Nick briefly mentioned doing a composite hull with a strip deck. An idea I've been thinking about for quite a while is to build a hard hull (either composite of s&g) and put a fabric deck on it. I envision a flat deck similar in appearance to that on the Feathercraft Khatsalano, except that the hull would be hard instead of fabric.

The side panels would, of course, have to be higher to allow footroom on a non-peaked deck. One concern I have is attaching the fabric to the sides of the hull. I've considered a 2" adhesive backed velcro on the hull with the matching side of the velcro sewn to a farbic flap that comes down 2" over the side of the hull. The fabric deck coming off in adverse conditions would be bad, very bad. Keeping the fabric deck tight (so that it won't sag) is another thing that troubles me. A sagging deck full of water would be a real pain.

Another idea I've been throwing around is doing the s&g hull by covering the outside of the boat in a pigmented fiberglass without fillling in the weave. The outside would have the texture of the glass cloth. The main reason for doing this would be to save weight and to ELIMINATE SANDING. I woud fill in the weave on the bottom of the hull for abrasion resistance and to help hydrdynamics some. My goal is to make a kayak light, quick, and cheap. My first CLC weighs 52#, took 60 hours, and cost about $300. I hope to cut all of those in half on my next one. Any suggestions???? Can anyone see any flaws in my plans??

jc

> Nick, Any comments on the Coastals you built from Kevlar and fiberglass?

> Was it worth the effort of building the mold, or are wooden versions just
> as good.

> Would it be feasible to build a boat with a composite hull and a stripped
> deck? (I realize woodstrip is itself a composite, but I am referring to
> composites like graphite/glass/kevlar/epoxy)

> Shawn