Installing the front bulkhead is a tough spot to work in the Coho, and the bulkhead supplied with the kit is quite a bit bigger than you need (Pygmy says it's cut to the theoretical shape of the hull before applying fiberglass tape, cloth, epoxy, etc.)To avoid the problem you had, my fried suggested cutting a piece of cardboard in the shape of the supplied bulkhead, and work at getting this to fit the space first -- and this worked pretty well. When the cardboard is the right size, then you trace it on the wood bulkhead, using the traced marks to guide your trim cuts.

> I was trying to work the front bulkhead into position using a length of
> 2x4 to tap the bulkhead forward to clear where we want to positition the
> footpegs. Then I hear a tearing sound, and I discover I've torn open the
> deck to hull seam on one side.

> Recovery, I sanded down the fiberglass in that area and aplied a
> fiberglass patch, I'll be filling and feathering the patch. I also plan,
> now that I have hatch openings cut, to extend the interior taping forward
> and back to cover as much hull deck seam on the inside as possible.

> observations. The failure occured just forward of the inside taping, since
> pygmy only recomends taping near the cockpit area. I was using the same
> level of force installing the rear bulkhead, but this was in a section
> that had the interior tape.

> The bulkead is the same type of plywood used in the rest of the kayak,
> covered on both sides with fiberglass. It seemed to have acted as
> effective wedge, spliting the kayak open. I'll be trimming it down a bit
> before attempting to re-install.

> For pygmy kayaks, there is no shear clamp. The deck is epoxed to the hull,
> the 6 oz cloth covering the outside of the deck is draped over to the
> hull, and the inside is filleted with thickened epoxy, and taped, only in
> the cockpit section.

> This is my second pygmy kayak to build, I did not have the same problem
> installing bulkheads on mine, but I may go back and extend the interior
> seam tape on my kayak as well.

> dave