Alan,

Sand the deck edge round over and glass the deck to the hull.  Now you can locate the top edge of the rub strip right at, or oh so slightly below the round over.  What ever looks god to you.  You do not want the round over to start behind the rub strip or you will have a slight void in there.  Make yourself a notched guide that you can hold on top of the deck to locate the vertical position of the rub strip.  I predrilled my strips and started the nails.  then as I pulled the strips into place I drove every third nail or so to hold them in place.  I then went back and drove the rest.  Finally I set them with a nail set to avoid hammer dents.  Good luck.

Paul G.

Another option would be to glass the deck and trim flush with the sheer panel. Attach the strip even with the deck and finish your fill coats of epoxy. There is plenty of sheer clamp to give strength without the need to round over the deck and bring the glass over the edge.

These suggestions/options would apply to other CLC kayaks, no? I'm building a Ches. 16LT and, like Alan, have been puzzling about exact location of the rubrails. I'm also unclear about when to install them.

Personally, I like what dehager did (flush w/ the plane of the deck) as opposed to the manuals "just below the roundover." But, as Paul says, above, it's really an individual, aesthetic call.

But the *when to install* has me scratching my head. The manual tells me that rail installation is the step right after deck glassing. But when I look ahead to the major job of sanding the boat prior to varnishing, I ask myself why would I want to have the complication of the rubrails to deal with during that process? Why not put them on after sanding, before varnishing?

Also. . .do the rubrails need an epoxy coating?

John

John,

Yes, the method is the same.  I used the same installation on my Shearwater 17 Hybrid as I did on my MC 16.5.  If you put the rail flush with the top of the deck, I supose you do not need to lap teh deck glass over the side.  The epoxy glue attaching the rail will seal the edge of the deck.  I did the bulk of my hull and deck sanding before installing the rails.  Once they are on, you only need to sand the rails and any goop that worked out during the installation.  This is when you round all the sharp edges on the rails.  I recommend sealing the rails with epoxy just to encapsulate the wood.  Hope this helps.

Paul G.

Thanks to all for the input. Both ideas look good. I'll just have to see which I prefer before proceeding.

Alan