Hello All:

I read a post this morning that described a phase of building as the "paddle for a month and then continue work phase". I my boat is Nick's beautiful Guillemot Expedition Single, and I have been paddling this month as much as I can, and I am thinking more and more of the building steps still ahead of me.

What I have thinking about is the material to use for bulkheads. I remember checking out the bulkheads on a commercial boat once and was suprised to learn that they were soft and flexible to the touch. They seemed to be made of 1/2" foam, like you'd use for a sleeping bag pad. They were caulked around the edges that I could see. My question is this: Is this kind of material suitable for bulkeads? I have some dark blue foam that was a sleeping bag pad in another life and would gladly recycle it into the kayak. I also have some very rigid 2" thick building insulation foam that I could use. I would have to make two piece bulkheads with the rigid stuff to get around the footpegs or in the hatch opening.

I am less inclined to use a strip built panel or a piece of plywood. Both would be heavier and more trouble to fit than the foam and have no aesthetic advantage _inside_ the boat. I also do not need the additional rigidity in the hull since it is quite heavy and rigid enough from the two layers of, *ahem*, 8.9 oz. cloth on the outside of the hull.

Is the foam material suitable? Is the only purpose of bulkheads to keep the water that gets into the boat in the same area it entered from? What forces will the bulkheads be subjected to? What kind of sealant would be best for securing them in place?

Thanks in advance,

Ed Valley