[Paddlewise] Separating coaming from cockpit

I've got an old Eddyline Calypso with a cracked fiberglass seat bottom.
Since there was no easy access to the underside of the seat, I tried fixing
it by grinding down a two-inch wide and maybe 1/8th inch deep groove on the
top, then laying down layers of glass and epoxy, almost like drywall seams,
to fix it from the top, feathering it out to maybe 3 inches wide; and then
flipping the boat upside down over on a pair of sawhorses and attempting to
lay a couple layers of glass and epoxy to the underside of the seat (a
nasty, difficult job, especially while trying to breath through a hose to
avoid inhaling epoxy fumes).  It held up for a while, but as I feared it
eventually cracked again.  So now I figure that to fix it right, I need to
remove the seat.  The problem is that the seat bottom, seat sides and
coaming are all one piece, so the only way to take it out would be to
separate the coaming from the cockpit (or saw through the sides, then patch
them back together again--which seems like it could end up just trading one
problem for another).  My question is, how the heck does one go about doing
that?  From what I can see, the coaming appears to be glassed to the boat
from within the cockpit (and FWIW it _doesn't_ seem to be glassed or even
sealed around the exterior juction between the coaming and cockpit hole).
Do you just take a razor knife or something and start cutting away at the
interior joint?  Makes me a little nervous to contemplate.  I suppose the
other option is to just curtail my usual do-it-myself attitude and take it
to a repair shop...
 
Evan Dallas
Woodinville, WA
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