hi lads, im after a bit of advise,i have a 16ft pelican and was thinking could i make it a bit lighter by taking the cream plastic floor out and the middle seat? or would it alter its peformance, i usually row on my own or with a friend, atb jamiew
My Pelican had a tube running down the length of it with braces from the seats and centre thwart to keep the shape of the hull. If you remove the centre seat you will need to replace it with a thwart probably with a brace down to this tube.
Possibly if you have the inner floor this may replace this tube in which case removing it could affect the strength of the hull. On the other hand the tube may just be under it. In this case removing the floor may not make any difference so long as the bracing reaches right down to the tube.
Hope that makes sense I can try and dig out some pics of the inside of my old one if necessary.
I have 13' Coleman which I stripped all the metal out apart from 1 thwart.
replace the metal plastic sest with a wooden which is angled to make a 'comfy bum' kneeling thwart
Oil cans like you would never believe...about 10"
But, being 15st it seats ok once I am in my paddling position
Thankfully this is an old boat and all this re-modelling was done for fun.
Therefore:
Maintain a form of keelson if one is there already
Remove a seat replace with a thwart
Additionally I have seen a Pelican with all the metal, including gunnels, removed and replaced with ash.