Before you start....
On a piece of card or paper draw an outline of your skeg (fin) and put it away. The skeg can be lost, and is expensive to replace - around £20.
My skeg is home made, its a plastic bread board cut to shape and cost me £1. There is no performance difference at all.
If you forget I've uploaded a template for you but it'll probably be much easier for you to just make your own.
Download the template Here
At The Water....
The skeg can only be fitted whilst the boat is deflated. Fit The skeg now.
There is a drainage plug at the stern, it is far easier to close before the boat is inflated, and it is tight. If you forget don't worry too much, not a lot of water gets in in calm conditions.
A stirrup pump is the best type to buy, these will inflate and deflate the boat far more quickly than a foot pump.
There are zippers on the boat and they can be hard to grip with cold or wet hands, add a piece of lace or similar to make them easy to use.
Use the zippers to ensure the chambers are correctly aligned before inflating - The "sharp" edge seams on the white chambers inside the hull point up. Time spent making sure everything is lined up is time well spent, an uneven boat will veer to one side or the other. The floor should be flat, use the zipper to check the chamber hasn't folded.
Inflate ithe floor first. The floor has a standard valve, insert the longest nozzle into the valve, It will hold the inner membrane open while you inflate. If this is a struggle check the hose is connected to the "inflate" and not "deflate" section of your pump, and that the nozzle is inserted fully into the valve. Check the pressure using the manometer. Your manometer is working, dont panic - the chamber will be quite solid before it registers anything. DO NOT OVERINFLATE. The inflatable seats use the same valves.
The main chambers of the boat use Boston valves, these are a joy to use. Keep checking the pressure once the boat is getting firm, do not fully inflate one side without partially inflating the other.
Note, once the correct pressure is almost reached it does not take much more pumping to achieve it.
If you are paddling in cold water you may notice the boat gets a little "soft" after a while, this is normal the cold has just caused a reduction in pressure, simply land and top up with the pump, On very hot days the pressure may increase if the boat is left in the sun for a prolonged period, if you need to, loosen the valves very slightly to let some air out.
The choice of how to paddle is up to you, kayak paddles work wonderfully well but they do let a lot of water into the boat, they should be at least 220cm, I've tried 210cm and they are usable but a little awkward.
For a dry boat traditional canoe paddles are the best choice.
