> I have two questions about suitable coverings for skin kayaks.

> What would be the lightest material that would provide _reasonable_
> service (lake use only, and trying to be fairly careful with the kayak).I
> am trying to decide if I will be making a serious mistake by saving money
> in using a cotton twill I saw today.I compare it to some samples of 8 to
> 15 ounce nylon I have and it felt much like the 8 ounce. I can find the
> heavy weight canvas here, but it is quite expensive, and at only 90 cm
> width means I have to buy twice as much. So what do you think of a cotton
> twill at around 8 ounces? Or should I bite the bullet and buy the canvas,
> or mail order the nylon? And as for covering, I was planning on exterior
> house paint or exterior varnish. I read somewhere to stay away from latex
> paints. Why? I would think the latex (latex is rubber, isn't it??) would
> offer some abrasion resistance.

> Second question - I am really not all that excited about going through the
> steambending thing again for the coaming. Other than holding the
> sprayskirt, is there a reason a coaming is neccessary? I had this idea
> that I might be able to actually sew a skirt onto the skin of the kayak
> itself, and use either a bungie or a drawstring to tighten it around my
> waist, loosely, of course ;) I am sure I saw a skin kayak with one
> somewhere, but can't find the photo. Does this idea sound possible? If so,
> how could I keep the skin tight on the deck? One idea is to sew a loop of
> rope or hose onto the edge of the opening, and sew the skirt on top of
> that.

> Thanks for any help.Kelly

Kelly,

I used 14 oz. #10 canvas on mine, and I would say that is sufficient. I would not go any lighter in canvas. You could go down to an 8 oz. weight in either nylon or polyester, but cotton is much weaker for it's weight. I personally would stay away from the cotton twill in anything less than 12 oz.

Latex paints tend to not be as durable as oil based paints. This is a generalization though. I used latex roof paint on mine, and I am very happy with the result. I also found that the canvas stretched when I applied the latex paint. I believe this was because of the water in the paint. My understanding is that this does not happen with oil based paints. Wolfgang Brink addresses latex paints in his book, but I don't recall what he said. I will check it out later and let you know what I find out.

You have a few options to get a good wood coaming without steaming. One is a stacked plywood coaming like is used on most stitch & glue kayaks. Another is a vertical bent plywood coaming. And a third is a bent wood coaming using 1/8" laminations, soak the wood for a few days then bend it around your mold, and clamp until dry, then glue or stitch the laminations together. A fourth option would be to build it with vertical strips, like many strippers use.

Or you could explore your idea of the skirt sewn onto the kayak. This will probably have some interesting challanges.

Hope it goes well. Good luck with your decisions.

Mike