Making a kayak for my wife

I've been working on building a kayak for my wife. I'm just about ready to put the deck on. It is a Chesapeak Light Craft design. I lofted the layout from his book and have been working on it VERY intermittantly since May, mostly just scarfing the panels and lofting the lines onto the panels.

It uses a building method called stitch and glue. You take your pieces of plywood and use wire ties to hold them in place. Then you lay a fillet of thickened epoxy resin and a layer of fiberglass tape over the seam on the inside. When the inside had dried you remove the wires, smooth up the outside and lay a coat of fiberglass cloth over the hull, and then put a layer of epoxy resin over that. I really started working on it two and a half weeks ago, when I looked at the calender and realized that I was running out of time to get it done. We are heading to the Allagash Wilderness in the middle of August for a 100 mile trip up the Allagash River.

Here is what it looks like now.




I used a white resin pigment on the area inside the cockpit so that it can be kept nice and clean. You can see the bulkeads the seperate the cockpit from the fore and aft compartments. The deck beams establish the curve of the deck and hold the hull rigid.





I have two coats of epoxy resin over the layer of 6 oz cloth on the outside of the hull. You can see here where I sanded it up to get rid of the rough spots before I lay on a few areas of additional cloth on areas like the stem and the first few feet of the keel, areas that will get a lot of abuse.



The footbraces drying in place.



Once the footbraces get a few coats of epoxy and everything gets another sanding I can put the deck on. I also need to put a coat or two of the pigmented epoxy to fill the weave of the cloth in the cockpit and cover up any uneaven spots. I have the cockpit coaming allready cut out so it will be a realtivley simple thing to epoxy that in place and smooth that out. Then all I'll have to do is cut out the hatches for access, install deck lines and hatch tie downs. A half dozen coats of marine varnish on the hull and topsides will finish things up.

I'll probably be up till midnight the night before we leave on our trip. LOL

Paulthenurse

Wow, very cool! When I was 10 yrs old, my dad build his own wooden sailboat...and I've been thinking of doing this myself. However, before I jump into a $5-10k project I was thinking of building a smaller dory or canoe. How much did your materials run?

Very cool! I've made quite a few cedar strip canoes and it's a lot of fun! I should have kept some around though, had to sell them off.

Really cool! I have wanted to build a kayak using that tech. Here is one I built a few years ago using a George Dyson Baidarka design:


It has a aluminum tube frame covered with nylon skin.

Awesome. What a nice way to show the SWMBO that you really care about her. I'm sure she will cherish it.

TwoHeadsBrewing said:

How much did your materials run?

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+1 I'm curious about this as well.... Also, where did you source the materials?

Sweet! Red built herself a kayak a few years ago - looks like fun!

Nice work. I built a 9' jon boat several years ago using the stitch n glue technique. Remember to get some UV protection on that baby! The epoxy will degrade in the sun over time.

That is freaking beautiful! I love working with glass on a hobby scale

So you are building this for her, what are you building yourself next?

That's really cool Paul... I'm sure Mrs. TheNurse will enjoy it!

Awsome Job! I lament not being able to do projects like this since I moved into the city into an apartment

Another ALE PAIL doing double duty!

looking very good mate!

Thanks for the nice words, guys. (And gal.)

This isn't exactly something you do to save money. The plywood cost around $220.00. (Three sheets of 4 mm okume marine grade and one sheet of 6 mm okume marine) Ka-ching! The epoxy resin will end up costing me around $300.00 (I'll end up using somewhat less than two gallons of resin. I'm not very good at it and I waste a load of it Ka-ching, ka-ching!) Fiberglass cloth will run around $350.00 Ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching!

I have all of the power tools and hand tools already so I didn't have to spend anything there, but you need at a minimum a decent jig saw, a decent fine tooth hand saw, a block plane, a spokeshave, and a random orbital sander. Add in all the assorted other stuff along the way and that will probably add another $300-$400. (The most important tool of all is a sharpening stone for your block plane and spokeshave blades.)

So now you are at $1200 or so. Can you buy a kayak for that money? Sure can. Will it handle well? Sure will. Will it be a bright florescent plastic factory model? Yup. Will it be as pretty as this? No!

(Of course the flip side of those questions is, Will PTN's kayak float right side up? Ought to, but we'll see!)

I'll post more pics as work progresses if anyone is interested.

puney_the_youkel said:

Really cool! I have wanted to build a kayak using that tech. Here is one I built a few years ago using a George Dyson Baidarka design:

It has a aluminum tube frame covered with nylon skin.

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The skin on frames are pretty cool but I wouldn't want to take one on a river trip. Offshore, ok! But running down a rock strewn rapids, 50 miles from the nearest road in a SOF? I get the willies just thinking about that! Maybe that can be the project after the stripper that I'm planning.

PTN

Sir Humpsalot said:

+1 I'm curious about this as well.... Also, where did you source the materials?

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I'm getting all of my epoxy stuff from West Marine cause it's convienient, if not cheap. The plywood I got locally at a place called Boulter Plywood in Somerville, MA. They specialize on oddball plywoods.

FWIW, you can buy kits from CLC. I don't know what the kits cost cause once I read the book and saw the plans with offsets that was enough for me. I could take it from there. But if you have little or no boatbuilding or woodworking experience at the very least buy yourself a complete set of plans, and money spent on a kit will be money well spent.

