Hi, All

I managed to do some work on the rebuild now that the temperature has warmed up over here. I made the decision to replace the old bulkhead instead of just do a patch job. Donnie at Boatcraft allowed me to trace certain panels and the forward bulkhead. With Jeff's assistance I got accurate traces made up and went straight to work on the rebuild. I traced and cut the new bulkhead from 4 mm okhume. I used my sawzall to cut away as much of the old bulkhead as I could then switched to my dremmel to remove the remaining wood and epoxy. I carefully ground away the fill and tapes from the old bulkhead so as not to damage the hull panels underneath. I used my shop vac to capture the epoxy dust as I worked and thus eliminated the health risks associated with breathing the stuff. Once the old bulkhead was removed I held the new bulkhead in place and trimmed it to fit perfectly in place. I used sandpaper to do the shaping. The new bulkhead was then tied into place. I convinced my wife to let me take up some of the livingroom space so I could glue the hull patches and bulkhead. As you can see from the picture the kayak looks pretty good at this point. When I finally get a day off (another 3 nights shifts to go) I'll probably switch to the new kayak and glue the door together for my watertight compartment. I still ahve some minor epoxy work left to do and , of course, the varnishing before my trip along the North Saskatchewan River begins. With luck I'll find time to glass the hull of the rebuild before the trip begins so that when I get back I'll have only the deck to worry about.

Robert N Pruden