Posted by willy on October 20, 2002 at 00:33:07:
In Reply to: owner of a new bare pro 2 tandem... for now..... posted by johnny on October 19, 2002 at 18:46:33:
I have the same kayak, I bought and I purchased the factory installed model minus the rod holders which I installed myself because I wanted to angle them to my personal taste. I consider myself a good craftsman and have plenty of tools ... the rod holders turned out great. None the less, personally I would still pay the extra money for the shop to do it since they have done it hundreds of times before. I'm not sure how much cheaper it is for the uninstalled hatches, I didn't look into it because I didn't realize it would save me money, I might have tried it if it was over $30. After my experience of installing the rod holders now it would take me around $80 to give it a go. Thats just my 2 cents.
Now if I was doing it, a powerful jigsaw with a wood blade would work. My experience with cutting plastic is that the feed on the blade needs to be going fast or it will melt the plastic and not cut it. Ihe ideal tool would be one of those small cordless dewalt circular saws for the staight-aways and a large dia ~1"+ drill bit for the corners for the rectangular hatch which if you are trying to save money is all you really need for this kayak. The second large round hatch I do use... this would require the jigsaw. The small circular hatch to me is useless but maybe if the kayak is going to be paddled with 2 people or if you keep alot of stuff and in the hull and want to get to the far back it can be worthwhile... these are the only situations I have needed it in my short experience. Good luck and I hope the kayak turns out great. Donny