: Hi dan,
: Since you already have an existing coaming, this can be a fairly
: easy project. To make it failure proof, completely cover the
: entire coaming with packing tape layed as overlaping strips from
: under the coaming wraped radially over the lip and on to the
: deck. Cover the deck and the inside bilge area with plastic
: sheet or vinyl wall paper, so no drips touch anything.

: You now have a form that you can lay bias cut strips of carbon and
: glass around your form. Let each layer hang straight down into
: the cockpit,don't wrap under, and don't worry about excess
: carbon/glass till it cures.
: Squeegee the excess eopxy and let it cure over night.

: Because you protected the coaming with packing tape (2"wide
: clear) you can remove the entire lay-up, probably 6-8 layers
: total from the boat. This new coaming can then be cut to shape
: with tin snips and sand paper.add some more epoxy coats till you
: have a smooth piece. The new coaming can then be epoxied to the
: existing coaming.
: You could do the same lay-up directly on the existing coaming,
: however, you don't have a second chance.
: If you mess up my suggested method, the only thing lost is time,
: epoxy, glass, and carbon. No damage to the boat.

: This all sounds fairly straight forward, but it is probably better
: suited to someone with experience with glass and carbon layup or
: you could waste some time and money.

: I once repaired a friends K1 race boat coaming that had cracked
: coaming lip by adding a layer of carbon to the under side of the
: coaming lip. The boat was white, so I protected the riser part
: of the coaming and the top with tape. I epoxied narrorw bias cut
: strips to the underside of the coaming only, and trimed after
: cure. It was amazing how much this stiffened the fiberglass
: coaming of this boat. I only used one layer of carbon. If you
: don't want the look of carbon on the top, this could be an easy
: fix that won't show.

: You must protect non work areas from contact with epoxy. I like
: using vinyl faced wallpaper I readily find at Dollar stores. I
: cut the 20" rolls with a band saw to the most useable
: length (6-8") and tape them in place to protect the areas
: from epoxy that I don't want touched. The wallpaper is easier to
: work with than plastic film, and cheaper. I make sure all area
: are covered with someting, just in case my gloved epoxy coverd
: hand touches another part of the boat. Think ahead, and
: "Work Clean"

: Check out One Ocean Kayak site for Carbon coaming layup details.

: The Pic is a Carbon/kevlar, red/black coaming I used. The world is
: not just black and white........

: Larry C.

Since the boat has a coaming in place, there's no real reason to make a new one. Adding a layer on top of the existing coaming will reinforce the coaming that's already there and keep the cracks from growing.

Doing it in carbon/Kevlar would be just to make it pretty, glass would work just fine.

Bill H.