: People have been using canvas to cover the decks of sailboats for a long
: time. It is held on to the wooden decks basically by a coat of paint.
: Paint the deck, lay on the canvas while the paint is wet, then cover with
: a couple more coats of paint. Yes, you can eventually peel the canvas off,
: but for the most part it will stay put. If you use this idea for adhering
: your canvas or polyester fabric to the wooden bottom of your kayak, then
: it seems to me that even a long gash that penetrated the fabric would not
: cause immediate failure. It could take a long time (days, weeks, months)
: for the torn fabric to wear enough that it started to peel off -- a
: process that could be stopped at anytime with some judiciously applied
: duct tape -- and in the meantime, the paint surrounding the cut fabric
: should still keep out the water.

: If you go with plywood floorboards for a Putz Walrus, let me also suggest you
: scrap the thin wood trestling and replace all those little sticks with
: small panels of plywood. Use 2 foot long plywood panels (maybe 7 to 8
: inches wide) that are spaced a foot apart. Hold these to the chines with
: epoxy and some small brass screws. You can make them wider than you need
: (oversize) and later trim them flush with the chine using a router with a
: panel cutting bit and a roller guide. Large holes drilled in these panels
: will cut some weight.

: Look at the method used for bracing the frames in Klepper kayaks and you'll
: see the idea. (www.klepper.com)

: Hope this helps

: PGJ

Gee, I was thinking the plywood instead of the trestling was my holdback, a surprise I would pop, even down to the holes. No puttin' it over on this bunch I guess. The project is next winter at best, I'm still trying to get another kayak done by June 23 to make to the 'gathering'
What do you think about no floor boards, can the bottom panels glued together and the deck beams be enough to keep the sucker from becoming a folding kayak?