: Still apprehensive about sitting in my boat for 5-6 hours. May
: need help getting out at the end of the day.

Word of advice on the seat comfort. If the underside of your thighs feel pressure on the edge of your seat, you should try to angle the seat to lower the front edge. The worst problem you will experience if the front edge is too high will be the potential for pinched nerves, especially under race conditions. The pressure you feel should be minimized as much as possible. Sitting for that long is no big deal as long as you use proper posture and good paddling technique. Use a foam liner to cushion the seat a little better. The best kind of foam I ever used was a thick piece of that green camping bed foam. It was at least 4-inches thick and compressed nicely under my butt and supported my legs nicely. I paddled 500-kms with that piece of foam. Was comfortable all the time even though I was doing anywhere from 14-18 hours of padding each day. Don't forget to stop paddling occasionally to wriggle your butt and legs around a little to get the blood flowing better: helps a lot, eh!

Robert N Pruden