Cockpit Cover
Lay the neoprene sheet over the cockpit, nylon side down, leaving
roughly 4" extending past the cockpit rim.. You will be glueing neoprene-side to neoprene-side.
Stretch the shock cord loop over the neoprene, allowing it to pull the
neoprene into the cockpit rim. If it does not do this easily, you
may have to shorten the loop where it is butt-joined. *Hint! Clamp the cord at the front and the back of the cockpit. It will make stretching it over much easier!
See below.
Evenly pull the neoprene cover material out so that there is very little
tension in the top surface. Don't try to make it "drum tight",
just somewhat sag-less. Make sure that the shock cord is all the
way into the groove. Any tension in the neoprene will make the
skirt come off at some very inopportune times... When the top tension is uniform, trim the outside edge
of the neoprene so that when it is turned back against the rim it
will overlap (past the shock cord) by about 1.5". See the bottom
profile diagram. I leave extra material on my paddling side so
that my shaft won't wear through the skirt at the cockpit rim. |
Because I rub my paddle shaft on the cockpit rim of my paddling side (remember
I'm a C-1er), I leave a little more overlap material along the right side
of the cockpit for wear protection.
Cut a small slot at the front for the front loop.
Using lacquer thinner or acetone, clean the neoprene surface of any talc,
etc. You can sand the neoprene lightly for an even better bond.
Put 2 coats of neoprene glue on the overlapping edges, all the way around.
Gently stretch the outside edge back over the top surface. Don't
stretch side-to-side - in fact compress it in that direction. otherwise
you'll end up with lots of bunching from the extra material. If you
do get bunching, you can always trim the excess off with scissors, though. |