Tag Archives: fiberglass

Fiberglass on the cockpit coaming seams and the hatch lips.

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I had time after work to fiberglass the second side of the hatch lips (I did the first side yesterday), and the fiberglass cloth over the seams on the top of the cockpit coaming. It will be good to have this done before I start on the bulkheads. The instruction manual has the hip braces and seat installation before the bulkheads and hatches, but I think that I will have more room to work on the rear bulkhead if I wait to do the hip braces until after I have the bulkheads in.

Front of the cockpit. The edges of this fiberglass cloth will get feathered in, and then fill coats of epoxy until it disappears. This will strengthen the coaming seams.
Back of the cockpit.
Hatch lips getting fiberglass cloth.

While I’m waiting for the first half of the cockpit coaming to cure…

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I have time today to fiberglass the bulkheads and the material for the hip braces, to which the back band (seat back) will attach.

Aft bulkhead. This is where I decided to put the hull number. I wrote it in pencil on the wood itself and then just fiberglassed over it. I think it worked out fine, and now my kayak has met the requirement to have the hull number somewhere in the kayak that cannot be removed without destroying or defacing that part of the boat. I haven’t decided yet if I will have the number side facing out into the cockpit, or have it facing the inside of the back cargo hold. The hole that you see in the photo below, right above the lettering, is where I am going to put the tiny vent hole that will allow the pressure to equalize between the cockpit and the cargo hold. I drilled a 3/16 hole before I fiberglassed, and after the epoxy and fiberglass cures I will drill a 1/16 hole through the resin and cloth in the middle of the larger hole. That way I will never have to worry about water infiltrating the wood in the bulkheads as I would if I just drilled a tiny hole through the panel after I fiberglassed. Probably overkill, but it was fun to think about, so I just went ahead and did it!
Close up of the hull number info. Sorry about the reflection of the shop light.
From the top: Forward bulkhead. Hip brace material. Aft bulkhead.
Hatches laid out. Forward hatch in the foreground (obviously). Now all I have to do is work up the courage to put a saw to the beautiful deck I just got done building!
Overhead view of the forward hatch.
Overhead-ish view of the aft hatch.