Hello John,

I have never done a skeg, but for hollow wood surfboards you have a fin box, and there are two ways to do it- one is to 'glass it in, and the other is to install it after 'glassing. Either way works. I would do the method you suggested of putting it in first, then 'glassing. You can use plain old masking tape to cover the hole when glassing as long as you pull it off while the glass is still wet so it doesn't adhere and become part of the layup.

As for the layup, On the previous build I used the football method, and had no issues. On this build I used one layer of heavy glass and didn't do the diamond on the keel. I am now about to add the diamond to the keel because it's already getting worn. When beaching the tail end of the keel takes a beating because I usually end up dragging the kayak up the beach by the nose unless it's a rocky beach- then I pick it up by the coaming and carry it up onto the beach. Most of the time I am trying to outrun the next wave so I hastily jump out and drag the kayak up on the beach. Anyway the point is keep in mind the stern portion of the keel- it will see a lot of abuse.