: Paul,

: What an informative and helpful response. I wanted to reply to
: thank you and to also amend the topic for future novices
: searching for this information. They should be able to back
: track through this thread and quickly get to the same point that
: I spent way too many hours trying to get to.

: I hope that Bill Hamm will jump back in and add a bit more about
: his approach. This, along a reference to "Cory's goop"
: should create a good starting point for future novices wondering
: "how the hell do I keep the water out". Just as there
: are different reasons people build and enjoy these crafts, there
: are different ways to craft and finish them.

: While I am plugging - I want to mention Brian Schultz who's design
: is so far is a lot of fun. I just wish I could have made his
: class. It would have saved a lot of build time.

: Spring is on the way so happy paddling to all,

: Bill Padin

Hi Bill,

My method: the boat is first covered with heat shrinkable 3 1/2 ounce non-certified aircraft Dacron. The deck and the hull are covered separately, this is a very fine weave material with a very stiff finish and won't easily cover the hull and deck at once. I just staple it, it can be also attached with double sided heat set tape (dress maker supplies) or can be glued on with aircraft glue (designed to be used with the Dacron) or contact cement. I glue the laps (deck fabric laps over the hull) with contact cement, just paint it on and let it set, the later on it can be ironed (household iron) and made completely smooth, the heat re-activates the cement and once it cools a little it sticks just like new. Then the fabric is sealed with a very light coating of epoxy, you want to use a non-blushing epoxy since sanding/scrubbing on the fabric is best avoided, once that coating is set it's covered with a single ply of light fiberglass epoxy just like you'd do on a wood boat. 3-4 ounce fabric seems to work best, the 3 1/4 ounce tight weave glass works very well. Wear areas, stem, keel etc. can get a second layer of glass if you want. Afterwards it's painted like any other boat, or could be varnished too, though I've not tried it. Going to soon I hope, tinted varnish should be interesting.

Ends up with a very tough and durable cover that should easily last the life of the frame, weight is similiar poly or nylon 8 ounce cover.

Oh yeah, the only place I've found recently that has the non-certified Dacron is Aircraft Spruce, they are online and have excellent service and good prices, don't hunt for it, in their search button type in Dacron and it'll show up. (certified fabric will certainly work but it's 2-3 times more expensive and the FAA probably won't be inspecting your kayak )

Bill H.