: Greetings,

: I plan to order my resin and cloth shortly after the holidays and I have not
: decided what weight cloth I want to use.

: The boat is a low-deck Night Heron built with .25" B&C white and western
: red cedars.

: Most common payload will be around 200 lbs; daytrips. Several extended trips
: per summer season with a payload of 240 lbs.

: Waters paddled are primarily lakes with rocky/gravel shorelines, very few
: sandy beaches. Some river use but no excessive boulder bangin'.

: My biggest wear factor will be occasionally scraping the hull in shallows and
: abrasive landings.

: Proposed lay-up will consist of: 1 layer on the outer hull with a second on
: the football. Stem and stern will receive 3 bias-cut strip layers.

: 1 layer inside the hull with a second in the cockpit area.

: 1 layer inside and outside the deck with a second around and aft of the
: cockpit underside.

: I plan to use RAKA w/ 350 hardner throughout. I'll be doing a seal coat on
: the exteriors and my target weight is 42-45 lbs ready to paddle.
: Outfitting will be minimal weight-wise.

: My dilemma is whether to use 4 or 6 oz cloth (open weave). As a first timer,
: I don't want to end up with a heavy boat but I also do not want a boat
: that has to be babied about. The 4 oz is attractive as I'm sure its much
: easier to lay out and wet out. But....

: ...is 4 0z strong enough for a kayak that lives in the Rocky Mountains?

: Thanks for any replies.

: Holmes

Holmes, I can't speak for the Rockies but I can tell you what I did.

Back in summer '03 I finished a Guillemot single using 5oz cloth from Raka and their no-blush epoxy. I put 1 coat of glass on everything and a 2nd layer on the inside of the hull at the cockpit. That’s it. Though the design weight for the Guillemot is 43 pounds, my boat ended up at 35 pounds. Mind you I don’t have hatches, bulkheads or a rudder, but they’re not going to add up to 8 pounds. As a fairly new builder, I am strongly of the opinion that the low weight of my boat is due to the satin weave cloth that I used. I also used a sealer coat for all surfaces, which makes wetting out the satin weave easier but does add a little time to the construction.

Before I get too many comments on the boat being too fragile I should add that I managed to test the construction in my own careless manner. In early ’04 I took her out for a play day in the Lake Michigan surf and when I got home tried to drive into the garage with the boat still loaded (long story, but basically I was careless). I remembered and stopped before I fully entered the garage, but the boat made a nice groove in the garage doorframe and drove the saddles right down into the roof of my Chevy Blazer. The impact sheared off the wooded deck loops I’d been using, but the boat itself was nearly untouched. There was a 3/8” x 1½” area where the glass was a little white but if I don’t show it to you then you won’t be able to find it. Repairs consisted of sanding the paint off that the doorframe had smeared on, replacing the deck loops, and applying a thin sealer coat over the sanded area. I re-varnished the area as well but that was later.

Dumb of me yes, but it did a lot to let me know how strong the boat really is.

BTW, I was using Ross Leidy’s deck loops and J-Saddles and recommend them to anyone. They work great and look good too.

Jim