I was inspired by the work I saw on the QajaqJpn website to rebuild by seat back on the Tahe this morning. I started by un-peeling the previous back support I had made, cleaning the glue off was relatively easy, I then roughed up the coaming with coarse sandpaper to get the contact adhesive to bond on the new back support. I made the foam support out of three pieces as I had no single piece large enough to complete the work. I cut a new half inch pad to go under me as I was finding the quarter inch foam was not enough padding for a several hour paddle.
I formed the main shape using a bread knife and then finished the smoothing of the foam with a sanding block of coarse then fine grit.I tried the shape several times until I found the appropriate amount of support and comfort, two things I focused on – back protection for lay back rolls and lower back support for paddling. I think I found a good compromise.
I finished the job off by covering the foam with neoprene which I glued to the coaming and the foam to ensure they did not pop out when under stress. This afternoon I hope to get afloat to test it out.
Yesterday I nearly sunk the Tahe, I was having problems with the skeg and I pulled too hard on the slider, unknowingly I broke the tube loose in the rear compartment and it started leaking, by the time I got ashore I had about two gallons of water in the compartment and the kayak was behaving very strangely in the waves. Having fixed it (I hope) with liberal use of epoxy I plan on putting float bags into the kayak – for once heeding my fathers advice. 
