Over the years I’ve tried out various ways of improving my Gumboats, mainly the Sunny and principally to make it more functional for the sort of easy touring I do.

Aire Cheetah seat, seat back board and footrest box
The Aire Cheetah seat (left) turned out to be no worse than the inflatable original but was a bit lighter. I've also set it up so I clip the seat to the boat's seat mounts (which originally used a knotted bit of rope) so I can take it out at camps. Plus, along with the box for a footrest (below), it's one less thing to pump up.

Firm back support is a problem with the OE seat; or to be precise, fitting points to hold the back of the seat upright as you push back with your legs. The latest Sunny model is better in this respect and to cut a long story short, I've since imitated the seat gluing mounts from the side tubes to click to the seat top. Before that I tried propping the Aire seat against a plywood spreader board (an idea off boatpeople) and then fitted an old contoured wooden stool back into the seat back to reduce the strain on the seat mounts. It worked OK but was a bit heavier. Since fitting on the side tube mounts (the real answer to this problem) I've reinstalled the much lighter bit of stiffening plastic which came with the Aire seat. Trying it out the other day indoors I dozed off so it can't be bad (or I'm getting on a bit).

The OE inflatable footrest pillow was always too far away to be effective, even for me at 6' 1", so I replaced it with a Q/D 5010 Otter box (below left). However I then noticed the lower seat mount tabs (where the rope was) tearing off a bit so the box is now attached directly to the seat with slings. This way I can push from seat to box and not strain the boat mounts.

Although I find I'm happy to paddle with my legs lying flat, when you want to go for it a foot brace is much better but of course requires a fairly solid seat to push against. The long box-to-seat strap seems to work so far (helped by the new Aire seat arrangement, above). i discovered a side benefit; the straps can be pulled over my knees to make thigh braces (right); another possibly handy feature when the going gets rough. It's not like bracing directly off the hull or anywhere near as direct as with a hardshell but the Sunny is no slalom boat; it's more to achieve good paddle thrust using the core not the arms. And anyway, even in the roughest rapids I've done the Sunny feels stable enough without using thigh braces. It swamps long before things get hairy enough to tip it over.

Sometimes I have a feeling my butt ought to be a bit higher than my feet for optimal seating comfort (as in a canoe or rowing); perhaps the uninflatable Aire is a bit lower than the OE Gumoseat. It could be easily raised of course and when unloaded the sticks/poles idea (see below) could fix the 'sag in the middle' tenancy all IKs have with a bloater like me aboard. I shoved a bit of folded karrimat into the seat base to thicken it (makes it more comfy as a camp seat too).

Low pro skeg
My first long trip down the Dordogne highlighted the hassle of the fixed skeg – and that was with an albeit flimsy trimmed-down home-made version (right; fitted back-to-front which would not help). Since then I’ve got the hang of paddling without the skeg but in the meantime I got a batch of  longer, 2mm thick skegs (above, click for a bigger picture) made and these are what I use most of the time if I use them at all – usually in the sea where I have yet to try out skegless paddling. I still have a few left and occasionally put them on ebay for a tenner. Contact me if you want one (click my sig on the front IK page).

Of course no skeg is generally best, especially for shallow rapids, portaging or on the shore with a loaded boat (where the tabs could get bent). It can be done, even in a short Solar we recently discovered, helped with a good current and a bit of WW to make up for the speed you lose faffing about.

Tubeless tyre valves for seat and footrest
I found a trimmed off car tyre tubeless valve jammed into the lilo-sized inflation holes in the OE seat and ‘footrest pillow’ (right) enabled firm pressures without losing it all when you tried to jam in the plug.

This was at a time when I was desperate to make my Safari as wide (and therefore as stable) as possible. As an idea it worked fine but it means carrying a bike pump and I’ve since got rid of these bits for an Aire seat and an Otter box (see below) to use as a foot rest for the Sunny.

Lashing points and loading
One of the limitations of the Sunny is a lack of lashing points – something that an Aire Super Lynx, Incept Tasman or FC Java have plenty of. I tried to glue a few on with what I thought were the right materials and technique, but half have since peeled off.

Another IK limitation is that half the actual width is taken up with air chambers, reducing the packing volume (if not necessarily payload) to less than a foot wide. I have to say though, on the trips I’ve done – nearly a week along a tropical coast (above) with one resupply – the volume was fine. It might not be the same story in a colder climate or when you need to carry more fresh water.

