The stats for this blog show that a fair few people are visiting after searching for “P&H Sirius”, and I’ve realised I haven’t really said anything more about my ongoing quest to tame the tippy beast that was Cyril the Sirius when I first got him.
Yes, I’ll be honest, my first outing on the sea at Easter, scared me half to death, and I was convinced I’d made a terrible mistake in buying such a tippy boat. The whole ride was incredibly twitchy, such that I hardly even dared to take a photo, despite the relatively calm sea conditions. However, this didn’t match with my previous experience of paddling one last year albeit briefly, so the whole thing had me scratching my head somewhat!
The previous owner told me that HIS predecessor had raised the seat so he could put lead sheets underneath to aid the stability, so I borrowed some lumps of lead from a friend to try, and actually this made a significant difference to the ride, (I’m no naval architect, but I presume this was due to the lowered centre of gravity).
It got me thinking though, what sense did it make to raise up my own body (80kg) and hence C of G just so I could put lead underneath (10kg) to lower it again?!?
It was time for a closer look at that seat!
A quick internet search revealed that others had encountered similar problems before (here and here), and this was all the encouragement I needed to do something a bit drastic! 🙂
Which revealed….. well frankly I was speechless!
A plastic board had been placed on the bottom of the hull, and this had been glassed over to make a channel right underneath the seat. Now, I have no idea if the seat was actually raised to achieve this, but it was clear that there was plenty of scope for lowering it.
No more photos at this stage, as I haven’t done a permanent fix yet, but hey, what a difference – you really would swear he was a different boat entirely. Whilst he’s still a bit too lively for fishing from for example, at least I can now stop for a drink or take a photo without feeling as though I’m in mortal danger! Anyhow, I’m at least convinced now that we’re going to be friends.
An Outdoor Life 
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