Aligning hull and deck (Ganymede)

Builder's Forum
1

Hello,

 

I am currently building my very first ply kayak. I went for the Ganymede kayak since it should be easy to build and easy to use (I have no kayaking experience whatsoever)

I have all the parts cut out and stitched together now. If I stretch the hull out it fits nicely aligned with the deck but when I remove the deck the hull does nog stay in this shape. According to the plans I should now remove the deck and glass the hull on the outside but this means that the hull goes out of the shape it is now in (stitched to the deck)

How do you guys do this step? Is there flexibility in the hull after I have applied the epoxy so that I can align it with the deck afterwards or should I make sure the hull is in the exact shape it should be?

Regards, Martin

2

There are a bunch of things that need to occur before you put the deck on the boat. The bulkheads give the hull its structure, so they need to be epoxied in place before continueing with the fiberglass and epoxy over the outside/inside of the hull. The deck itself should be glued directly onto the sheerclamps, and then cut to shape, but maybe the Ganymede design is different. Here is a great video put out by CLC for stitch and glue kayak. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWxeNLIoric