> I've been wondering why no one seems to have done hatches and bulkheads on
> a skin-on-frame boat. Wouldn't it be possible to run a couple of stringers
> between 2 of the stations and create a flat area for mounting VCP or
> home-built wood hatches on? The hole in the skin around the hatch could
> could be stapled to this flat area and a decorative bezel could be put
> over it to hide the raw edge. Two of the stations could be made solid to
> serve as bulkheads.

> Or do skin-on-frame boats have an inherent leaking problem at the seams
> that would make bulkheads a not-so-good idea?

> Dean

I've seen hatches on a skin kayak. It would be very difficult to put a waterproof bulkhead inside a skin kayak, you would have to seal to the skin under the stringers and the stringers themselves, while this could theoretically be done there are better alternatives. The secret is to incorporate a bag into the hatch. You can make the bag the shape of the inside of the boat. This gives you a waterproof compartment inside the kayak. The hatches that I saw were quite ugly, they sealed like a dry bag, but other methods are available. Sealing skin kayak hatches that look good is probably a little more difficult than on a wood and fiberglass kayak (depending on the hatch type), but definitely not impossible.

My next two kayaks are going to be strippers, but if none of you has tried it before I build kayak #5, I might try it then. I'm thinking about a baidarka.

I like the hatch-bag inside the boat idea, but I like the clean lines of the canvas. I like the clean lines of any kayak, I haven't even put hatches on my Arctic Tern, "yet".

BTW - skin kayaks don't normally leak. I've heard of more leaks in other types of kayaks then I have with skin kayaks, but I don't know too many people with skin kayaks. With proper care and maintenance leaks are not a major problem. The only place water has entered mine, is through the cockpit.

Mike