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	When the surface is fiberglassed and finish sanded, a template from the plans is used to transfer the cockpit shape to the deck. The plans come with a full size cutout template(s). Illustration only; the deck is not glassed yet.
	Leveled kayak and the template are essential to make the cockpit opening symmetrical. I draw marks every inch or so around the perimeter and then connect them freehand. The location of the template is measured in reference to the kayak mold station.
	Note the margin of strips that extend beyond the boundary of the cockpit. This can be easily verified with the template during construction.

	There are few ways to build the cockpit rim and as far as I am concerned, this is the easiest and quickest. One or two pieces of flexible plywood are bent into the cutout and pressed tightly against the edges by scrap strips.
	A fillet of epoxy slurry can be applied immediately thereafter. Again, masking is the key to professional results. Spending ten minutes masking will save you 40 minutes of cleaning up a real mess.
	A bias-cut band of fiberglass is imbedded into the fresh fillet. Notice how the fresh fillet starts soaking through the 4 oz. glass. The fillet should be allowed to gel partially so that it doesn't get dislodged. Apply some fresh epoxy before imbedding the fabric. Note how the scrap strips brace against the stations and hold the plywood rim against the cutout. Once the fillet hardens they can be removed.

	The entire rim is finally wet-out with epoxy.
	A strip of Minicel foam marks off the trim line, so that the coaming can be built next. This Minicel band is used for the coaming mold and is part of the Plans package.
	A sharp scraper is the best tool to dress the transition between the new and old epoxy. Sanding alone tends to cut into the deck. This area gets a lot of stress so it is important to keep the thin fiberglass skin intact as much as possible.

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