Bulkheads & Hatches

It's officially time for me to now cut a couple big holes in the kayak for the hatches.  First step is to mark the openings for the bow and stern hatches.  Pretty simple task.  Simply measure from the cockpit forward and aft where you want the hatches to be located, then use the spacer strips provided in the kit to trace the opening.  I placed some masking tape on the deck where I was going to trace the opening.  I also had to take into consideration that I installed foot brace rails about 2-3 inches forward of where they were supposed to be,  That's because of my long legs (38" inseam).  Okay - Holes are marked.  Next step was to drill a few holes with a 1/16 in drill on the mark so that I can get my jig saw in the holes.  And then, start sawing.  I used my handheld jig saw and it worked perfectly.  Went very slow though.  Here's the end result.

The bow hatch

The stern hatch

Now that I have access to the inside of the boat from bow to stern, I am able to complete a job I put off until now.  That is, to finish filling in the beveled edges of the inside deck (shear seam) after I epoxied them onto the hull.  With the extra access I am able to reach fully forward and aft to fill in the beveled edges with thickened epoxy and lay fiberglass tape onto the filled edges.  

Now it's time to install the bulkheads.  The stern bulkhead went according to plan.  I had to do a little trimming from the bulkhead that was provided in the kit, but no problem.  Went in nice and snug. But the bow was a different story.  As previously noted, the foot brace rails were moved forward a couple inches and the hatch opening was also moved forward a couple inches from plan.  So that means the bulkhead will have to move forward a couple inches.  As you can see from the above picture, moving forward means a smaller diameter. At first, I just started trimming the edges down.  But after a couple of those attempts, the bulkhead started to look a little weird.  Not quite symmetrical .  So after a little thought, I decided to measure the outside of the kayak (chine to chine) where I wanted to place the bulkhead.  I took those measurements and drew a template on a large thick piece of cardboard.  I then shrank the size of the template 1/4 inch to allow for the thickness of the kayak panels.  I cut the cardboard and placed it in the kayak where I wanted the bulkhead, and it fit perfectly.  Well, perfect enough.  So I then took the template and laid it on the bulkhead material I had and drew it out. Then cut it to size.  Perfect fit!

The stern bulkhead (probably should sand down those drips, eh?)

The bow bulkhead  (and more sanding,,, someday)

Now, back to the hatches.  First installed a leash to the hatch covers.  Then installed spacers and hatch lip inside for the hatch cover to rest on.  Then installed foam bedding to make the hatches water tight from the outside.  

Finally, installed hatch strapping to secure the hatches snugly.  Also had to install half-round dowels to fit underneath the strapping.  Here's what that looks like now.

The stern hatch

The bow hatch

Almost done now.  I have to install the seat next.  That will require a couple hip braces epoxied and fiber-glassed inside the cockpit.  And then the seat and back support installed.  After that, deck rigging and hand toggles.  And then it will be the varnish finish.  Getting closer.....