: I'd like to ask a related question: my stripper is being built with
: ribs as I didn't plan to glass it. It seems reasonable to assume
: that the ribs perform the function of the glass by limiting
: cracking under impact; what benefit would I get from glassing
: the outside? Abrasion resistance is less important for me as I
: have few rocks and no white water to worry about and the beaches
: I paddle from are all fine sand.

Perhaps you're not an ancient kayaker after all.

I guess I'm the oldest cuss in a kayak because I remember why
wooden boats passed from favor and why glassed strippers
are so nice.

When I was a kid people with wooden boats had to repair rot and
refinish or paint the wood regularly to prevent rot and water logging.

Internal ribs made the maintenance harder, because dirt and water got under
the ribs and sanding and scraping around the ribs was difficult and time consuming.
Few people had the skill to do a first class job of it.

So, as pleasure craft for the average person, wood boats didn't last long.
50 years ago, my uncle had a beautiful cedar runabout with an old 25 horse Evenrude on
the back, I wish I had today, but it only exists in my memory.

Only the rich could afford to pay someone to maintain their
beautiful wood boats. Fishermen had to do the best they could afford.

The rest of us adopted the first generation of plywood boats (which rotted faster)
aluminum, and finally, all fiberglass boats which ruled the waves, because
they reduced the maintenance needed.

When epoxy and fiberglass came along many tired to resurrect their old
wooden boats by covering only the outside of the hull. They found the
epoxy and fiberglass made a nice plastic bag to hold water absorbed
from the inside wood surfaces that were not waterproof.

Varnish, paint and epoxy coatings, without fiberglass, suffer the same
weaknesses. Sharp edges become stress zones, the site of
breaks, when adjacent surfaces expand and contract.

Crevices resist coatings becoming water entry points.

And abrasion compromises waterproofness before obvious
action seems needed.

If water can invade the wood in glued wood sections and parts,
glue joints will fail.

On the other hand, an unbroken layer of fiberglass and epoxy
on interior and exterior surfaces, builds a waterproof surface faster.
It increases the strength of the epoxy coating making it able to deal
with the issues listed above. And creates a stress skin panel, rigid and
strong, without the need for ribs or additional reinforcement.

This lasts longer and is easier to maintain than other
traditional wood boat structures.

So, if you choose to follow the un-glassed stripper path
I guess you will rediscover the reasons old methods
made way for new ones.

Have fun!

One man's fun may be another man's "Doh!"

Rob