: I am building a fishing kayak for my father. The cockpit opening
: will be quite large so that he can easily get in and out (75 yrs
: old), and it will be paddled on protected marshy waters. The yak
: is a Kayak Foundry design of mine. It is roomy and stable at 14
: ft long and ~30 inches wide. He will never use a spray skirt.

: So...... On the other boats I have built, I used the normal coming
: riser and coaming lip. This is a bit of a PITA to build,
: particularly getting the glass to lay flat on the underside of
: the lip. This is going to be a large cockpit (~25 inches by ~48
: inches), so it will be even more of a PITA. Since there is no
: need to secure a spray skirt, I figure I do not need to have the
: traditional setup. I am looking for ways to make this
: better/easier/lighter/stronger and less of a PITA to build. I
: need the strenght of the riser/lip, and also like the way it
: keeps small waves from soaking the cockpit.

: I have considered using the normal riser, then bending strips in
: the normal way, but either making them flush with the deck or in
: a triangular profile so there is not a sharp angle around which
: I need to wrap the 'glass. I may make the lip a bit taller in
: the front than normal, as there is not a lot of room between the
: bow and th estart of the cockpit (~24 inches). I have also been
: considering shaping the front of the coaming in a sloped shape
: to help have the water run off.

: Any thoughts?

: bvs

At 72 I don't have a problem getting in and out of my kayaks so I don't think a 75 year old would necessarily have trouble. One method you might consider if you don't want to bend wood for the coaming lip is Etienne Mullers. He uses a plywood lip and then glues strips on top of this for a very beautiful coaming. You can check it out at his web site. http://www.etiennemuller.com

Charles Robinson