: Dear Bill,
: Not at all-- it was a good discussion and you raised some very important
: points when considering the form of older watercraft. As Ralph mentioned,
: I've spilled a lot of ink and sweat trying to figure this stuff out, but
: as you said: one cannot always be 100% certain as to conclusions of form.

: With regards to the cycling of skins (shrinking, cruching, etc.), this seems
: to be somewhat random, based on several factors. Heavier skins do tend to
: crush frames, although I've seen many that have held their shape
: perfectly-- humidity likely being the clincher, as well as the sturdiness
: of the frame. Lighter-weight skins tend to spit open instead of crushing
: the frames, thus leaving the 'bones' of the boat intact, though perhaps
: slightly distorted. Shrinking skins were/are not just the problem of
: museum conservators as I've seen plenty of 'field' repairs made by
: hunter/paddlers on their kayaks to eke a few more seasons out of a skin
: covering.

: Best,
: Harvey

Hi Harvey,

Thanks for the note

I was basing this on a few years (20+) of professional boat building, mostly rebuilding in this part of the country. Find lots of fairly "modern" boats that were not stored properly that have grossly changed shape in as little as 20 or 30 years, let alone the time frame of some of the older kayaks. Without written plans a few of these rebuilds would have been at best difficult and sometimes impossible to get the hull shape correct.

thanks again,

Bill H.