: Last night I epoxied a strip of 9 oz. glass tape crossways on the inside of
: the deck, right in front of the rear hatch cutout. I also put one near the
: front hatch cutout, as well as one strip each across the hatch cover
: interiors. I want the deck to be strong enough to hold up to over-the-deck
: rescue practice. Just in case I have to do assisted rescue with a clumsy
: 200-pounder...I have seen 2 people actually kneel on top of their decks
: during screwed-up rescues; while theoretically nobody but me would be on
: MY rear deck, it's possible somebody could really screw up.

: Several questions: * Should I beef up the hatch lips before/during/after I
: install them? Or just follow the basic instructions? Seems like they could
: be a weak point.

the hatch lips are only a weak point where they join so there's glass tape under there. With the hatch on the recess the stress is spread around so it's not as delicate as you might think compared to just pushing on the cantilevered recess with your hands with no hatch there.

: * Any thoughts on double-layering the 6 oz. exterior glass cloth JUST in the
: area between the rear of the coaming and the rear of the rear hatch? If I
: do this, I would glass the deck in two pieces: one from the bow to the
: rear of the rear hatch, and one from the rear of the coaming to the stern.
: The overlap would make a double layer in the area described.

Not needed,,,the strength of the deck comes from the longitudinal joints and all that wood in the coaming, whether you use tape or glass cloth underneath. If you are concerned about point pressure on the deck then glass under the entire deck is better than just tape but even then the panels are narrow enough that tape provides a LOT of strengh into the center of the deck panels. I did mine with 4oz underneath with little strips of 4oz on the joint. The glass on the exterior does contribute to panel strength but in this application it's more for abrasion/impact. You actually didn't need to add more glass from sheer to sheer at the hatches given all the wood in the recess and spacers.

: * The cockpit recess panel's "ears" (thigh brace mounts) have 2
: layers of 4 oz. glass on the underside. When the deck is glassed, there
: will be 1 layer of 6 oz. glass on the topside. Is this strong enough for
: rolling practice (I will add minicell padding for comfort and contouring)?
: I have seen some people's photos of wooden arch-like "kneehangs"
: and various contoured additions.

It'll be more than strong enough for rolling,,just like other damage it's the non-intended use that causes damage. Stepping on the 'ears' or grabbing the whole hull in a panic by the cantilevered thighbraces. For that reason I put a 10oz layer on top and 12oz layer on the bottom just in the connection to the thigh braces. I know that's overkill but it wasn't for rolling it was for picking a loaded kayak up in an emergency by the cockpit or someone stepping with 200lbs onto them, it was about a square foot total of glass so it's not much in the big picture.

: * My kayak's bow and stern bottoms are fairly sharp, as they were beveled
: prior to stitching etc. If I plane them down more, I'm afraid I'll end up
: with side-by-side panels. Should I build up layers of dookie schmutz and
: round those as best I can, or should I just add some kind of keel
: protection strip?

I'm not a fan of chisel sharp wood edges so rounding things down to 3/8" wide is fine by me. Here's where you can go bananas with layering layers,,gooping goop(80%cabosil,20%woodflour),,attaching brass strips (it's ok), or inlaying various ablative materials like UHMPE or dynel cord, or threads of your favorite cloth loosely bundled and gooped with thickned epoxy and layed over the glassed edge.
I find that putting something on thick is easier than putting on layers of cloth requireing fairing in as the big wear spot is the width of the entry 1/4"-3/8" widening out to about 1/2" and 8" long. So why not lay down something that's about 3/16" thick with the wood glassed/for that thick layer.