Re: fabric decks?

Posted by michael silvius on Oct 15, 2005

I am the one responsible for the dastardly deeds w/ the fabric deck on the S&G hull. Not my idea, but coppied from a boat buitl by Steve Maynard. http://www.qajaqusa.org/gallery/madness_2004/507_G he used a heavy coated luggage cordura fabric. The soft deck on a S&G hull has some historical prescedent as this was done in the 50s in the UK. The material I used was Coverlight 18oz PVC coated polyester from Maurizon.com. I used 3 sections. Front deck, aft and middle. Glued to each other w/ HH66 vinyl cement and to the hull w/ Aquaseal. (did a bunch of testing and Aquaseal weorked best of all)I installed gunnels (3/4"X3/4") and cross pieces similar to a skin on frame kayak. A traditional SOF massiq was also used. Bulkheads were standard ply w/ a cap strip for deck glue surface. A small section of glassed ply w/ X bracing was used gunnel to gunnel for hatch support. (Bomar 8" press in deck plates) The coaming was also coppied from Maynard in that it is a Coverlight material "P" profile sleve w/ a 3/4" polyetheline tube in the hole of the P and the leg of the P was glued to the selvage of the deck material. Rigid enough and flexible as well for easy lay back in rolls. the Yellow Chupacabras weighs in at about 25 lbs. FWIW I Chopped Seguin (w/ the help for a couple of beers for courage) after I built the yellow boat and removed about 15 lbs of by going w/ the soft deck on that kayak. These are rather unconventional boats as they are built mostly for greenland style padle and rolling. Aft deck height is only 4&1/2 inches and the distance from the massiq to the inside of the hull is 6&1/2 inches. The yellow kayak is for sale. additonals pix at: http://community.webshots.com/user/qajaliorqti


el chupacabras

In Response to: fabric decks? by Lenny Flank on Oct 12, 2005

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