Unlike a lot of people, I can sit for extend periods of time on my knees, and I also have excellent balance, so I thought it might be time to consider a C1 conversion for my kayaks.
A trip to the hardware and paddling store, and about $50 of foam and straps and other misc. bits later I arrived at my friend Harvs' house. Harv is my buddy. He also happens to be my only buddy with a band saw AND a sewing machine in the same place!
The paddler sits on top, the legs are folded to the sides underneath. The trick here is keeping your center of gravity low while keeping your legs from falling asleep. I can tolerate 4.5 vertical inches, but I think most people would be more comfortable with 6. The seat is 8 inches wide up top, 6 at the bottom, and 12 inches long end to end, about 8 inches of which protrudes in front of the backband.
Once convenient thing about a skin-on-frame kayak is the abundance of attachment points all over the frame.
A simple loop of parachute cord does the job nicely.
With the buckles sewn in place and clipped into the attachment loops I decided it was time to give the whole setup a test drive and headed down to the pond in the middle of a local city park for a voyage of dubious legality.
One thing I wasn't prepared for is the giant cavern of cargo space where my legs used to be, a space large enough to fit a backpack full of gear without disturbing the float bags in either end. This could be huge advantage!
The physical comfort is a heck of a lot better than sitting normally in a kayak right now, but more testing is required to see if it actually stresses the injury any less.
For now, I'm hopeful. I'd give anything to be back on the water, and if this works it might offer enough freedom on the water to keep me from going crazy while I wait another year for the injury to stabilize.
I'll take it on a trip, and report back. Maybe this modification could help someone besides just me?