: I had one of the technical assistance people from Gougeon Brothers (West
: Systems) look at your photos, and he showed it around a bit there. They
: say that the problem is strained fiberglass caused by excessive deflection
: of the deck, probably caused by pushing off on the deck to get out of or
: into the boat and/or heavy cargo on the deck.

This deflection does not account for all the damage only on the glue lines.

I've seen deflection damage and it is usually spread over the whole laminate surface not confined to glue lines.

If damage happens only on glue lines then maybe it has something to do with the glue, ya think?

I wonder how many of their tech people have worked exclusively with clear lay-ups on stripper construction for twenty years.

I've seen a nice deck, on a dark kayak, that's been sitting all day in the summer sun, develop these white dimples along glue lines of yellow carpenter's glue with no deflection involved.

Kayak decks, unlike canoe hulls, have air tight fore and aft compartments which don't allow the air in them and the deck, exposed to the summer sun, to cool.

Just how hot can it get? Well, at a show, where my boats were displayed in an asphalt parking lot, in the summer sun, I could not hold my hand on the deck of a dark colored kayak for more than a couple seconds.

Believe what you choose.

All the best,
Rob