However, European white water, as well as touring folding boat paddlers have at times done away with seats altogether, opting instead to mold their own custom seat out of pieces of their equipment and luggage, suitably packed and tied down. You may wish to explore the effects of different seating positions and heights on the trim and stability on you and the boat. 5 - The molded foam rubber seat provides good lateral stability to the paddler in normal use. For use in rough water or for advanced paddling techniques, such as extreme bracing, sculling or rolling, you may wish to fill the gap between your hips and the gunwales with padding. 6 - The E68 is a wood frame boat.
Many people have sufficient experience and confidence to work with wood.
My heels rest close together on the flat central rudder pedal track, pushed firmly into the fixed slightly forward slanted lower plates on the pedestal. When I deploy the rudder, I move the rudder control pedals merely with the balls of my feet, retaining fully the longitudinal support provided by my locked-in heels. I keep my knees splayed outward, slightly bent and raised far enough to lock my thighs under and my knees on the respective outboard faces of the carlings. I find it easier to achieve a slight forward inclination of my torso with my legs in this position, which in turn allows me to make full use of my abdominal muscles for effective torso rotation when paddling. The deceptively simple, slanted wooden backrest provides solid support very low down when I lean forward to paddle, brace or roll, allowing full freedom of movement in any direction for my torso, yet is comfortable when I lean back to relax and glide.