Back to work on the kayak! Just got back from a 9 day canoe trip and I'm re-fired up to finish the thing now. I'm going to use the plywood rectangles rather than the strips to brace the chines. I've made the cockpit area about an inch wider to hopefully accomdate my greater weight, and a slight increase (3/4") in height. We will see what happens. Updates will continue, along with final photos before too long!

Thanks again for the advice.

Alex

: Here is a picture of the excellent Klepper kayak, which shows how they use
: plywood panels to brace the side chines, in the area that George Putz uses
: trestling made from strips of wood.

: They use Baltic birch plywood, and space it closer in the center of the boat,
: in the cockpit area, but use less at the ends.

: For more on Klepper, see their site www.klepper.com

: PGJ