: Not sure how this happened. I assume it happened on the Night paddle. I ran
: the boat up on the bank and while climbing out managed to loose my balance
: and turned it over. I am assuming it hit a rock when I rolled it over. I
: just discovered it today when I was unloading to go paddling.

: Now, what is the best way to fix this? Replacing the damaged strip on the
: deck is easy enough. Just not sure about the plywood. Try to epoxy another
: strip on ply in? Or try to build it up with glass? Or something else??

Ouch!!

The first cut is the deepest.

You could do like I did for a recent bad gouge yearly through the hull of my boat.

Cut some glass cloth to cover the mess and be a little oversize. Mix up some epoxy/silics/wood flour to a thick consistency, mold it in place, and shape it as close as possible. Then lay the cloth over the whole mess and work it in, forming to shape. Work in a little straight epoxy if you need to to wet out the cloth in the area of the repair.

Now the trick - use clear packing tape and stretch it tight over the repair. I think you'd have to do each side separately and then the deck. Do whatever you can to shape everything into the final form you want.

I did this on a simple curve on the hull of my boat and had a minimum of sanding to do after the epoxy cures. You don't have to wet the cloth out to the edges - it works better to let the edges of the cloth stay dry and sand it off - this helps feather everthing in.

You could then paint the deck and varnish the hull. If you match the epoxy to the wood, it will probably only be noticeable to you.

Good luck!