After waiting 24 to 48 hours for the coating to cure, I install the leather deck lines, toggles, rub strips, and seat mat.
The deck lines are made of English bridle leather which is incredibly expensive but also tough enough to hold up for many years in a saltwater environment. In my opinion installing these is the most difficult part of the entire kayak build. We pull them repeatedly through a series of smaller holes to stretch and round the leather and then try to feed it through the smallest possible holes in the skin to maintain a good water seal. The best indication that the holes are small enough is that you are angry and cursing when trying to feed and pull the lines. A small amount of sealant can be applied to any residual leaks.
The toggles are made of high density polyethylene to replicate the function and appearance of the originals which were ivory. Interestingly ivory is much closer in its working characteristics to plastic then it is to antler or bone. In my experience this type of deck rigging is superior to bungee or rope. Items are held more securely on deck and the kayak can be rescued towed or carried by any line, as long as it is physically tied through the gunwales.
The rub strips are also high density polyethylene and need to be installed in a warm environment otherwise the later thermal expansion of the plastic causes them to flex upwards between the screws where sand and pebbles get trapped underneath.
For seating a cut two pieces off of a Therm-A-Rest ridge rest and put them under the ribs in the cockpit and put the rest of the mat over the ribs, making sure to cut a hole for my bilge pump. Of all of the different and sometimes complicated and expensive seating arrangements I’ve tried, this remains not just the least expensive but also the most comfortable seating solution.
Traditionally Greenland kayaks were paddled with the paddler sitting very far forward in the cockpit although few people paddle this this way today.
Backbands present a significant entrapment risk in the small Greenland cockpit so if back support is desired it should be created some other way.
Build time on this step: 2.5 hours
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