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Building wood duck without hatch
If I want to build a wood duck 10 without a hatch, how do i glass the hull to deck seam behind the bulkhead?
11 replies:
RE: Building wood duck without hatch
dm, If you look carefully at the gallery images, you;ll see that the WD10 prototype built by Eric Schade has no hatch. He got away with this because it had no bulkhead. The bukhead was added by CLC because of durability concerns. I had the opportunity to handle the prototype and that rear deck did some serious flexing. It was also a seriously light boat, BTW. So, the orginal designer didn't think the bulkhead needed to be there and all those people paddling it in the gallery photos went home safe & sound. If, at entirely your own risk, you as the builder were to leave out that bulkhead, you would be returning to the original designer's intention and not need the hatch. Just be aware that designers have changed their minds in the past. If I was leaving off the bukhead, I'd put extra glass under the deck to make it a true composite structure and to keep the long term flexing from causing material fatigue problems. Laszlo
RE: Building wood duck without hatch
Couldn't you build it without the bulkheads and add glass them in later? Haven't people used minicell foam for bulk heads? Just a thought, Chris
RE: Building wood duck without hatch
thanks to all for the feedback. I saw the "Ducks" without the hatch in the photos, it is avery clean look. Good point about the lunch! I am thinking i will put in a hatch in.
RE: Building wood duck without hatch
I plan to build a Wood Duck 12 hybrid as soon as my shop warms up enough after the coming winter and will install a small flush hatch like I did on my Merganser hybrid, which you can view at www.twofootartist.com
-Wes
RE: Building wood duck without hatch
You could also put a screw off day hatch on the bulkhead and then you would have access to the compartment for storage, etc.
RE: Building wood duck without hatch
Yes, the flush hatches with invisible holdowns are a very clean look, almost as good as no hatch. Here's the one on my WD12: Laszlo 
RE: Building wood duck without hatch
I'm also considering leaving the hatch off a Wood Duck 12 hybrid. For just afternoon recreational kayaking, is there any reason I can't just put a few items in the cockpit with me, or strapped to the aft deck? Sorry if this counts as thread hi-jacking.
RE: Building wood duck without hatch
Scratch, It's not hijacking, it's the same answer - you need the hatch to be able to attach the deck unless you leave out the bulkhead. Don't know how it works on the hybrid, but on the stock WD12 the rear deck really needs the bulkhead for support. Laszlo
RE: Building wood duck without hatch
I am thinking of using a kit to bulid a wood duck. Does the Kits contain a rear hatach. It does not look like it does in the pictures. Clay
RE: Building wood duck without hatch
Clay, The 10 & 12 kits both contain rear hatch components. Click on "view contents" by the kit prices to see all the parts. The WD10 in the pictures is the prototype built by the designer (Eric Schade) who didn't think that it needed a rear bulkhead, so it didn't have a hatch. CLC has added the hatch since then. The WD12 always had a hatch. Laszlo
RE: Building wood duck without hatch
» Submitted by twofootartist - Sat, November 7 » 2:32 PM
You could install sheer clamps on the sides and glue the deck to them, then glass the seam on the outside. You still need some access to the rear compartment, though, which could be a hatch in the bulkhead. But where will you put your lunch?