I'm a newbie to kayak construction. I just finished the hull of a Great Auk and I'm itching to fiberglass it before I flip and start on the deck. I know it's out of the traditional sequence, but would it do any harm?

I'm kind of keeping a log of "what I've learned" to post at a future date. This topic is one bridge I don't want to cross without some feedback.

Rich

Hi Rich,

Most builders glass the outside of the hull before they flip and do the deck.

The obvious pro is that the hull will be less prone to damage on the cradles while you are doing the deck.

The main con is that you will not suffer distortion that can occur after glassing only the outside if you don't glass first.

If the project is moving quickly it is not such a problem.

On my current boat I glassed outside and inside the hull before reinserting the formers and then stripping the deck. I think in future I am going to continue to follow this pattern.

I work differently from many other builders, in that I glass the inside of the deck before I attach it to the hull, and then I sand and glass the outside afterwards, using the edge of the deck cloth to do the deck and the outer seam all in one go.

This method is best utilised though if you don't cut the hatches out before you join the halves. Otherwise you may get the hatches distorting to A slightly different shape to the deck curve.

Nick's designs tend to have soft shears, even the Auk, and so are more suited to taping inside rather than sheer clamping. So you really need to cut the hatches before joining, although it is possible to just glue the edge, glass outside, then cut hatches, then tape inside, but probably a little ambitious for a first project.

You might think that there are only so many possible variations with little boats like these, but there are many ways to arrive at the same destination. I am always surprised at how many differing approaches I see, and almost every time I build a new one I change my own approach as well. That is why I can't stop I guess.

Now I am just rambling, sorry.

Et

My boatbuilding logs are here, you may get some ideas...

Http://etiennemuller.com.