Kayaks

Well, my hinge idea is working, but it’s more time consuming than it needs to be.
I did think of a good source of reliable “Rubber” : garden hose. Each rudder peddle three short lengths pop-riveted with washers. Failure could then only occur in stages, one hose piece at a time. When that happens, replace all three.
(Woulda Choulda Shoulda.… I shoulda dropped my hinge idea as soon as you guys mentioned it! It's clearly feasible and you've already done it successfully. My 'duh')

One thing I did learn.
Initially my West 207/205 fast hardener seemed to stick to everything, even when I used PVA releasing stuff. I was working at low temperatures, around 60 degrees (16 C).
The last couple of days have been hot, saran wrap, and today waxed paper popped right off. Plastic drinking straws can be wrapped in epoxy and carbon fiber--get a good grip and yank they slide right out. Used the same straws a couple of times. So I recommend them as 'mold' material. The ones I got at Smart & Final make near perfect 1/4" holes.

Perhaps it’s like when glass blowers attach different colors of glass. The different glasses have different coefficients of expansion. Pull them out of the annealing oven too quickly and they’ll pop apart. (Anealing oven lowers the temperature of the glass piece over several hours or several days. Longer annealing the different glasses slowly shrink into their 'room temperature' size-and stay together). Working at cold temperatures, the Fast Hardener wouldn’t set even after 3 hours. This longer working time was probably the factor making it stick more. It might be something to try for bonding two different materials, but more likely it's just another reason to avoid mixing epoxy in low temperatures.

Now I’m working on the rail system. I’m using anodized aluminum channel from Rockler that’s used for router tables and jigs. The inside dimensions are the same as table saw slots. I’m going to first attach it with screws (and maybe epoxy) to a wood strip reinforced with carbon fiber. I’ll epoxy this into my hull. I need to make a slider for the track. I want it to be about 6-8 inches long. I should post a picture.

Bill's tip about using full length tubes is a good one. I realized that after I had wrapped the short pieces I had with cloth and then cut out the excess. It is the way to go. In fact with a simple router template making hinges could be a quick and easy process.

I'm willing to bet that my hinges will break in the first month or two of paddling. Just too many things that can go wrong.