: Just to sexy it up a bit and increase my on-the-water suffering, I've
: contemplated lowering the deck and installing an ocean cockpit on one of
: my two identical Point Bennett sea kayaks. The original PB built in 2004
: was due for a paint job this winter. I thought that if I was going through
: the trouble of painting it, I might as well cut the deck off and install a
: new one 1 1/2 inches lower with an ocean cockpit.

: I already had all the materials laying around, except for the fiberglass
: cloth and paint, so the project is rather inexpensive. I'm reusing the VCP
: hatches, and by the way, the 3M 5200 sealant used on the hatch rims is
: tenacious stuff, so I had to chisel off the fiberglass and plywood. This
: week I'll be attaching the new deck, which will have a height of 6 1/2
: inches at the back of the cockpit. The ocean cockpit is 16 inches wide and
: 22 inches long. For a retro Brit boat look, the day hatch is centered
: rather than offset.

: Below is a photo of the kayak right after the deck was cut off.

Sounds like a fun project.

Btw, I've got a center mounted day hatch on my NDK Greenlander and unless you're a circus acrobat, getting into that hatch while on the water is a real trick. The Greenlander has a round cockpit so that should make it easier, but I've yet to be able to reach it.

Btw, I've got two boats with ocean cockpits, the Greenlander and the Disko Bay which has a 16x20 cockpit. If I were to do it again, I'd use the round cockpit like the Greenlander, the length seems identical when you're in it and the extra width is comfy. Pretty sure the Greenlander's cockpit is 17 1/2" diameter, been awile since I measured it, it's on the NDK site as I remember though.

Bill H.