Remember that I'm talking about the Exp. Single, it's long - 19 feet.

> The cost savings of 3/16" vs. 1/4" strips for 1 boat
> is insignificant. The weight savings is about 5 pounds.

The cost savings theoretically would be around 25% if you're using a bandsaw with a thin blade, and certainly more if you're using a tablesaw; instead of destroying half of a strip with 1/4", you're now destroying three quarters of a strip for each strip that you cut. I'm planning to mill my own with a bandsaw.

Wouldn't this suggest that a 1/4" bare wood skin would weigh in at about 20lbs, and 3/16" at about 15lbs? This is for an average single, right? (16 feet) From what I remember, these kayaks finished weigh about 45-50lbs, that means roughly 25lbs of glass and epoxy, correct? Being new at this game I must ask - the cloth weights refer to a square yard?

> The weight savings of all 4oz cloth vs. all 6oz cloth is about
> 2.5 pounds. I would use 2 layers of 4oz on the hull interior and exterior
> that saves 1.5 pounds over all 6oz.

Wouldn't two layers of 4oz. cloth (plus epoxy * 2) weigh more than one layer of 6oz. cloth? This should hold true if my above assumption is correct.

> As for fairing - If you lay the strips with no hollows lengthwise,
> you don't need to do a lot of fairing in that direction. If you are
> happy with softening the edges at the glue joints (not rounding the
> whole strip), you don't need to do a lot of fairing in that direction.
> I was worried about the strength of the hull due to excessively thin areas around tight edgewise curves (chine , deck to hull?). Even the inside should be fair to avoid excessive epoxy, right? A definite solution would be to use 1/2" (or less?! shudder!) wide strips.

How about this: 3/16" x (3/4" & 1/2") cove and bead Northern White Cedar (for what it's worth), 4oz. glass cloth in and out - one layer, except on OUTER hull, use 6oz, there. For the GES, am I being reasonable to ask for 40lbs? 45lbs? Like I mentioned before, this kayak will be well taken care of.

BTW, if it were possible, what would be the pros and cons for a massless kayak? Just wondering!

Thanks for the help.

Mike Spence