Kayak - Strip kayak construction journal

Closing up - joining the hull with the deck

	Joining the halves promised to be easier than with the previous kayak, but construction of the hatches, and the finishing of the cockpit coaming deformed the hull a bit. Finnally, I needed 16 straps and tourniquetes to get 'closure'. (Thanks for the loan, Carlos!)

A view from the cockpit towards the stern, with the kayak at 90 degrees on the sawhorses. All is white, because of the camera's flash, which reflects on the fine dust. I didn't want to use water to clean it up.

	Still unsatisfied with the pressure to join the halves, I decided to do the process in four steps: First join the cockpit area, left and right, and then the rest (bow and stern) again left and right. That way I could reuse the central straps. At the lower end of the photo, you can see one of the applied central glass tapes.

A view from the bow hatch towards the stern. Below, the applied tape can be seen. To the right is the rail for the footbraces. Above and below the cockpit opening are the 'cheek-plates', which will serve to attach the backrest. Note that the portable light has a low-energy bulb - temperature inside the hull was high enough as it was! (38 C)

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