: Jim-

: I decided to do the exterior taping today before the strapping tape gets any
: more stuck than it already is.

: Do you put carry handles on the ends? I've been thinking of leaving them off
: as my preferred method for carrying the boat is to simply grab the stem or
: stern. I'll still need to do a small end pour because I want to make sure
: the tape is thoroughly epoxied all the way to the ends, but if I leave off
: the handles perhaps there's no need for a substantial end pour.

: Wes

I have no end pour, but my yak is a Stich and glue hull, with a fair bit of a fillet material in the ends, the deck has a solid block of wood at the ends. I've been meaning to do an end pour, but have forgotten about it. Until I read you post I thought I was done the kayak. hmm, not sure if I will now.

Regarding handels I used the painters ring approach mentioned above. I used a generic 1 1/4 inch dowel, with the center drilled out to 1/2 and inch using a drill press.

I then drilled out a hole in the hull (Do NOT use a spade bit to do this!). and epoxied it it place. later when I was putting on the deck lines, I made a single handle from the left over rope, that's all the spare rope I had. On the other side I just grab the deck lines which come to a 'v' at the front of the kayak.

I like the painters ring for tieing down the kayak for transport. With the deck lines the handle is a nice to have, although I will be putting the second one in when I get more rope, but I'm in no hurry.

Myrl