JEM Watercraft

I found that the stripped panels are not as flexible as the plywood. When stitching the bow and stern a few of my strips cracked or popped loose 3-4 inches. The twist at each end on this yak is pretty radical and I was afraid this could be a problem. I'm wondering if I should go ahead and do a resin saturation coat on the panels before I do the twisting and stitching. Or, could I use a small strip on the outside of the panel to hold the strips when stitching? Or, what about steaming the panel ends when stitching?

HELP!

Hmmm.... adding some epoxy ma help but I'm not sure if it would be enough. You might have to strip the bottom panels the "normal" way.

I would suggest that by epoxying the seams to replace any glue in there would do the trick , epoxy does hold a lot better then any of the glues.

No guarantees on my part but I do have a lot of faith in the epoxy to hold things together. I have not made a Cape Fear so I am not sure about the angles you are discussing.

Chuck.

Can you put some thin fiberglass tape or cloth down right on the end of the pannels where the ties would be? To keep the pannel together?
Rich S.

Preacher,

You mentioned "a small strip on the outside" in your post and I think that's what I would try first. A piece of ply about an inch wide extending across the end of the panel and possibly held in place with a small amount of hot melt glue should do it. Drill through this and stitch it as if it is part of the panel then it can be taken off while removing the stitches after tacking. I would tack as much of the gap as possible, just leaving the area close to the stitches unfilled and making sure not to epoxy the ply strip to the panel.

Once the joint has been filleted I believe it should be as strong as ply due to the curve.

Do you have any pictures? Sometimes a picture indicates the extent and nature of a problem better and can help with a neater solution.

While on this topic I have been thinking about the Okwata done in SSG and thought there was a thread on this but can't find it now - am I imagining things (again )?

When I used this method a couple years ago, I fiberglassed what would be the inside of all the panels before stitching. I was afraid that they would pop apart like you described. Also, I hate fiberglassing the inside of any boat, so this way all I had to do was tape the interior joints after gluing and finish the fill coats on the interior. An added benefit is that it is much easier to sand smooth the insides of the strip panels prior to fiberglassing when they are lying flat. I just ordered the Okwata plans and may strip build the upper half. If I do this is the method I will use. I may even build slightly thicker than 1/4 inch and run the panels through my planer before sanding and fiberglassing.

I'm not 2 experienced but i'd go with craig and glass the inside of the panels b4 stitching

Matt,
I am building the inner side walls, floors and supports and when laying out the tankwell the floor seemed to be very low according to my body weight and the amount of stuff I carry. I raised the tankwell floor by 1 inch to avoid excess water coming in through the scupper. I realize this will create a more shallow tankwell but I always strap my crates down anyway.

Do you foresee any problems?

Shouldn't be an issue. You'll raise the center of gravity a bit but long as you live the kitchen sink and big screen TV at home, you'll be fine.