: I've just finished the varnish on my stripper and had it in the
: yard this morning to try the seat. This being the first and only
: wooden kayak I've ever seen, a few questions came to mind. I
: can't judge how strong the shell is and sure don't want to
: damage 6 months work. Let's just say the boat is properly built,
: 1/4" cedar with 6 oz. cloth inside and out. Hypothetically,
: would I dare sit on the deck just fore or aft of the cockpit?
: Would it support my 165 pounds easily or is that risky? If I'm in
: the boat, is it ok to lift my butt by bearing down on the
: coaming lip with my palms? I'm not talking about withstanding a
: sudden impact, more about how much pressure could be applied
: gradually before something gave.

: Ian

A stripper that's built like that is effectively a fiberglass boat that happens to have a wood core. It's as tough as any FG boat. To illustrate how tough that can be:

I had a FG canoe hung from the workshop ceiling a few years ago: I was using it as a storage shelf for paddles and PDFs, sailing kits etc. It probably weighed 120+ lb with its load. Then there was a fire. The plastic rope holding it up melted and it dropped about 10 feet to a concrete floor. On the way it chopped in half the unfinished boat under it together and the table it was resting on.

When the fire was out, the canoe was one of the very few recognizable things left in the workshop, which required a complete interior rebuild including partial new wall and roof. The insurance assessor did a head count of the power tools based on lumps of melted plastic laying around on the floor; interestingly all the wood stuff was charred but recognizable. Although the FG canoe had a small crack it looked like it would have paddled OK but it was dumped along with the rest. If one slides off a car roof and comes your way, don't try to stop it with anything short of a Mack truck!