> Anyone had experience using leather on thier boats?

In addition to kayaks, the ancient Irish and Welsh made boats called coracles. You might find more on those in an encyclopedia. George Putz mentions them in his book. As I recall, according to Putz, these were replaced by boats covered with fabric, which was covered with tar or pitch. He has a picture of a contemporary craft that is covered n this fashion.

> I was reading the sailmakers book, it turns out they still use real
> leather to reenforce the corners of the sails against chafe.

Sails tend to be well above the water. The leather may get wet, but it is not constantly submerged. Comparing that to a hull is probably not a good idea.

> I was just wondering if anyone here has used it on thier kayaks. Might be
> nice for a paddle handle ( like its done on oars),

I thought the leather on oars was for where they fit against the oarlocks. That area would be heavily greased or oiled, to keep the leather parts from squeaking as you rowed.

> cockpit openings ( could even be padded), or for that matter ( though expensive $$ ) having a real 'skin boat'. Though I'd stick to cow leather.

You would have a pretty heavy boat, but it might be popular with (and maybe even be sponsored by) the local cattle ranchers, slaughterhouses, packing plants, and/or tanneries. Maybe you could name the boat: Surf and Turf Special

I believe there is an oil tanning process which makes the leather much more flexible and ater resistant than conventionally tanned hides. You would want to soak the leather with silicone or oil (neat's foot oil, or even motor oil) to protect it from cracking with absorbtion of water,and subsequent drying. Good luck waterproofing the seams.

Given the lack of oak trees in the arctic, I doubt that the natives ever really tanned the hides that were used for their boats. I've seen pictures, though, of the women chewing the hides so they could soften them before using them for garments. Before you go this route, ask yourself: Can I eat an entire cow? How good are my teeth?

> I'm in Texas folks, leather can be had cheap. :)

Well, ya build with what ya got.

You might get a piece of leather and see if you can reinforce it with fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin. I suppose you could use strips of leather 3 to 4 inches wide and 1/4 inch thick (Sole leather for shoes is this wide and thick)in the same fashion as cedar strips and assemble them onto the same manner of frames. Since the leather is more flexible than wood strips, you might put the pieces on wet, and let them harden into shape. Shaping the fit of pieces could be done with a sharp knife. Instead of staples, if you wanted, you could stitch the pieces together, or edge glue them with crazy glue.

You could make long strips with scarf joints of the same shape as those for cedar strips. I'd suggest a leather craft glue I've used called Barges. It works as a contact cement. YOu can cut the scarf joints with a knife. apply the glue, let it dry, then assemble the pieces, and whack them with a hammer or mallet to ensure a good bond. Due to the flexibility of the material a perfect cut on the joint is not necessary. You should not need to sand the outside,(hair side) and finishing the suede side (inside) might be best donw by sanding that side gently while the leather is still a strip.

When the entire hull or deck is dry you could cover the whole thing with glass cloth and resin. This would definitely be a unique boat. Do some test pieces before you spend too much time on this, tho.

By the way. If you have a cow you need to convert into one more hide, I suggest a barbeque. Be sure to invite us all for the food. I'm sure we would be happy to eat those steaks and ribs, and leave you the hide.

Best of luck.

Paul Jacobson