> 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

Think of it as a decked-over canoe. A kayak uses the deck structurally. An undecked canoe uses thwarts and gunwales to maintain its shape (and structural integrity). So, on your composite hull, add an internal gunwale that extends above the hull's sheer line by about an inch. Attach it to the composite hull with short screws that go through the hull and into the wood. The extra bit of wood that rises above the composite provides an area to staple the canvas skin to. You may want to use a hand plane to bevel that part of the gunwale so the canvas goes over it smoothly. After the skin is attached, you can add a thin rub strip on the outside to cover the staples and screw heads of the scres tha attached the gunwale. Some screws will fasten that rub rail to the internal gunwale. I'd install them just above the composite hull so that I did not have to drill into the composite a second time.

Curved deckbeams that you attach to the internal gunwale take the place of thwarts on a canoe. Lay a few thin wood slats over these, from the cockpit coaming to the ends of the boat to to support the fabric along its length.

You can make the radius of these deckbeams what ever you want. This way you can get your feet in, and under the forward deck. The aft deck can be flatter.

Klepper uses a fabric top that keeps out water, but still breathes to allow air exchange. Maybe you can find a piece of Gore-Tex fabric at a sporting outfitter that you can use. Otherwise, you'll probably want to waterproof the top with paint or something more techno.

Hope this helps.

Paul Jacobson

And I love the idea of not having to sand.