I am building a CLC Chesapeak 17. Getting ready to put the glass on
the hull bottom and was wondering about putting a keel strip on to
protect the bottom a little. I assume one would do this after the
glassing prior to varnishing? Would you just put it on the stern and
bow or length of boat? I was thinking of kevlar but thought this
might be overkill; most of my landings will be sandy beaches and
sometimes lake banks without rocks. Appreciate the help and thoughts.
Steve

Oderint dum metuant.

I built a CLC 16 with a keel strip of fiberglass from bow to stern and I
epoxied it on before the hull epoxy layers were completed. I have struck
rocks numerous times and have had no more then superficial marks on the hull
bottom so my experience is that one extra strip of fiberglass is adequate.

"Steven Laughmiller" wrote in message
...
I am building a CLC Chesapeak 17. Getting ready to put the glass on
the hull bottom and was wondering about putting a keel strip on to
protect the bottom a little. I assume one would do this after the
glassing prior to varnishing? Would you just put it on the stern and
bow or length of boat? I was thinking of kevlar but thought this
might be overkill; most of my landings will be sandy beaches and
sometimes lake banks without rocks. Appreciate the help and thoughts.
Steve

Oderint dum metuant.

"Steven Laughmiller" wrote...
I am building a CLC Chesapeak 17. Getting ready to put the glass on
the hull bottom and was wondering about putting a keel strip on to
protect the bottom a little. I assume one would do this after the
glassing prior to varnishing? Would you just put it on the stern and
bow or length of boat?

I put a fiberglass strip along the entire keel on my Coho. Works fine.

Epoxy the strip just after finishing the glass on the hull. Varnish it along
with the rest of it.

Steven Laughmiller wrote:
I am building a CLC Chesapeak 17. Getting ready to put the glass on
the hull bottom and was wondering about putting a keel strip on to
protect the bottom a little. I assume one would do this after the
glassing prior to varnishing? Would you just put it on the stern and
bow or length of boat? I was thinking of kevlar but thought this
might be overkill; most of my landings will be sandy beaches and
sometimes lake banks without rocks. Appreciate the help and thoughts.

I would suggest using fiberglass rather than Kevlar. While Kevlar is
quite abrasion resistant, it tends to fuzz when abraded. You'll find
that fiberglass will be much easier to repair or replace.

In article ,
Steven Laughmiller wrote:

I am building a CLC Chesapeak 17. Getting ready to put the glass on
the hull bottom and was wondering about putting a keel strip on to
protect the bottom a little. I assume one would do this after the
glassing prior to varnishing? Would you just put it on the stern and
bow or length of boat? I was thinking of kevlar but thought this
might be overkill; most of my landings will be sandy beaches and
sometimes lake banks without rocks. Appreciate the help and thoughts.
Steve

Oderint dum metuant.

There is an excellent article on this subject in the new Sea Kayaker
magazine! Take a look at it.