: Hello!

: I am also under way to build Yost kayak. It will be a Sea Tour 17 EXP with
: slightly higher quarterdeck.

: Now for the questions.
: what skin do you recommend and why?
: what glue epoxy glue or polyurethane and why?

: *Forgive my poor English*

: Best Regards
: Daniel

Hi Daniel - Tom Yost is the guru, but I'll give you my thoughts: I suppose you are building a wooden framed non-folder, just so we are working on the same assumption?
Definitely go with thickened epoxy for your glue. It is gap filling, which polyurethane glues are not(that foam is mostly just air), and you can make fillets at the stringer/frame connections which make these connections very strong. See Tom's website for directions.

As for skin, that is a personal choice. There's polyester (like Dacron), nylon, canvas, the multilayer PVC Tom recommends, and even transparent vinyl. They all work. I have used all of these except the polyester. It is similar to nylon, but heat shrinks better. It is not quite as puncture resistant, according to tests I have seen.

The advantaged of the PVC or vinyl is that there is no sewing, and they don't need any coatings after the boat is skinned. They only come in a few basic colors, though, and you may or may not be able to get them very tight and/or wrinkle free.

I've decided I prefer fabrics like ballistic nylon - but only because I think it looks like a SOF "should." It is strong, but it needs to be sewed and coated. I've also used canvas (#10 duck is the standard), but I think it is not very strong, and there are potential rot issues if you paddle in fresh water only.

A slightly higher rear deck will make it much more difficult for you to do layback rolls. With a good C to C roll, that won't matter, though.

Your English is fine.

Check out the qajaqusa.org site for more info on SOF kayaks.

Here's yet another pic of my Yost Sea Rover, covered in 12 oz ballistic nylon purchased from George Dyson. He has a variety of material for sale: gdyson@gmail.com

Good luck!