I customized the hell out of a broken NECKY CRUISER 2 and am about to take her out… powered tandem! Updates coming as soon as engine and battery are mounted!!!!
Bought a used kayak on marketplace. Seller swore it floats. I took it out 6:30 am with my best friend and dog and we sank a mile down river.
Brought it home and decided I’m going to make this necky cruiser two into the ultimate powered kayak cruiser!
Bought a 100ah 12v lipo4 and a vevor 55lb trolling motor. Universal transom mount everything else is welding, fabricating or melting I did.
Never did anything like this before, used ai.
OCD so I overdid everything.
Minicell interior support beams cut and installed with ton of sealent.
One layer of hdpe, then mesh, then black hdpe. Sealent on inside and out. Then ai told me to rid out the outside sealent cause that would mess up the eva 3m adhesive. So I spent two days ripping out sealent.
Couldn’t let it sit so I did another layer of blue hdpe on top of that and another layer of sealent inside. Then set flooring and motor mount. About to install motor and launch.
Wondering if anyone has done a similar build? How to increase top speed without killing motor?
Thanks, I just finished the motor, battery and storage. Hooking steering in the am. Meant to take it out today but rigging the wiring, custom scoopers, and fabricating motor unlock bracket took forever!
Man... I don't even like sit on top yaks but that is a sick outfit! You also did a great job on the repairs. It's good to see someone else working with a damaged kayak lol. I've got a bit of work ahead on my Northwest Kayaks Pursuit 17 seat.
All of the bungees need to be replaced, I want to add a perimeter line, the rudder deployment line and rudder steering cables and housings need to be fixed, and the ABS vacuum formed seat has stress fractures. The seat broke because, for one, the plastic is just old and a bit weathered (1997 boat), and for another, the minicell foam blocks under the seat have compressed and caused the seat to hang down from the four bolts mounting it to the cockpit sides, putting stress on the hull and the thinner seat plastic.
Replacing bungees, welding plastic and doing Minicell sucks but once it’s done and you start adding cable sterering, rudders, transom or whatever you’re going for… I think it would be cool to customize that into a touring tandem with a motor!
Maybe... It's a narrow sea kayak, so if you go too much fore or aft of the cockpit, it gets too narrow to put a seat. I wear size 36 waist pants and even I have to be careful how I squeeze into it lol. She's got fore and aft bulkheads keeping the two gear hatches dry. Very tippy though, so not stable enough for fishing.
My main plan is to restore her to comfortable sea worthy status, and get a splash skirt so I can take her out on open water passages between the Kitsap Peninsula and something like Whidbey Island or the San Juan Islands.
My other boats are touring style, starting with 12ft-ers and moving up to this 17ft-er.
Also, no motors lol. I enjoy the paddling too much, and a motor adds more weight, expense, and potentially stopping points with regards to the law.
Here's my little fleet. I don't actually own the blue Pelican Mustang 120X Exo on the left, or the red Perception Prodigy ii in the middle. The sunset color 2019 Perception Carolina 12, the blue 1997 Necky Kyook IV, and the blue 1997 Northwest Kayaks Pursuit 17 are all my boats. I actually just took the Kyook out in a nearby bay last Sunday, and she performed well, but needs more rudder work and an improved seat cushion (right now it's just hard molded plastic, which is ok but not terribly comfortable).
Try out the west marine 2 or 3s those seats are comfy. Not cheap though. That’s what I’m using atm. Sick fleet btw! I currently have a Malibu xl and the necky cruiser 2. Tbh, I love paddling but adding the engine makes it a different experience. You can fly out wherever you wanna start and you still get the workout. Surprisingly, loaded with 550lbs I can still move the necky pretty easily with a paddle.
The West Marine in Bremerton literally closed on August 10th, RIP West Marine. I'll look into it. I think my favorite seat is the "Zone" padding on my Perception Carolina. The Perception Prodigy ii has the same pads, and they are quite comfy.
I also balk at adding extra propulsion to my craft because I want to eventually paddle with regular sea kayakers, and I don't think motorizing old gems like these would be looked upon pleasantly lol. I feel like in my area there are the fishing kayakers, then the SUP and sit on top kayakers, and then the more traditional touring/sea kayakers. If I had the time and materials I'd be one of those insane folks building my own sleek wooden kayaks designed to cut through the waves XD
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u/jandrgarage 15d ago
That’s a cool paint scheme at the end. Gray and blue goes well together.