By Golly It Floats!

We couldn't resist and took the boat out for a spin on Fish Lake even before it was entirely finished. Angie took the first spin in the wooden kayak while I tried to keep up in my old bathtub of a poly kayak. They are an odd looking couple, the wooden kayak is about 12 inches narrower than the plastic one, and 2.5 ft longer.

I was thrilled to see how comfy Ang was with the kayak just minutes after she hopped in. She rocked it back and forth a few times with a big grin, and then took off. She said it was smooth, and easy to control. On our way back across the lake, we had a pretty serious headwind and waves, yet this didn't seem to bother her in the least. When we returned to the beach, we switched and I took it out. I stayed in calmer water, but had a great time with the new boat. I can't believe how fast it is compared to anything I've been in!

Just before the maiden voyage

We fueled up at our favorite local eatery before hitting the lake, they were nice enough to fill our coffee mugs as well

One more shot of me in calmer water

Really, Angie did get to paddle it! I just don't have the pictures with me right now. We have some of Angie cruising across the lake that I'll post. Don't be too surprised if the pictures I took aren't this nice though.

Later.

Stripping Pictures

A couple shots of the deck being stripped. The swooping void towards the front will be cedar.

Here is a close-up of the front. This section will take a while to fill in.

The paddle continues to be a bit of a diversion, but it is turning out nicely! I have finished two blades, and I am about half way finished with the first paddle shaft.

Stripping in the Garge

There has been some tremendous progress on boat #2 since the last update! The stripping of the deck is about half done. However, this half that is done in measured in terms of area. The half that remains will be significantly more difficult than the half that I started with. Funny that I spent hours drawing out ideas for the design of the deck, and now that I am a ways through the actual implementation, the design has changed significantly a few times. I guess before you have actually built a boat, you can't get set on any one process since you don't really have a clue what you are getting into anyways.

As of yesterday, I changed direction significantly on the way the remainder of the deck will be stripped. The details aren't important, but what was hard for me was to take out the saw and carefully cut off and toss what amounted to 15-20 hours worth of work. I have been talking to another boat builder about his experiences with building and he mentioned to me that in his canoe, he was alternating strips by types of wood, and had one error in the hull. He decided to leave it, and now laments that he will have to look at this for the "rest of his life". I'm not sure this sounds so bad. However, the parts that I cut off were not going to work well, and were going to need to some significant alterations before the sanding stage would be possible. In general, I welcome indicators of a hand built project. For instance, any imperfections in our so-called "boat #1" that were the result of our inexperience that are not present on "boat #2" are kind of a neat example of the learning that we did together. Don't get me wrong... if any of these cute little errors require either duct tape or a bilge pump to remedy after the boat is done, I will not be pleased.

During that same conversation with this other builder (you know who you are), he also advised me to "savor this part of the build" while I was stripping boat #2. These were rather wise words that I didn't totally understand until I was in the middle of it. I found myself getting anxious, and just wanting to get on the water. Thinking about this conversation again, I slowed down, and really enjoyed making each strip fit perfectly, and thinking through how each part of the design would look in the final product. Come to think of it... it seems I have always either sold or dismantled my projects shortly after finishing them. I guess I'm usually in it for the build anyways (I can assure you the kayaks will be around for a while though.

The Diversion Continues

Blade number two (still paddle #1) is under way. Even though I feel I could refine the process I am making this one the very same way as the first. The goal, of course, is to have a paddle that has two identical blades (yes, I guess that means I'm condemned to repeat my mistakes). However for a trial run, the first blade was a complete success! I applied one more layer of carbon to each side of the paddle, and then "filled the weave" with epoxy to create a finished look. I am going to bring blade #1 in to weigh it at work. The intent is to get an idea of how much the final assembly will weigh, and compare this to commercially available paddles. For reference, a 220 cm Werner carbon fiber paddle weighs 652 grams (1.4 lbs).

A Slight Diversion

Those who know me know that I am a sucker for a project.  This has been true my entire life, so why on earth would I not take a perfectly good kayak project and complicate it??  With this in mind I began building a paddle.  I have long been interested in doing some something with carbon fiber.  i always thought it was cool stuff, but didn't have a need for anything of this nature.  Now I have a purpose!  I decided to build our paddles with a carbon fiber blade.  This began with a form made of wood and epoxy.  I used this form two halves of a paddle blade and then join them together.  Following this, I cut out my favorite paddle blade shape.  Not being that artistic, I blew up an internet picture of a paddle I liked and traced the shape on to my homebrew paddle blade and cut it out.  Having nearly finished the first blade, it is incredibly strong, but also a little heavier than necessary.  The next one will have a couple less layers and a little better compression to get all the unnecessary epoxy out.  Stay tuned!

More Kayak Progress

Its been a little while since the last post, but its really time for an update!  Lots has happened in the garage in the last month... Boat #1 is beginning to look like a finished boat!  There are lots and lots of little things left, but we are finally at the point where we get a look at what the contrast between the two different wood tones will look like on the finished product.  Boat #2 now has a hull that is fully fiberglassed inside and out.  The plan is to start stripping the deck this weekend, or at least begin preparations.  Here are some shots of the latest progress...

Kayak #2

The second kayak is under way. Here's a catalog shot of what it will look like. We're going to opt for a different design on the deck, but it will look a lot like this...

The dreaded beveling step... actually it wasn't bad at all this time. Having a table to work on instead of the floor makes all the difference.

The hull, starting to take shape.

This was taken just after the wires were removed. This one is going much faster since there is no deck to worry about (yet), and we learned some lessons from the first one.

Finally... some pictures!

Finally, I am getting around to putting some pictures of the kayak build on the blog. I'll start with pictures of the first one. This boat is going to be a 14.5 ft stitch and glue version of the "Shearwater" from CLC Boats. Here goes...

Angie marveling at a completely disassembled kayak #1

The first time the kayak looked like a kayak


After the first big epoxy job...


Ang hard at work on glassin' the deck

The deck and hull of the first kayak has now been glued together. It has now been relegated to the rack until Angie returns... it misses her, can you tell? The beginnings of the second kayak are in the foreground.

Here's a catalog shot of the finished boat from the CLC website. Its a nice looking boat if I do say so myself. The mountains don't hurt either.