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Quick Fix Page

Soul Waterman is a new company, and while we have made every effort to foresee all the possible little things that can go wrong with the products, some small niggling issues have slipped through the cracks despite rigorous testing.  Most of these can be resolved yourself in about 2-3 minutes at worst, and that's a lot easier than having to contact us for things so simple. This page is constantly evolving and not all the issues listed here are presently current - some could be for past versions of the product, or not on all versions depending on what the boat is. We leave old issues online so that no matter how old your boat is, if you're having an issue you could find the solution here.

 

Mini Me and Mini Monkey Skeg Falling out.

The retractable skeg is aligned to rotate up when hitting rocks paddling forwards. However, little kids lack control, and bumping into rocks sideways or backwards is something that happens. The skeg is designed to fall out with very little force. Better to loose a skeg than scare your kid and they don't want to get back in.  However, if you want to, you can make it tighter (this is OK for kids with more experience).

First check the wheel is tight. Insert a 4mm Allen key into the foam, and let it locate the internal screw. If you can't - it's on the other side. Tighten it down if its worked loose. Then add 2mm to 3mm new foam to each side of the wheel rectangles. This will make the "pinch" back into the skeg box tighter. 

You can then tether the skeg to the boat by screweing a small rope to the second insert in the skeg box recess, and tying the other side around the bungee as shown below.

   

Skeg locking gate not closing properly.

Because of the process of rotomoulding is a bit like baking a cake, there are some aspects of the "shrinking process" which are harder to control. We have special jigs to control hull shape, rocker, outline etc, but the skeg box is harder. As such, from time to time you may find that after the boat has cured for several weeks post assembly, the skeg bo longer fits perfectly, and the gate won't close. The simplest solution is simply to cut a small notch into the skeg as shown below.

 

 

Footrest bulkhead in Disco and Mini Monkey needs to go further forward.

The footrest in the Disco and Mini Monkey are designed for the average height paddler the boat is intended for. But that doesn't mean taller people cannot fit. Usually the restricting factor for further adjustment is that the footrest top connects the grab loop insert and won't go forward. This easily resolved by removing the footrest, and cutting a "U" shape into the top of the plate as shown below.

 

For even more adjustment, you can remove the plate from the backing base, and trip it down anywhere it's touching the boat when you try to move it further forward. NOTE: It's better to cut off 2mm, and it not enough, and have to remove another 2mm, than 10mm in one shot and it was too much.

  

2018 boats and earlier.

Hip Pads coming off the plastic back.

Some people tend to just "plop" their butts into the kayak straight up and down rather than squirming in sideways. For these people the hip pads can come separated off the plastic back. If yours has already separated, apply some contact glue to the back of the pad and the face of the plastic, wait for it to dry, and then glue it closed. Then taking a small zip tie, run this around the top of the hip pad and through the top slot in the plastic back as shown in these photos. Pull it tight enough to compress the pad against the plastic as shown in the photos. Cut off the excess of the zip tie, and then rotate it so that the 'clip" is hidden inside the foam slot as shown so it can't scratch you. That's it - you're done.

 

Vertical Support hardware coming loose

We used a 1" (2.5cm) #10 screw to hold the vertical support to the drop down tab of the cockpit. Sometimes this is coming loose. We suggest replacing the four #10 screws with a #14 (only 2 on the Booty Call in the rear). Do not over tighten. Snug is good enough. Done!

 

Thigh Braces loose

The Nut on the back side is closed, so that the top screw cannot poke through into your leg. That would really suck. But as the foam compresses, so the screw bottoms out into the receiver nut and you can't get it tight. Simply add two more washers to the top side like this image shown and hey presto, problem solved.

 

Scratchy Bungee Clips

A few people have mentioned that they have scratched their calves getting in or out of the boat on the two plastic clips that hold the throw bag bungee in place. It seems to mostly be people who like blue, or hoppy beer. For these people, a quick fix is to unscrew the two side screws, then take a 5/16" (8mm) frill bit, and drill through side to side where the small screw holes were. Then thread the bungee through the holes, pass it through the buckle again and retie the knot. Done!

 

 

Skinny Hips and all

While there is a good amount of adjustment to the hip pads bu moving them the full 2" up and down, or forward and back, if you have really skinny hips, you can tighten them up by adding two minicel foam blocks between the sides of the hip pad flanges and the side of the boat. For the Gonzo, the front is 3" and the back 3.5" and the Booty Call 4" back and 4.5" front (3" high stock block) for a completely neutral fit. Every 1/2" increase (per side) tightens the hips pads up by almost an inch by flexing the seat side tabs inwards.