RE: [Paddlewise] perfect..... kit boat

Bill O wrote:

> Dear Folks,
>
> At the risk of making an already convoluted thread even more so,
> I noticed that lots of people stated opinions about Tupperware,
> shatterglass, and  kevlar, but no one specifically commented on any of
> those glass/plywood/glass kit boats out there.  Since I am anxiously in
> the market for one of them (most likely a Pygmy Osprey HP) I'd appreciate
> hearing more about that.

Shuush! Wanna give away our secret?

Speaking for myself here of course...While I would NEVER try to play with my
wood kayak in a turbulent rock garden, having built my wood strip boat
myself, I feel confident I could repair most anything that goes wrong (with
the boat anyway).

Story time: When I was constructing my Guillemot, my son and I spent the
better part of a day in the back yard fairing and sanding the hull to prep
it for fiberglassing. As we brought the hull back inside, we turned it over
so we could start laying the strips for the deck. The hull slipped off the
form and split end-to-end. We both stood there with a stupid look on our
face and an empty form in our hands. Mind you, this is before the fiberglass
was applied, so the hull was expectably weak.

Finally my son spoke and asked if it was his fault the kayak just broke in
half. I assured him it wasn't and we carried it back out to the back yard
and glued the two pieces back together. It was traumatic at the time, but if
we could fix that, we could fix anything. There have been several "patches"
done this year to the fiberglass (to cover flaws in my construction, not
because of a collision), and you wouldn't be able to tell me where they are.
I know only because I was the one that put them there.

While I try to avoid regularly "running it up the beach", that hasn't
prevented me from doing so from time to time. A little extra glass in the
right areas give you the confidence that even if you scratch it up, a skim
coat of epoxy or another coat of varnish will have it looking new again. An
elderly gentalman I paddle with *always* runs his stitch and glue boat
ashore after a paddle. Especially when he is ready to repaint the hull!

Woody


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