Lately I've fitted cargo nets (right) from the Feathercraft Java I briefly owned. Just two straps loosened to tie the gear down and hold loose items reasonably secure.

As is well known, the placement of loads has an effect on tracking (more critical without a skeg). In some pics you can see how my weight sinks the boat in the middle. To counteract this I generally try to pack the heavy weights at each end. Too heavy at the front is not so good for waves and rapids but the Sunny swamps fairly easily in these conditions anyway; it’s only on flat water that good/bad baggage positioning is noticeable.

Trolley tech
A £10/1kg folding trolley is a handy way of transporting the boat around rail stations or airports. It folds up neatly and fits on the bow (right). In fact with a bit of adaptation I wonder if it could make an upside down set of wheels for portaging. The wheels on this black trolley are too narrow though; the load tips easily on rough pavements. And you get what you pay for: the tubing and construction are pretty flimsy. Protracted gumboat trolleying over rough surfaces and tracks will eventually mangle this lightweight trolley (my second) so it needs to be treated carefully.

On the Haute Allier river in France I used a heavier-duty and wider folding trolley (left) which packed flat and handily tucked in under my legs between the tubes. Where weight is not a limitation (on trains and buses), I'd use this one but with any trolley wide is the way to go. I may try and widen the track of my light black trolley.

Sometimes I wonder about an integrated backpack frame with wheels or a bag with more handles. Part of the reason the OE gumbag is tearing is that when you trolley up to some stairs you can only yank it by the top clips or the backpack straps. It's something to think about when the current gumbag tears to the point of no longer being a functional drybag.

Hull bracing sticks
The 15-foot Feathercraft Java I had for a while had longitudinal alloy stiffening tubes. While paddling the Tarn Gorge in 2007 I tried to imitate this idea of helping stiffen the hull on the 12.5-foot Sunny. The handy gap where the side tube meets the floor tube was just right for jamming a stick in.

Can you see any difference whatsoever in the pictures on the right? It's supposed to show the boat with no load (top) - quite bent; the boat with a heavy load - low and relatively level; and at the bottom with a light load with some straight branches jammed in (see below) - less bent than it would be.
No, they all look the same...

I was going to buy a pair of broom handles in France but forgot so later by the Tarn river I found a couple of branches that were pretty straight over 5 feet and jammed them in between the floor and the side tubes more or less in the middle of the boat. My unscientific impression was that the Sunny was indeed more rigid, responsive and faster, leveling the boat out in the water. I’ve since found some light metal tubes (above) and may try again to see if it’s worthwhile. The fact that the river sticks popped out through some rapids shows how much the Sunny flexes in rough water. What would be needed is some soft of fixed ring or velcro tabs attached to the floor as the Java had to hold these poles down as the boat bends.

Self draining hole
Paddling the Haute Allier required frequent visits to the bank - not to get cash but to drain the swamped boat. Turning it upside down is the quickest way of doing this thoroughly but can upset the packing; tipping it up on end works less well as each pointy end is capped by a triangular patch of material (not sound on the Solars, interestingly). It's a handle of sorts but it keep some water in. Recognising this shocking design flaw I cut a 2-cm hole is this patch so I could just drag it up a steep bank to drain itself (right).

Making the Sunny a self-bailer?
I’ve considered cutting bailing holes (easily and reliably reversible with duct tape I found on the Safari, left) but am pretty sure the floor of my Sunny is below the water line with my 90kg in it. Loads at either end (see triple picture above) help, as would the hull sticks described above too, along with a thicker seat pad. It may be something worth trying to not end up sitting in water. Lighter solo paddlers in a Sunny may get away with it.

Or what about a velcro and zip deck shroud?
A feedbacker from Vancouver pointed me to the Incept Tasman (now added to Other IKs). It's not the Mona Lisa of IKs but let's face it, what is? However the ingenious zippered decking has got me thinking. Instead of self bailing which let's face it is a bit desperate, decking is another way to stop the Sunny swamping in rough water while making loading easy and the always desirable open-air mode a possibility. Best of both worlds, kind of like a convertable car. After all, canoes bound for white water often have fit-on decking.

