wrote:

I have recently acquired 2 fibreglass kayaks.

Given our lack of storage space, I am considering shortening them.

Has anyone done this before?

The previous owner of my sea kayak chopped the stern end off to put a
C-Trim rudder mount at the back. It still works fine... I have got the
original end and he's offered to glass it back on if I want, as you
suggest it's not impossible to do this sort of thing with fibreglass.

Surely I can afford to lose some volume given that some modern kayaks
are as little as 180 litres and I'm not that heavy?

Volume isn't the only issue. Hull *shape* will affect the boat handling
to some extent. Also, reducing waterline length will probably reduce
the hull speed. On the plus side, you might end up with something
easier to turn.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Thanks for your quick reply Pete!

I am glad that this sort of thing has been done before!

How much was chopped from the stern of your boat?

How was the stern sealed? With fibreglass sheet?

I'm not too bothered about straight line efficiency, so long as it
floats, that's the main thing and making it short enough for easier
storage.

Our local river is overgrown in places so having a shorter boat will
help when avoiding fallen branches etc.

Thanks very much,

Nick

wrote:

How much was chopped from the stern of your boat?

Somewhere between 8" and a foot, can't remember exactly.

How was the stern sealed? With fibreglass sheet?

No, the C-Trim mount is a plastic plate (with mouldings to take the pins
the rudder pivots on) which is screwed into place (I assume into the
original hull fibre), and then the whole thing was sealed originally
with resin though after the original started leaking a few years down
the line I re-did it with high grade silicone sealant (Sikaflex, not
cheap but very good)

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Thanks again.

I'll continue with some more research before I get the saw out!

Regards,

Nick