JEM Watercraft

On the outside of the hull, you'll glass the entire exterior. Same for the hull interior. This is part of the normal build process since you're using 4mm ply.

Add an additional layer inside and outside of just the bottom panel. You should be able to split the 38" cloth up the middle then that will be plenty for the bottom panel, inside and out. You won't even use all the 3 yards.

You could reverse the order if you wanted: Cover the bottom panel only and then apply the cloth to the entire hull over that. I'd do it last (before deck installation).

Once you're done, she'll be rock solid and stiff. Trust me, this is a minor concern you have and you can easily fix it with an hour of extra work.

I used the 7.50 glass on the outside of the hull , I did that because that is where the abuse will be when paddling it. The 6 oz glass was on the outside of the decking as a protective measure for it.

I did do at lease 10 applications of epoxy to the glass on the hull after the glass was on there and three more coats or the epoxy and graphite mixture to the outside of the hull.

To be honest with you .... I over did it with the glass and epoxy , could of save a lot of time and epoxy by using the standard 6 oz glass all the way around , inside and outside.

Epoxy saturate the wood ( it increases the strength of the wood up to four times ) then glass it outside and inside and you will have it made in the shade , as the kids say.

Best to do like Matt said and encapsulate the whole boat......... Be safe.

Chuck.
You might get some oil caning when the boat is high and dry but when you are in it and the water pressure is shoving against it and your weight counter acts that ... No problem. Besides boats are meant to be paddled in the water not out of it. Mine has a little , very little out of the water.

I touched up this post a bit to make it clearer. - Matt

Excellent, thank you for your help. --Garrett

Garrett,

Matt is absolutely right, glass on both sides of the seams will make a VERY robust structure. Plywood and glass and epoxy are very strong. I misuse my boats and they stand up to it nicely.

Edited slightly for clarity - Matt

heya Garret,

mate, I wouldn't stress too much about the possible oil canning. Store bought plastic boats do it all the time.

I would recommend you build as per Matts instructions. if you find there is some oil canning, AND it is annoying you, you can add ectra strips or glass later.

don't cross ya bridges till ya get to em mate. its all good fun.

Wow, I think I need to clear up a few things here. Chuck and I must have responded within a few seconds to each other last night. My comment " Excellent, thanks for the help." was aimed at Matt for explaining that I just need to put 2 layers of glass on the bottom pannel to escape some potential oil canning. No offence Chuck, I really appreciate your help and advice, aswell as everyone else. I trust Matt as the designer of the vessel, and am going to follow his words until I am more experianced at this. I want EVERYONE to know that I want this come out right, and safe. I am not looking for shortcuts, or easy ways out. I just want to be safe, and have fun. Isnt that why we are all doing this? I hope no one was offended, or feels like they are being stepped on. I can see that there is a lot of passion for boat building in this forum, and it makes me glad that I stumbled into this website. Thank you and sorry this is kind of rambling on. --Garrett

No worries Garret. We're like family here. Slightly disfunctional at times.

Chuck is what I'd call a master builder and paddler.

(I hear he can bait a hook really good so that would make also make him a master.....anyway).

He's like a mad scientist always tweaking, poking, and prodding and seeing what can be done. Chuck can do this because he's built more boats than he has fingers (none have ben cut off that I know of) and has more hours on the water paddling than most people I know. He's know what limits to push, how to safely test them, and what to do to correct things if needed.

I do not want someone new to building doing this. I don't even like the idea of Chuck doing it but he's hard-headed.

Well let me step back and say it's not a matter of me liking or disliking someone trying something new. Heck, I benefit from Chuck's whacky ideas as much as they make me nervous.

I just don't want to promote this kind of experimentation on this forum. I'd like to keep it straight-forward so the casual builder has the info clear and digestable. Good for new builders and good for business because there is no conflicting message.

If someone want to tinker and experiment like Chuck, then the best place to discuss it would be on the www.southernpaddler.com forum. He can give you the ins and outs of what he did and why. Posting it here, I feel, will cause more confusion than good.

So no hackles are up. We just needed to discuss that whole thing. I might go ahead and edit this thread just to clear out some the muddy water. So if I've chopped someones comments, no offense intended.

Matt, I have been trying to reach RAKA this morning, but I am not sure that t I can. The number you listed, and the number on their site doesnt connect me to RAKA, its some lady in florida who says shes never heard of RAKA. Any suggestions, or another # I could try? Thanks, Garrett

Raka ...... http://www.raka.com/
3490 Oleander Ave
Ft. Pierce, Florida 34982

772-489-4070 for ordering there product or questions.
772-461-2070 for there fax.

Chuck.

Ok, I finally got through and talked to Larry. Matt, he listened to me about the thin okoume and he suggested using 7oz glass instead of six. I also got his good epoxy (clear drying?) according to him. He told me that if you said I shouldnt use the 7oz that I can exchange it for 6oz without a problem. I got 25 yards like we talked about so I can still double up on the bottom pannel if you think its a good idea. Let me know what you think, or if you need more info. --Garrett