down
: with the opposite hip/cheek as well. I find that minor corrections are
: easier to do by pushing one cheek down than by pulling with the opposite
: leg. With a seat that changes shape, pushing down is much less effective
: and produces a delayed response in the boat, which can lead to
: over-correcting. I've experienced this effect when using an inflatable
: seat cushion.

: I'm also not fond of the idea of forcing the fit by wedging oneself in the
: cockpit with pressure between the foot pegs and back rest. While this may
: be necessary for some maneuvers (rolls, in particular), paddling that way
: on a continuous basis is tiring and leads to sore feet and a sore back. I
: prefer a relaxed position in the boat with almost no pressure on the back
: rest and only enough on my feet to counteract the force of the paddle
: stroke. I find this to be very efficient and comfortable. The seats and
: padding in my boats are pretty minimal, but they're enough to keep me
: centered and in control. You can see some of this at the Webshots link
: below.

: I haven't made a swinging seat for the reasons cited above, but I have had
: one that allowed me to slide from side to side when the boat leaned.
: Frankly, it was just plain scary! I felt like I had very little control of
: the boat, despite the fact that that it fit close otherwise.

: I've considered sling seats in my skin boats, but the design I have in mind
: would be anchored at the sides and at the center. That would allow it to
: conform to my shape (each cheek individually), without sacrificing
: control. Perhaps that's something you may want to experiment with?