Mike,

It makes sense that the crack happened next to the glass tape. The taped sections are probably the strongest sections in the deck. When the stress transfered from the taped area to the untaped area the stess was to much.

If she is thinking of hatches now might be the time to do it. I found the hatch lip and its spacer added significanlty to the strength of the deck on my son's Osprey. Having a hatch might also give you better access to the damaged areas under the deck.

To spruce up the top side of the deck. She might want to consider some veneer overlays. Eric Schade has some designs for sale at his web page (below).

Don

: Don,

: Actually, it appears to have cracked right near the edge of the tape in the
: inside center. I figured I would do the same type of repairs to the inside
: as I was going to do on the outside, full glass patches inside and out.
: She may eventually put hatches in, and the damage is where the hatch would
: be. I will be able to make it structurally sound, but there is cosmetic
: damage to her brand new kayak, that she labored over for almost a year.

: Mike