: Can't very well machine sew it on the kayak, going to have to be
: sewn by hand,

That's true, but commercial skins for folders are sewn on machines, so doing one at home should be possible. I think it will be a hassle, though. Commercial builders like Pouch and Klepper turn out hundreds and have patterns. A home builder needs to make the pattern first before cutting and sewing the skin.

My first plans for a machine-sewn skin for the Blandford-designed folder I started years ago called for me to first build a non-folding frame to lay out the fabric on, then mark cut and sew the fabric. After I built the folding frame I would be able to slide it into the premade skin. That was the plan, but it never got done. I ended up just skinning the rigid frame.

If anyone really wanted to do some machine sewing for a skin, I'd suggest covering the frame with paper (taped together newsprint is fine) to make a pattern for cutting the cloth. I'd sew the back of the boat together, but design the front of the boat like a shoe, with two flaps which could be laced together, with the laces running down the center of the fore deck, where you can keep an eye on them. Slip the stern of the boat into the skin, pull the skin around the front of the boat and lace it up. If the skin strethes over time, you can tighten the lacing to get a better fit.

: . . .it's a different stitch, not a lock stitch like a
: machine. (I hate having to know about sewing )

You can make a lock stitch with a sewing awl. Run your artificial sinew on an empty bobbin if you don't like the round polyester thread usally used in those things. It should feed through the wide eye of those needles with no problem.

: . . . Usually with boat
: tops there is fabric on both sides trapping the vinyl between
: them, the fabric for awile at least keeps the stitching from
: pulling on the vinyl, as it ages though you'll see where the
: holes get bigger and the vinyl sags.

: I'd think gluing the vinyl would be the way to go.

I just got a new glue at Menards, meant for gluing thick sheets of vinyl which are udes under the cramic bases of showers. They also have the thick sheets of vinyl. 5'x6', and 40 mils thick, for about $36 a sheet. This stuff is thick and tough, but we'd need to glue three sheets together to cover a kayak. I'll try the glue on smo scraps of my Wal-mart vinyl this week and let you know how it works. The glue is a low VOC compound, and it might be a good, easily available, substitute for H-66. The product is made by Oatey, and called: "LO-VOC X-15 Shower Pan Liner Adhesive". In smaller print they go on to say: "with redced solvent emissions Specially formulated for bonding PVC sheeting". It sells for about $8 for a 16 ounce can.

PGJ