How to avoid strip planking a kayak...

[JimD]

...by building another plywood one

It was a nice day outside so I decided to pick up where I left off last fall on a kayak which I boastfully claim as my own design. I had the station moulds left over from a Tursiops and decided to recut them to produce a new design. It had to be a smaller boat since obviously there's no way to recut them bigger. Fortunately, Tursiops is a very beamy design so I could still get plenty of width for stability. Over the winter I drew up a chined boat less beamy, shallower and a bit closer to the water, moved the chine and sheer inboard and lower, redrew the bow and stern while I was at it and got a start on building.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid165/p368e1a9ab540ed46c70710b8c9356cac/f46f69ab.jpg

To get the sheer looking right I ended up just nailing a batten to the moulds in a fair curve that looked about right, which revealed a few errors in the table of offsets.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid165/p0e135b853fdbf835a42d321b42436680/f46f66b1.jpg

Here the side panel is tacked into place to be traced along the batten.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid165/p1c0ae4152c43e98921a2442f1f9ff4a8/f46f65c0.jpg

Teddy scrutinizes dad's work, and voices serious reservations as to the competence of the builder

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid165/p99fbdf8e55f8efbcb451637d5d1a6109/f46f6509.jpg

[ 04-18-2005, 08:13 AM: Message edited by: JimD ]

[imported_Dutch]

that cat needs a lifejacket

[JimD]

Originally posted by Dutch:
that cat needs a lifejacketThat's what I told him. But you know cats - they never listen. I was thinking of naming the boat after him, but then his sister Max would want a kayak named after her. Sheesh! I'll never be finished building boats :D

[Concordia..41]

That cat isn't going to want to sit there when you get done!
:eek:

Looks like it was a nice day up your way. Nasty and cold down here :(

[Ken Hutchins]

It was 75 F here in New Hampshire today. :D

[mmd]

Nice strongback.

[JimD]

Originally posted by mmd:
Nice strongback.Thanks, mmd. I think I spent as much time building the building form as I did the boat. :D May as well keep using it.

[ion barnes]

Are you going to have it ready for the Victoria woodie fest?

Dependent on time available, I might start a Point Bennet in june. Downloaded the plans and have been wisfully looking over them ever since.

This new dezn of yours, does it have the flat keel panel of your Tursops?

[JimD]

Originally posted by ion barnes:
Are you going to have it ready for the Victoria woodie fest?

Dependent on time available, I might start a Point Bennet in june. Downloaded the plans and have been wisfully looking over them ever since.

This new dezn of yours, does it have the flat keel panel of your Tursops?It'll be ready for June, which is about when the mountain lakes around here are finally ice free. Yes, it has a flat keel panel as with Tursiops, a feature I really like, as well as a doug fir 1X1 strip for a backbone which runs the full length of the boat on the inside. Tursiops called for only a stem and stern peice attatched to either end of the keel panel, but I found it easier to just use one long 16 foot length of fir and run it uninterupted the whole length. It's being built out of cheapo luan, quarter inch on the bottom and 1/8 inch on the sides and deck. If I like it maybe I'll build another out of good wood. I've also had thoughts of a strip plank version with the hard corners taken out of the chines. Haven't decided what the deck will look like yet. I'll wait till the hull is glued up and taken off the strong back.

[John Bell]

True story: Cats HATE it when their feet get epoxified. Serves 'em right, tho... :D

[JimD]

The panels ended up looking like this

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid166/p64b433d57fe6b84d6ec8eac6025daae7/f45ac955.jpg

Station moulds are removed and plywood frames added. They will be cut for the as yet undecided deck after gluing and removing from the strongback

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid166/p83269f3daf6df2aae7836f93fcff2e42/f45ac74b.jpg

Not much gets past Teddy. He inspects garbage bag plastic placed over the stem and stern moulds to keep epoxy from sticking.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid166/padb8651f8b6511a61dedf8b71b8d455f/f45ac5e4.jpg

Max wonders if there will be full sitting headroom once the panels go on. Apparently this is very important to cats when it comes to kayaks

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid166/p38cef3b6509da049e80b3c38e9ce1c50/f45ac47b.jpg

Where there is an ice cream bowl Teddy is not far away

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid166/p09b8e0ec6f46a7059bf2c34ca93cd56f/f45ac2e7.jpg

Max has to hustle or Teddy will clean up

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid166/pa02ea1fe31bcbf6c238df706ae65c2de/f45ac15b.jpg

[ion barnes]

I really prefer the hard chine and gunwales because when you have to do a wet re-entry, it is nice to have something to get your hooks around, otherwise its like trying to hang on to a floppy trout!

Orange cats are fatter, more laid back, have a sweet tooth. Ours likes people food more than his own.