glassing coamings

Posted by LeeG on Jun 25, 2007

depends on how the kayak is used.

If you practice or need to perform the most fundamental assisted rescue, T-rescue, wearing a nylon skirt you'll be dragging another kayak across your lap, across the thin nylon skirt with all that weight bearing down onto the coaming. If that other kayak is a s&g kayak with sharp corners there's even more point pressure than a rounded plastic boat.

If the rescued kayak is full of water, gear, and your kayak has a high freeboard(standard Chesapeake) then the point loading would be as much as the bottom of the hull gets landing on rocks.

If there's waves the boat will be hitting the coaming as it rocks in ones lap. During instruction I went through a neoprene skirt a year from the wear of practicing rescues in the flat waters of the South River.

When a kayak gets rolled on hard surfaces (rainstorm coming, turn kayak over) the front edge of the coaming gets hit harder than any other part of the kayak. When kayaks get transported or stacked to the side at a take-out "hey, I gotta get my trailer in there, I'll move it for you" often times the coaming gets bumped.

Like anything,,it depends on use.

In Response to: Re: cockpit coaming by Laszlo on Jun 25, 2007

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