: Bill, I was thinking of doing something like that too, but the cost
: of the sleeves seemed too much for me. Hope to see your project
: done soon! The couple of paddles I've done with the
: carbon-kevlar sleeves turned out really well (in terms of
: material at least).

: Btw, it you happen to need about 8 feet of the *non-braided* heavy
: carbon sleeve, let me know. That's good for shafts I suppose, if
: they are of certain diameter and might be good for various rods
: or stringer pieces too. I got it from Soller recently but got no
: immediate use for it. Bidding starts at half price -;)

: Why not use carbon-kevlar for the gunwales at least? Carbon and
: kevlar are I suppose to be about the same strength if I'm
: reading the charts right and about the same weight and cost. But
: the carbon-kevlar will not just snap in two if it breaks - will
: at least hang onto itself by its strands... Sanding is OK too,
: just need to be careful after the first sanding and fill coat no
: to sand too much again...

I've thought about using the carbon/kevlar or carbon/glass to add a degree of toughness. Downside is they don't come in the diameter I need, but still might work. It does add to the cost and this thing isn't cheap. I'm still working on the plans, but it looks like I'll need something on the order of 275 ft. of sleeve so it's not cheap. The hold up, other than the cost, up till now was finding a decent way of making long tubes and that's been resolved. The curved tubes I figured out awhile back. I also need to build the frame for the same boat out of wood as a bending jig, so I'll end up with two boats and a second set of frame jigs undersized, so it gets kinda pricy and time consuming. Right now I think I'll be doing a high tech version of the old menthod of joining a SOF, lashing the tubes, but with roving and epoxy. Also will be using an old ultralight aircraft method for joining the tubes but in composites instead of aluminum.

Just takes time (and money) :)

Bill H.