Roy, the pedal return position is an issue as your father-in-law commented
About 4 years ago, one of the NW Kayak Anglers Assn members decided to offer "Rock Solid Pedal Arms" made out of solid aluminum stock.
At that time, there was a problem with some Hobie pedal arms breaking.......my arms appeared to be good, but I decided to purchase a pair "just in case".
Once the RSPA's were received, a small problem came up about how to reposition the foot pedal, as the hole location in the arm seemed problematic.
The two photos show below how I solved the problem....I needed to buy a new piece of bungee, two fender washers and drill one hole in each pedal underside as shown.