: Hi folks,
: I built the wrong boat for what I like to do. The logical thing to
: do would be to build another, but time and money put that off a
: bit into the future. I have a fairly simple idea to possibly
: make my current boat better suit my needs that I would like more
: experienced builders and paddlers to confirm or discredit. I
: built the Greenland Deck Night Heron below. It's great for
: rolling and flat water paddling, but, as I have pointed out in
: other posts, its handling in rough water has something to be
: desired. I'm on the light side, 150lbs (155 when I'm sporting a
: cute potbelly), yet my decks are frequently awash in waves as
: small at 18"-2'. This has the effect of greatly increasing
: the drag and it feels like someone is applying the brakes just
: when I'm trying to grab a rush of speed. Another effect of being
: awash is the decrease in stability as water shifts from running
: off one side of the flat deck to another. This means that
: downwind runs that should be an absolute blast really piss me
: off as work hard to regain lost speed and stability as my high
: volume boat friends speed on ahead. In retrospect I perhaps
: should have built the high-deck version of the Night Heron,
: which bring me, finally, to my idea. I don't want to completely
: rebuild the deck---I've got a lot of time in cockpit recesses,
: inlays, etc. If I'm going to go to that much work I definitely
: should just build another boat. But what if I cut the deck off
: and set it aside, raise the shearline by adding an inch or so of
: strips straight up on the hull, then re-attach the deck? The
: result will add lots of volume but doesn't address the deck
: shape issue, so whether this is worth the effort or not depends
: upon how much of the current problem is caused by lack of volume
: as opposed to the shape of the deck (I'm assuming the flat deck
: allows water breaking down overtop to apply much more downward
: force to bury the boat and also requires much more boyancey
: force to push the deck back up through the water).

Hi Mark.
Have you checked how your boat sits in the water with you in it.
ie:- Is your seating position too far aft? Just a thought.
Get on some flat water and get someone to check your trim.

Les C.