: Is it advised to fiberglass the interior of plywood hulls? My next two kayaks
: will have plywood 'stitch & glue' hulls and I am trying to minimize
: expense due to high cost of importing epoxy and fiberglass.

: I recall that Chesapeake Light Craft only glassed the cockpit area and taped
: the interior bow and stern seams, but some others (One Ocean Kayaks) glass
: the whole inside.

: My kayaks will receive moderately rough use - occasional rough surf landings
: and handling on-shore but mostly tranquil soft use.

: I think I can get either 3m or 4mm marine ply to work with, so am thinking of
: going 4mm with only taping the inside except for the 'butt to toe' cockpit
: area.

: Advice would be appreciated!

: Thanks in advance,

: John (building in Fiji)

It'll work without internal glass. Not sure I'd do it that way though. The downside of not having the glass on the inside is it's always possible to wear thru the epoxy coating and then water can get into the wood and will be trapped by the glass/epoxy on the outside allowing rot to start, bad thing.

If you're not taking alot of stuff with you, you could just use the glass in the cockit area and leave the ends with just the epoxy coating, would save a bunch of work and amount of glass.

The glass can be really light on the inside as it's really there to stabilize the epoxy coating, sure it makes it a little stronger too

Bill H.