Yesss...? (long)

Posted by Kurt Maurer on May 26, 2004

Chris, yer gonna be sorry you asked... The fact of the matter is I lost interest in this thread with the very first post. At this particular juncture in my life, I consider nail-less deck installations and staple-less strip construction methods to be hopelessly nit-picky, and not anywhere near worth the considerable trouble they entail to pull off. But on the other hand, it may just be a timing thing... since a few short weeks ago I wasn't overly interested in true sea kayaking, but today I tried out my new spray skirt for the first time...

But I suppose, at any rate, nails really have nothing to do with this question after all. SO!

I believe you ought to follow Mac's advice, get the doggone deck on, then use standard gap-filling methods to close up the bulkhead/deck joint. If I had a 1/2" gap of that sort to close, I would use leftover tape and schmoo, applied as a rolled up, pre-wetted "caulking rope", then chase it with dookie-schmutz fillets. Alternatively, I would cut a shapely strip of thin scrap plywood, using my template as a... well... template, and glue the rascal to the top of the bulkhead and fillet away.

But to make everything fit perfectly in a S&G construction? Hah! It ain't gonna happen unless you get lucky, or we start using formers and strongbacks as Vaclav does with his Cirrus (that's One Ocean Kayaks I'm talkin' about). Take my two Cormorants as an example: mine, the first, came out with a radical amount of deadrise in its hull, while Leslie's came out with much less, almost flat! Both boats perform the same, however... go figure. So what? No one knows, and no one cares.

The point I am trying to make is that S&G boats, as we know them, are imprecise quick-builds that happen to look and perform very well. Trying to make them into something they ain't is the sort of thing that puts me to sleep. If you want precision, a strongback and formers is where it's at. In the meantime, work with what you have.

After all, it's the core *beauty* of the CLC way of building kayaks. It is also the basic reason bulkheads don't want to fit right half the time.

Cheers, Kurt

In Response to: Re: Kurt...? by Chris Taylor on May 26, 2004

Replies:

• Re: Thanks Master by Chris Taylor on May 26, 2004
  • Re: Thanks Master by George on May 26, 2004
    • Waitaminnit... by Kurt Maurer on May 26, 2004
      • Me? Contentious? by George on May 27, 2004
        • One Final From Mac by Mac on May 27, 2004
      • Re: Waitaminnit... by Kyle T on May 27, 2004
      • stitch wires by Peter Lyons on May 27, 2004
        • Re: stitch wires by George on May 27, 2004