I've often thought of somehow gluing on a velcro strip along the hull sides and then making a one-piece deck shroud from an old tent flysheet or just a tarp to velcro to the hull. Jeez, that would look good. With a waterproof zip running down the shroud from the bow to a 'turret/sock/neck/spray skirt' (right). And maybe another running backwards to make rear loading possible once the velcro was in place. The trick would be to make the velcro tape stick to the hull (it could be sewn to the shroud) and to make getting out in an emergency foolproof (a big toggle on the zip at the turret). Capsizing a Sunny does take some doing but I've done it when cocking up rapid approaches and always fallen out harmlessly. Unzipping the shroud would take a couple more seconds.

Swamping is a perhaps the biggest drawback of the Sunny, not helped by my weight and my touring load. To have the option of eliminating bilge-pumping or draining when conditions warrant it would be most desirable. Hmmm, now I'm thinking...

Maintenance
All I ever do is rinse the boats after each trip, dry then and occasionally spray on some 303 UV protectorant. It's noticeable how it's lost it's new sheen in the sun over the years. Deflated and splayed out Gumboats dry very quickly. With a bit of wiping you can dry an old style, all-coated Gumotex in 15 minutes on a warm day.

It’s a pain but I’m always careful to keep the awkwardly stiff valve caps on and also not let the boat get too hot, especially out of the water. On a warm day you can feel the tubes tighten like a drum in the sun which of course happens to be good for paddling efficiency. The floor tube on my Sunny has a pressure release valve (something never mentioned in the specs and not found on the new Sunny I believe). This is to do with the vulnerability of the I-beam floor which could separate under pressure. The valve purges with the heat which means it's often a bit soft in the cool morning following a hot day. The handy thing with the relief valve on the Sunny is that it makes a good guide to how hard you ought pump up the boat. At whatever leg pressure the valve starts airing off, that's the same or a-bit-more pressure to put in the side tubes.

The valves are very easy to operate (apart from the stiff valve caps) and reliable but I do wonder about fitting some nicer Leafield C7s (left) which would be nicer to cap - or even a Leafield A6 PR with auto pressure relief so you need never worry about your boat bursting in the sun. Now you can see I'm just inventing unnecessary mods. Next, I'll be repainting it.

Apart from crossing a reef in Australia, I’ve never been in a situation where I’ve been worried about punctures.

The Bravo footpump (right and chummy mascot of this site) that comes with the boat looks a bit crap but has lasted well and IMO beats a handpump if you got a bad back like me. Occasionally the yellow tube splits near either end if packed too tightly so it gets shorter and shorter over the years but still has plenty of length or can be taped up. It's a shame the Bravo pump is a tight squeeze into the Gumbag's outer pocket; with some rough treatment the pocket rips off the bag's body.

Paddles
I started with a super cheap 3 piece TNP shovel (right) but after picking up a much better used 2-piece Lendal Archipelago, (below, white), for Shark Bay in 2006 I decided to splash out on a decent light paddle which cost more than the boat itself: a bent-shaft, adjustable low angle 2-piece Werner Camano (below, orange). I haven't tried many paddles but to me bent shafts make ergonomic sense: it’s just more comfortable. I do notice though that when I swap back to the slightly heavier straight Lendal that it has noticeably less flex.

The Camano is a low angle paddle but sometimes I think my style is high angle. I find wide, high-sided (and relatively unresponsive) IKs encourage or require this ‘digging’ style anyway - or maybe it's just me. So in the US I got myself an adjustable Aqua Bound 4-piece high angle (big blade) Sting Ray in carbon no less (for less than half the price it would have cost in the UK). Weighing under 900g this one feels even more flexy than the Camano but of course fits right in the bag which the others don't. Of these three my favourite is the Camano because of the bend.

Drysuit
It was going cheap so I bought myself a drysuit in a bid to lengthen my season and be less of a liability at sea. It's a Kokotat Swift Entry model I believe, not Gore-tex but cheaper and less effective Tropos material that does not breath as well. To be honest I think the breathability (and so, day-long comfort) of Gore-tex garments is much exaggerated or only works well in finite optimum conditions.

Best things about it besides the price are the ease of entry and taking off - even for a short bankside break it's easy to unpeel the top. The relief zipper is good for having a slash and best of all the sewn in boots mean you wade about as if in a body welly. They're thin so I wear neoprene socks over the top to protect them as well as Tevas. Inside I wore a heavy duty Ice breaker wool thing and Ron hill running leggings and never felt cold. Never felt humid either and you can splash about or swamp the boat as much as you like without risking imminent exposure. Once submerged I don't suppose it would be as good as a proper expedition drysuit but as an on board 'spray blanket' it's fine.