Kayak Shrank

[lilmae]

I have built a number of strip canoes and I am building my first strip kayak. I am about to glass the underside of the deck. I have glassed the hull inside and out. I sat the deck onto the hull and realized that the hull has drawn up since I glassed the inside of the hull. It is fully three inches narrower at the widest point, than it was when I removed the deck. I put the stations back into the hull inorder to force it back out. It was hard to get them in but they are in. I am hoping that they will stretch it back out to the original shape. Has anyone else encountered this? If so what do you think caused it and how did you deal with it?

[Noah's]

Probably just the way you supported the hull when the inside glassing was done. When just the outside is glassed the whole thing is pretty flexible, but the hull becomes quite rigid when the inside is done, therefore you need to be very sure you have the correct shape before finishing the interior. Because kayak hulls are long and narrow compared to canoes they would have more tendency to compress if not supported properly. If the hull deck joint is a sheer clamp you could try just using the deck to keep the right shape, however this could cause the deck to crown or a knuckle in the hull. You might try installing the bulkheads, then remove the frames, if the hull doesn’t deform much the deck will probably keep it the right shape. You could also try installing some laminated ash ribs in the hull before removing the frames if the bulkheads alone don’t keep the proper shape.

[lilmae]

Thanks for the information. I will try putting in the bulkheads and that should help. I am also going to leave the stations in for a while to see if that will help some. I will be more careful on the next one with how it is supported.