Chuck wrote; ->> >> In _Deep Trouble_ many of the accidents involved kayaks without >> bulkheads. Can anyone give me a good reason NOT to have bulkheads in >> a rigid kayak? A principle of naval architecture recommends not to put more holes in the deck than necessary. If one follows that principle to its logical conclusion it means that hatches are less desirable than no hatches since they are one more item that can fail and cause problems. A boat with one compartment flooded a can be very difficult to manage. It has been shown in some studies (provided to me by Peter Carter) that leaving out the bulkheads while filling the under deck space with air bags and gear bags allows water to flow slowly out of the ends which can allow the boat to trim level and more manageable. My own studies support that. Most of my own kayaks have no hatches and no bulkheads. They do have airbags and waterproof gear bags. Not only can one save lots of money by not having hatches the number of things that can go wrong can be reduced. I find the boat somewhat easier to load and unload through the cockpit that is much larger than most hatches. I use a sea sock on the boats without bulkheads and rather like it. Not sure these are reasons why no one should ever use hatches and bulkheads but may be sound reasons why a person might choose to do so. Cheers, John Winters Redwing Designs Specialists in Human Powered Watercraft http://home.ican.net/~735769/ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Oct 08 1998 - 15:10:55 PDT
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