Re: [Paddlewise] Boat Construction

On Sun, 9 Jan 2000, Doug Lloyd wrote:

> Yes, this was a one time deal. A patch about 4 x 8 inches just fell away

bizarre.  I can only imagine that happening with a real bad layup, or
a spot that had taken a beating.

> what the total occurrence of this type of failure is, or with any related
> problems that ensue from vacuum bagging where _too_ much resin has been
> squeezed away.

My surf ski has too little resin.  It's got pinhole leaks in the weave.
A friends wabash valley canoe had the same problems - cured with a coat
of varnish...  I'm living with the leakage of my surf ski, the leaks aren't
that bad.  I do expect the surf ski to fail catastrophically at some 
point - it's about 28 pounds and 19.5 feet long, there just isn't enough 
material there to expect it to take any sort of beating.  

I've got several vacuum bagged kevlar canoes.  They're wonderful craft.
When I got my british heavy I asked about getting it in kevlar.  At the
time there was a $900 charge for the kevlar and the weight dropped from
57 to 48 pounds.  $100 a pound?  no thanks.  A disappointing difference for 
someone accustomed to 35 pound boats.  I've beaten some of my canoes soundly,
enough so that I'm surprised they have survived - but then they don't
have seams.  I think Doug is doing the right thing with his boat.  If I
paddled like he does I would find a seamless hardshell.
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