[Paddlewise] Coaming Adhesive: FG yaks

I'm in the middle of "reattaching" one edge of the cockpit coaming on my
Eddyline Wind Dancer.  

The coaming separated from the deck over a period of a year or so, with
the failure occurring where the polyester resin (?)/phenolic
microballoon (?) putty joined the underside of the deck.  (Coaming seems
solidly attached to the putty material.)  I had this same problem with
another WD I owned 6 years ago, whose coaming was attached with a
Cabosil-polyester resin putty (I think).  This also failed at the
putty/deck interface.

Considering the stresses I have applied to the coaming/deck joint, I'm
not upset about the failure.  It's not too bad a job, though the
fiberglass itch nails me for a week or so on projects like this, and
it's tough to get to all the surfaces which need sanding/grinding.  

I am curious, though, why Eddyline chose a putty which was NOT
epoxy-based, and why there was no chopped glass in the mix to improve
its strength.  I'd think both of these would improve the durability of
the joint.

Anybody else know what adhesive/filler combo is used to keep the
coaming/deck joint intact on their FG yak?

Anybody else experience failure of this joint?

I'm finding that sanding/grinding a little ways into the deck material 
seems to be necessary to get a good "tooth" for the repair.  When I did
this five/six years ago, I used polyester resin and a couple layers of
mat to reinforce the seam, and that seemed to be pretty strong.  (Did
not know epoxy was better, then.)

To prevent a reoccurrence, I'm going to make sure the tangs which extend
down from the coaming are supported by the hull.  I think the separation
started when there was a little gap between the end of the tang and the
hull inner surface, so when I used the coaming rim to lift myself out of
the yak, I over-stressed the coaming/deck joint.  Finally got so bad a
couple weeks ago, there was a FLOOD of water entering the cockpit when I
did leaned turns on that side!  That's what initiated the repair.

-- 
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR
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