: I'm spec'ing out materials for a strip kayak, and looking at layup
: options, I came across a problem I don't hear a lot about.

: My kayak will load/unload from my condo through a window 10 ft. of
: the ground. I'll install boat wheels on a frame that I can stick
: in the window during loading, but that means that when bringing
: the boat up, in order to not hit the celing I'll be pulling the
: bow down and sliding the boat inside, with the boat balanced on
: the loading wheels relatively close to the front of the hull.

: Given a 16'-18' boat, that's a lot of leverage being applied to a
: small area of the hull.

: I was imagining I'd go with a "standard" layup of 4 oz
: fiberglass inside and out, but it occurred to me that I might be
: going a bit light for the forces that would be applied.

: This boat is never going to see a rock (Lake Michigan) so a rugged
: layup is not necessary unless it's to add stiffness for this
: loading issue.

: Any thoughts?

Hi Steve,

One of the problems of the lightweight layup specially using WRC is the skins are fairly easy to dent, the cedar under the light skin isn't really very strong in compression strength. I like to double the "football" shape in the center of the hull bottom and that would eliminate the denting caused by the rollers. That small piece of glass doesn't add a heck of alot of weight either. I have some experience with these rollers :)

Bill H.