: I'm still not sure if a 3-piece frame will have enough strength. There's not
: a lot of glued area holding the longitudinals in place at the bulk heads,
: then again perhaps I think it needs more strength than is really
: necessary. After reading about a couple catastrophic failures of
: factory-produced 3-piece composite kayaks, it makes me wonder...

: Adding a separate skin to the frame makes a lot of sense; figuring out how to
: skin three parts without seams in undesirable places is one thing I see no
: way around if skinning each piece separately.

: I've also thought about a wood-framed folder, using a hooked scarf to join
: all the long bits. Designing a wood-frame folder sounds more like an
: engineering thesis topic than a relaxing past time....

: Of all the possible solutions, a decent roof rack seems like the best option
: even if it means finding a way to circumvent some budgetary hurdles. Maybe
: not as ambitious, but I'd rather be paddling than trying to solve problems
: with construction.

If you epoxy the joints and form a filet at each joint there is plenty enough gluing area to make it rigid. It's how I built mine and the frame is seriously strong.

Bill H.