An idea just sparked from seeing another message. On the SK '94 S&G kayak that I am building the hatch covers are flush with the deck. The inside of the hatch cover is lined at the perimeter with marine gasketing which seals against the flange under the deck. The author of the building article says that it works pretty well stating that only about a half of a cup of water entered during hour long rolling sessions. That sounds OK but what if you added an extra gasket. Sort of a blade gasket with a channel on the end to receive the thickness of the hatch cover. This could be glued on the entire perimeter of the hatch cover and lap onto the deck thereby creating a first line of defense against water with the interior gasketing being secondary. I have a catalog at work that has tons of gaskets like this and I'm sure I could find one to fit. Of course first thought is that it would be a little ugly on some of the nice kayaks I've seen. But performance may outweigh looks in this case.

Has anyone tried this or seen it done in this manner? Does it seem to improve the watertightness at all?

I am thinking seriously about doing this since it will also hide the fact that my jigsaw hand is not as steady as I would like. I think I can sand my sloppiness into submission but this gasket would take care of whatever I cannot seem to fix by covering it.

--Tony