> There was some discussion a while back on the WaveLength or Paddlewise
> mail list regarding how many home built boats actually fail in use.
> If I recall correctly there was not one instance of a boat failure,
> aside from the luan (cheap doorskin) ply becoming delaminated. Is
> all this talk about strength a little in vain? Just the process of
> fiberglassing the wooden hull (and just taping the inside seams of
> the plywood boats) seems to offer sufficient strength to survive all
> but a direct hit of major ocean wave against craggy cliff face. Am
> I missing something here? How many boats fail? In what way do they
> fail? Amen to this!

It's getting hard to wade through all the one-upmanship of engineering credentials on this board. Most of us (I think), just want to build something that is esthetically pleasing and has a reasonable prognosis of surviving the rigors of bobbing around in boats, and, to that end, I will defer to tested designs. Rather, I'm looking for helpfull tips and techniques on joining and finishing wood and 'glass with a reasonable chance of survival, not a return to "geek" lunches at Cal Poly. A pound or two here and there won't make much difference... heck that's my KFC lunch while I'm watching the whales. JMHO

Brian Millington