: My neighbor, Gisela finished her Pygmy Arctic Tern about a month ago. She
: took it down to Owen Beach at Pt. Defiance, and had the kayak sitting by
: her car. A lady backing out of another spot backed over it with her car,
: pinning it underneath! The Lady got somewhat passive aggressive when
: Gisela confronted her, and then took off. Gisela was not able to
: get the license number. Gisela is heartbroken because she had not even
: varnished it yet.

: The kayak is not too badly damaged. The rear deck is damaged. The plywood is
: cracked and has deflected down some. The glass did not break, but
: delaminated from the wood where the wood is pushed in.

: I plan on helping her fix it. I think we'll need to sand down to the wood,
: removing the glass in the area, feathering the edges. We'll push the wood
: back and epoxy it back in place. Next, we'll reglass out past the old
: glass edges, feathering it out. There will probably be some permanent
: scarring, but we may do some custom work to cover it up.

Hey Mike

Would it not be frugle(?) to go ahead and do the hatch now, since you are going to be repairing it. The sight of the "Scar", as it were, may be upsetting, every time the boat is used. ?? A total replacement( hatch ) may be a life saver of sorts if done now. Maybe something custom, to dress it up a bit. ?? Hope it works out well either way and Gisela can be just as proud of her creation.

Don't ya just love PEOPLE. Sounds like a Californian, but, I guess we've all got them don't we?

Rehd