Message-Id: <199807111020.GAA15369@mail.gwi.net>
From: "Ron Franklin" <oldhaven@mail.biddeford.com>
To: baidarka@lists.intelenet.net
Date: Sat, 11 Jul 1998 06:20:05 -0500
Subject: Re: [baidarka] Deck lashings
> You wrote:
>
> >I have always drilled right through the fabric into the gunwales and run
> >the lashings through there. But with cotton fabric, the hole in the
> >fabric becomes a place where water can get into the boat and also a
> >place where rot can start. Also, as the skin moves around, these holes
> >enlarge, so Bill Low's suggestion seems an improvement.
> >
> >It seems to me that most commercial kayaks have excessive deck lashing
> >going on. Apparently, lots of ropes make kayak look more nautical and
> >complex and therefore make it easier to justify a price tag in excess of
> >$2000. I am more inclined toward minimalism myself, although on camping
> >trips, I have been guilty of lashing stuff to the deck.
> >
> >The British designers like Goodman and Hutchinson believe that you
> >should have a line that runs the whole perimeter of the boat. This
> >functions as a safety line when you exit your boat and gives you
> >something to hang on to. I don't subscribe to this philosophy myself,
> >but then, the beauty of building your own boat is that you can have it
> >your way.
> >
> >Wolfgang
> >
> >
> >William H. Low wrote:
> >>
> >> I've tried several techniques with varying degrees of success. I now just
> >> sew loops through the skin and attach bungie cords or what ever to the
> >> loops. I have done this on a number of boats with no failure of any kind.
> >>
> >> Bill Low
I have tried several methods and the one I have settled on is to attach web
loops by sewing them every 9-12 inches along the webbing I use as a chafing
strip on the gunwale/deck corner. The 1" webbing runs the length of the
boat at the vertical top of the gunwale skin and is bonded on by using
contact cement, or in the case of hypalon, using the hypalon itself as a
bonding agent, fixing it between layer applications. Final layers are
applied over the webbing. A few stitches through would make this very
strong but I have never had one pull away. The loops fold over the edge a
bit and provide a place for a line around the whole boat. For cross lines
I just use bungees in the loops when I need them, leaving the deck
uncluttered most of the time. I tried hard rings, metal loops etc., but
found I kept hitting them with the paddle or my knuckles, and they would
hang up on roof racks. This method also does not fix the skin to the frame,
allowing it to move and preventing stress that screws through the skin into
the frame would cause. Where the webbing goes around the boe I have formed
a sewn loop to attach a bow line. This distributes any stress on the
lines along a long part of the webbing rather than concentrating it in one
place.
Ron Franklin
Bowdoin, Maine, USA