RE: [Paddlewise] New Kayak - Leaking Bulkheads

My VCP Pintail is probably 12 years old -- or more.  It has a lot of
hairline cracks in the deck -- especially at the bulkheads.  But, as
long as the hatches are attached properly, it doesn't leak at all.
That's not an answer, but it's a data point: that kind of leakage in a
new, composite kayak shouldn't be considered a norm.

Side issue: I had the job of volunteer crash test dummy for CLC in
Annapolis for a while, and was the first to paddle a new prototype -- so
new that some of the epoxy was a tad green.  No hatches, no drain holes,
but well sealed bulkheads.  Warm day in May, cold water, black hull.
After 20 minutes paddling, I heard and felt something that closely
approximated the impact of a rifle round hitting the boat.  (I found
that this craft accelerated pretty well when aimed at the beach.)
Looking around, seeing nothing in the area, I discovered a small (half
inch diameter) implosion in the deck at the forward bulkhead -- the
weakest area in the boat, apparently, and overcome by the decreasing
atmospheric pressure inside the hull.  Your problem is definitely
different, but something to think about.  All my tightly hatched boats
have a 1/16th inch weep hole in the metacenter of each bulkhead to avoid
the problem.  The prototype didn't.  

Joq

-----Original Message-----
From: Elden Saathoff

I filled the cockpit with several inches of water, (up to the bottom of
seat), and left it on an inclined area of my yard bow down and later
rotated with stern down.

In both cases there was water in the bow and stern compartments, about a
fingers width in depth at the lowest point of the hull.   I haven't
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