C-Forum

I've been paddling my Zephyr for over a year now and the more I paddle the more I realize that I have to re-outfit my canoe. My knee pads keeps coming up and I just can't seem to glue over the contour of the hard chime to get the most stability. To solve this problem I thought to put a bulkhead in and for the kneepads make it a two piece glued in separately to cover the contour of the chime. And also glue foam to the sides to reduce the volume so when I roll, it won't take in as much water.

Where do I get the foam blocks to make the bulkhead and fill the sides?

What are the dos and don'ts?

What do I have to watch out for when I glue pieces in?

Where do I position the bulkhead?

How much glue is too much glue? how do I avoid getting soft spots on the hull?

I would appreciate any advice on this topic and pointers on anything i've missed.

Thanks in advance:)

Don't know about glueing stuff to a Zephyr myself, but you need a special glue for that, regular Vynabond or Stabond does not work. Check with Esquif for that.

Minicell Foam can be bought from Noah's Marine in Toronto:
http://www.noahsboatbuilding.com/noahs/ ... =0&Tp=&Bc=

If you want to get the bulkhead made, you clould contact Jamie Dors at Paddlesportsrepairs:
http://www.paddlesportsrepairs.com/bef-aft-5.html

Or, if you have the money, you could just get the Beluga bulkhead saddle for the boat:
http://belugaworld.com/?p=produits.item&pid=43&pg=4

martin a.k.a. the great gonzo!

and it is cheaper than Beluga if you get the "truck" when delivering boats to stores. Before you install consider adding a pump- it goes great under the saddle with a switch mounted in front of you and battery inserted in back of foam. I added 4 inches to the back of their saddle so the thwart could be further back for more leg room for exiting. I like your idea of making the kneepads in 2 pieces. One trip I used Gorilla glue at put in, and they stayed in fine.

when attaching foam to sharp turns, I always made a cut about half way throught the foam on the side you are going to attach to the hull. The cut runs right along the area where the foam "turns" (e.g. parallel to the chine) to releive stress on the foam. This not only helps fitting it in the boat but should help with keeping it "stuck".

Normal contact cement does fine for holding in stuff like knee pads and pedestals (if wide enough or braced in addition to the glue). If it is not sticking, it sounds like there is tension - Jim's suggestion sounds good. I used thinner layers of neoprene foam under my knees - that tends to fit the contours well and sticks well - no tension. The factory knee pads are shaped to fit the contours - again, no tension.

Thank you for your replies they are a great help.

Is there a general rule of how thick the bulkhead has to be ?

How do you position the bulkhead so that it will give me the best support without the danger of entrapment? Is there a rule for that?

When gluing the bulkhead in do I glue at the sides as well?

What are your thoughts on me filling the sides in with foam to reduce volume ?

Is there such a thing as too much glue in one area?

Sorry for all of the additional questions. I truly appreciate your
help

See my pictures here :

http://picasaweb.google.com/scott.broam/CanoeOutfitting

Decker has some pictures documenting a bulk head build as well.

Mine is a block of foam held in place by the thwart and other foam parts that are glued in (knee pads, saddle, a block in the front) so it is not actually glued in at all. Mine started out all angular because I was piecing it together, kind of trial and error. I think the center part needs to be 6" thick, but the parts over your knees could be 3" thick pieces - mine are contact cemented to the center pillar and braced under the thwart as well.

I've not planned on foaming mine out extensively, maybe a little under the gunwales. I do use 60" bags so it is pretty full already.

Hi sbroam

I was just looking at your pictures and noticed that the bulkhead and saddle are right against each other. Doesn't it traps the water to one side or the other when you roll?

It is right against it, but there is still about a 1/8" gap (it wiggles some) but I also bored a hole through the pedestal.

I've got to hand it to those folks at Esquif: they make a boat that people talk about around the virtual water cooler.

Just did a quick search of recent messages, and found the following Zephyr repair-related topics:

Zephyr outfitting
Zephyr Cracks (37 replies)
zephyr outfitting
Zephyr waistline
Repairability of Esquif Zephyr
Zephyr outfitting or lack of... (12 replies)

And that's just since June.

Can't wait to actually paddle a Zephyr - or at least repair one - one of these days!

Alden