I was at a Utrecht art materials store today and found three extremely heavy duty canvas materials which would be ideal for covering skin on frame kayaks.

There are two reasonable priced cotton cloths. The heaviest in their CD10, which is a #10 cotton duck with a weight of 14.75 ounces per square yard. A thinner material is their CD12, which is a #12 cotton duck, with a weight of 11.4 ounces per square yard. The CD10 is THICK ! They sell thinner materials, as well, and from the feel of the samples, I would say that their 10 ounce duck is similar to the material I buy at fabric stores, and that the CD12 is about the same as the `heavy' material I get from Clarkcraft. But I`ve not run into anything like their CD10 before. It looks like real tough stuff.

The prices were pretty reasonable. They sell these in precut sizes, and 6 yard packages of 60 inch wide fabric are:

CD12 --- $44.94

CD10 --- $50.94

They also had a linen fabric that was even thicker. This was their 76D Linen, which is a whopping 17 ounces per square yard. It is outrageusly expensive, of course. I saw a 6 yard piece of this that was 119 inches wide (about twice the 60 inch width of the cotton canvas) for a mere $581.94. While that would nicely cover two boats, that's still about 6 times the price of their thickest cotton fabric.

You can get more info on shipping methods and costs and sales tax (if any) from their website. www.utrechtart.com

The direct URL for the cotton canvas is:

http://catalog.utrechtart.com/display_prod.cfm?p=w67178&g=w67178

Six yards should be enough for a 17 foot Walrus. The skin is probably the biggest single expense on one of these boats, other than the building forms, so this may help people who are trying to price-out one of these boats.

Utrecht also makes and sells a material that might be ideal for priming and filling the weave of these canvases. It is their Oil Priming White, which appears to be a simple mix of white pigments (from titanium and zinc) in lonseed oil. Since George Putz recommends a similar type of paint in his book I'm tempted to try this ready made product rather than use a house paint or mix my own. It is under $16 a quart. When I get a chance I'll try this and report back.

Finally, they also have calcium carbonate powder (marble dust) which I want to try as a filler material instead of the powdered chalk that Putz suggests using. Four pounds of this is $2.79. I'm wondering if this could also be used mixed with epoxy.

I hope this doesn't sound too much like an ad for these guys. I'm kinda enthused because I've been looking for a place that would sell really heavy canvas in small quantities, and just want to pass this info on.

Paul G. Jacobson