I like the way that the 2 final, central bulkheads on each frame half act as levers to facilitate stringer location when rotated into place. Once I worked out that I had to do this after, not before the 2 halves were not only in the skin but also joined together (I couldn't glean this from the vestigial manual) it was a lot easier to put the kayak together.
The other trick I learnt was to lever the central half bulkhead into place using the top 2 skin mount holes as a fulcrum to locate the stringers before clipping the half bulkhead onto the bolt head in the keel – I tried doing it the other way round first but couldn't, and pulled out the 'bolt headed nail in the keel in the process. I also learnt (the hard way) that you need to get the skin absolutely central on the keel to get both coaming bolts to fit.
There are two points I could do with help with, however. The first is that, once the Narak was assembled, I still had two short straps with plastic buckles left over.( buckles for connecting to other straps, not the bayonet type) Any other owners know what these are for?
The other thing I'm still not clear on is how the seat back is kept up. I presume I'm supposed to loop the string from the back of the seat through the two loops on the skin just under the back of the coaming, but there's a cleat on the back of the seat just above where the string is attached that is clearly for a much much thicker cord (perhaps for the sliding luggage system?) – any help with this would also be much appreciated.
The Narak seems very well made apart from the small plastic model number plate just under the coaming, which was already broken when the kayak arrived. It's a beautiful looking boat IMHO once it's together, though quite high at the front and with almost no rocker, at least not when assembled on my living room floor
Simon
. Weight and bulk is at about the limit for me for public transport, but I can manage it.
