Photo 2
I used the location of the old bulkhead as a refer- ence point to mark out the location of the new one. I moved my bulkhead back almost seven inches. Think about your foot peg rail placement and foot room. I will move the foot pegs to the end of the rail and re-drill and remount my rails 67 mm back from their present location. This allows me to move the bulkhead back as far as possible, but it means nobody taller than me (6’2”) will ever be able to paddle my boat!
Photo 3
Making a template for the new bulkhead is time- consuming but very important. Getting it right will give your bulkhead a strong, snug fit, and save you time when you cut and shape the plywood. Draw +/– symbols on the cardboard to show where to trim and where to cut less on the next template.
Photo 4 Trace your cardboard template onto a piece of plywood and cut out your new bulkhead with a fine-toothed jigsaw or handsaw blade. Trust your template and resist the temptation to cut outside your line. Eighth-inch-thick marine grade plywood works well; consider using quarter-inch if you’re using the bulkhead as a foot brace or a mount for a foot-controlled pump. Marine plywood is water- proof, has a nice “teaky” finish and can sometimes be purchased in smaller pieces.
Photos 5 Wash the inside of your boat with dish detergent or boat soap to remove any contaminants. Do this before sanding to avoid sanding dirt into the sur- face. Then use 80-grit sandpaper to rough up a strip a few inches on either side of your new bulk- head location. Then wipe the area with Acetone to remove the sanding dust and prep the surface for bonding.
Photo 6
Fit your new plywood bulkhead snugly—don’t force it in place or it may bulge out your hull and deck. Glue your bulkhead in place with a few drops of epoxy. This is a good time to practice mixing your resin and observe how quickly it cures. You’ll want to apply two or three coats of epoxy consecutively, waiting just until the preceding coat is tacky—have a few hours to kill. Fibreglass satu- rates and sticks better if you place it on a pre- epoxied surface, so begin by spreading epoxy on either side of the rim of your bulkhead. Then apply the tape, working your way around the rim, work- ing in additional epoxy to saturate the tape as you go. Use scissors to snip the overlapping pleats on the bulkhead side of the tape, and overlap the ends. With my boat up on cradles, I was able to rotate the boat so the loose tape is always at the bottom. Finally, paint your entire bulkhead with a thin layer of epoxy to seal the wood. Do the other side of the bulkhead.
Photo 3 Photo 4
Photo 2
Photo 7
When the first layer of epoxy is still tacky, recoat your bulkhead and seam with a second thin layer of epoxy and add a fillet to your seam on both sides of the bulkhead for extra strength. A fillet is a bead of epoxy thickened with high-density adhe- sive filler, applied along the seam like a strip of caulking. For a lightweight installation, it’s possible to skip the fibreglassing stage entirely and just use an epoxy fillet to glue your bulkhead in place. I opted for both for maximum strength. I used West System 404 High-Density Adhesive Filler to make
my filleting compound. Mix the epoxy first; add plenty of filler powder until the epoxy is the consis- tency of peanut butter. Use the end of a Popsicle stick cut flat or V-shaped to spread the fillet. Optional: when tacky apply a third coat of epoxy both sides of the bulkhead.
Photo 8 Tada! Eight inches less wasted space in my cockpit and seven inches of extra dry storage space in my front hatch thanks to a shinier, newer, stronger bulkhead.
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Photo 8
ADVENTUREkayakmag.com 37
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