05-04-2012: Joining the deck and hull - outside / name inlay

On the outside I reinforced the deck/hull joining with a 100mm fiberglass band. I had already done the left side and I am now epoxying the right side.

This time I was VERY carefull when gluing the third name inlay in place...

02-04-2012: Bulkheads / Name inlay Part III

The bulkheads are now done with fiberglass and black epoxy on both sides. With a bit of violence I managed to put both bulkheads in place. Now they only needs to be gkued in place with some sealants.

After I sanded the old (damaged) name inlay away, I made a new one a glued this in place on the kayak bow. To hold it in place I wrapped it with nylon tape. The next morning when I unwrapped it - it was croocked. It was only like 3mm, but I knew I had to redo it. Otherwise I would only see the crooked angle every time i looked at the kayak. So I sanded the second name inlay off again and started to make a third one... 

01-04-2012: Name inlay - Part II

I have now filled out the small gap between the deck and hull (if I could find any), sanded the joint. 

When sanding I got impatient and used my orbital sander..... 
Aaaaghh . @&#%! 
I sanded the name inlay away.....

There is only one thing to do.... Sand the whole thing away and make a new name inlay.

29-03-2012: Bulkheads

The bulkheads is covered with one layer of fiberglass - one side at a time. I mixed iron oxide in the epoxy to give it a nice black color.

27-03-2012: Bulkheads

Today I was not in the mood to be playing with epoxy so I started on the bulkheads. I used my old stations as a template. To shape the polystyrene I used my disc sander. I was glad I have a vacuum cleaner attached to the sander..

This is the bulkhead behind the cockpit.

The bulkhead in front of the cockpit.

24-03-2012: Joining the hull and deck - right side

I am now ready to reinforce the right side inside.

Once again it takes a lot of patience.

18-03-2012: Joining the deck and hull - left side

I am now ready to reinforce the deck -hull joint with a band of fiberglass. 

It is very difficult to put the epoxy in place. I both takes some gymnastic skills and some innovative tools. Here my "telescopic cup of epoxy".

And my "how to place the fiberglass band" tool:

12-03-2012: Tubing for the skeg wire

The epoxy has now hardened and its time to remove the silicone tube.

The silicone tube is very difficult to pull out, but a drop of ethanol does the trick.

The tube for the skeg wire is now pushed in place.

And finally the deck and hull are put together. I used all the straps and rope and tape I could get hold on to hold it in place. before I glued the two together with epoxy I waited a day to ensure myself that I had not forgotten anything..

11-03-2012: Reinforcing the hull

To hold the tubing for the skeg wire I made a canal using the same principles. 

To remove the silicone tube when the epoxy has hardened I use a drop of ethanol. The ethanol makes it very easy to pull out the silicone tube.

I decided to reinforce the hull where the cockpit is located by laying more layers of fiberglass. Right where the cockpit opening is located there are now three layers of fiberglass and at the paddlers feet there is now two layers.

03-03-2012: More deck fittings

In front of the cockpit I want some bungee cord for storing things. The bungee cord is here placed as a test to checkout the positioning.

Holes marked up and ready for the drill. I used The two test strips to determine the spacing between the holes.

Tubing in place on the bow end ready for epoxy on the inside.

Starting to mark up for the bungee cord behind the cockpit.

To test before drilling the holes I use a mockup to hold the bungee.

Satisfied with the test and sure everything is OK I drill the holes....

When turning over the deck I realize that there was something I had forgotten... But I was lucky. The holes is very close to the eye pad, but it's OK.

Both the holes in front of and behind the cockpit is now covered with fiberglass.

01-03-2012: Deck fittings

On the bow end of the deck I plan to have a couple of bungee cords to stick my paddle under.

I mark the positions very carefully before drilling the holes...

As spacekeepers I use silicone tubing with a piece of string inside. The string is to keep the tube from collapsing.

Ready to cover the tubing with epoxy.

The tubing is now covered with fiberglass.