I got the impression that walnut layer was put on as a decorative element, not a structural one. -- but you are right, at 1/4 inch it could hardly qualify as a true veneer.

At the same time you could hardly expect it to stay intact if a 52 pound hammer fell on it from 4 feet. I'm not too surprised at how little it leaked, though.

OK, to fix the leak you need to seal the area with a layer of glass cloth and some epoxy. You need the cloth. Resin alone won't be adaquate. If you like the wood accent on the ends, cut off the damage and replace the one, 1/4 inch thick piece, or as much of it as is damaged. Glue in place with a fast drying glue, or use an epoxy resin. If you use epoxy resin you can go right to coverin it with glass and more resin. Otherwise, wait for the glue to harden befoe re glassing.

You can wet out and apply three or more layers of glass at one time to cover this area. Cut some strips of glass cloth about 4 to 8 inches wide, preferably on a bias, lay one on a sheet of plastic and wet it out there. Then lift it up and place it over the area you are repairing. Do the same with another piece of cloth. Let this harden and your patch will be waterproof and solid.

It is not finished, but you should be back on the water in a day. When you get the chance, sand this patch down a bit to feather the edges and put on some fill coats of resin before varnishing.

I think your original construction was sufficient for typical kayak use. What happened to the boat was a bit excessive. A heavier, laminated walnut front is not necessary. If your launch site is so diificult that you expect to drop the boat on its end again I think you would be happier with a more resiliant material than walnut. A section of tread from an automobile tire might be a better choice and it could compress a bit to absorb and spread the impact. YOu would probably want to hold this on with screws. It would not be pretty, but it would absorb more of those kinds of shocks.

Otherwise, I'd suggest you carry a longer rope or two for your launchings. If the area where you have to sling the boats is not very wide, then perhaps if you pass a line from bow to stern on your boat, and secure the pulley's line to somewhere in the middle of the boat line you could get your boat suspended so that it would hang further away from the pilings or pier. Then using the longer pulley line you could lower the boat more gradually and avoid impact damage.

Have you figured out how you are going to lift and relaunch an SOF from this place? If you haad dropped one of them from the same height as your wood boat you might have put a very large hole in the fabric.

Just some thoughts

PGJ