Another souce of great kayaks and plans (and my next one) is Nick Schades Guillemont Kayaks. Absolutely drop dead gorgeous boats! The line drawings will make your heart skip a beat and the finished boats will take your breath away. My problem is I haven't built a garage here yet, and I wouldn't want to attempt one of Nicks boats without an indoor shop.

Paul

That's pretty cool Paul; looks really nice too.

With the diverse amount of skill sets and knowledge on this forum, I think we should all just form our own sovereign state. Who's with me? :fro:

zoebisch01 said:

With the diverse amount of skill sets and knowledge on this forum, I think we should all just form our own sovereign state. Who's with me? :fro:

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We will build the worlds largest wooden floating world. In the belly will just be a line of homemade kegerators with hundreds of different homebrews on tap. The top floor will be DeepSix's walk in cooler and EdWorts Brewhaus. And everywhere in the middle will be the worlds largest Beer commune. and beer convention

Arneba28 said:

We will build the worlds largest wooden floating world. In the belly will just be a line of homemade kegerators with hundreds of different homebrews on tap. The top floor will be DeepSix's walk in cooler and EdWorts Brewhaus. And everywhere in the middle will be the worlds largest Beer commune. and beer convention

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But BM is not allowed to build anything that contributes to the state 'floating' or we'll all sink : D: D

PTN, I'd sure as hell love to see more pics. Are the foot rests ajustable, or custom fit for teh wifey?

Jester369 said:

Sweet! Red built herself a kayak a few years ago - looks like fun!

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Do you have any build pictures for that by chance?

McKBrew said:

Do you have any build pictures for that by chance?

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+1...or even post build pics

98EXL said:

PTN, I'd sure as hell love to see more pics. Are the foot rests ajustable, or custom fit for teh wifey?

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They are not adjustable, they are epoxied in place after having her sit in the boat and seeing where her legs ended up.

I got a Kayak for my wife once. It was the best trade I ever made!

Wow- that is great. It's a wonderful gift that she'll appreciate and love forever. It's beautiful!

I'm glad she's going to be using it soon. Someone made me the most wonderful canoe paddles. They are gorgeous- so I hung them in my cottage. He saw them there and reamed me out. Apparently, you're supposed to use them in a canoe, in the water! I just don't have the heart to take a work of art and use it, so they still are hanging in my cottage. I'm glad that your wife can actually use the work of art you've created for her. It's fantastic!

YooperBrew said:

...Someone made me the most wonderful canoe paddles. They are gorgeous- so I hung them in my cottage. He saw them there and reamed me out. Apparently, you're supposed to use them in a canoe, in the water! I just don't have the heart to take a work of art and use it, so they still are hanging in my cottage. I'm glad that your wife can actually use the work of art you've created for her. It's fantastic!

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Really well crafted canoe paddles look even better when they're gliding through the water. Take them out and use them, I bet they perform even better than they look.

I might take a poke at making a paddle if I can keep ahead of schedule. I doubt I'll make it an offset paddle, but rather keep the blades parallel.

PTN

paulthenurse said:

They are not adjustable, they are epoxied in place after having her sit in the boat and seeing where her legs ended up.

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you know...I've been thinking about this for a bit, thought maybe it was the place over in Easport (Annapolis). So a bit of googling, and yup, it's right by my father's and stepmother's yacht club. That place is so cool from the outside, and you can see what they are building inside. You threw me off because you spelled Chesapeake wrong, so I thought it wasn't here in good ol' Maryland.

They have a great reputation around here, so you (AFAIK) are building a great boat

I should never have been allowed to graduate from 4th grade with my spelling skills. :cross:

paulthenurse said:

I should never have been allowed to graduate from 4th grade with my spelling skills. :cross:

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Dude, don't feel bad, my spelling and grammer are teh suck! I guess that's why I'm in IT. However, if it wasn't freaking 5 miles away from me, I would have never known how to spell Chesapeake correctly, so I'd be none the wiser

Well, however you spell it, they designed a lovely boat. It looks pretty shabby in the pictures cause it's all dusty and has sanding residue and scruff marks all over. But all of the sanding marks will be gone and the hull and deck will gleam in the end. And with multiple coats of marine varnish it will be in Bristol Fashion shortly.

PTN

Since there is killer waterfront property 'round these parts, there are ****tons of boat snobs...but I must say, marine varnish, and other marine stuff kinda gives me a chubby. There are by no means, a shortage of crappy looking craft here, from handmade canoes, rowboats, and digny's to 20 million dollar yachts.

I still don't like port and starboard, left and right is so much easier

ALWAYS wanted to do this.....pygmy boats are a pretty good source of kits too.....good work! I'll tell ya though.....a family member gave me an old fiberglass canoe he had taking up space; I live near a lake so I was all about it.......but I've only taken that thing out one time. Guess I'd rather just build the boat vs. take it out on the water

zoebisch01 said:

With the diverse amount of skill sets and knowledge on this forum, I think we should all just form our own sovereign state. Who's with me? :fro:

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OK, but I get to be 'The Minister of Fermentation.' And as my first order of business I henceforth declare the following:

Know all ye present,
that the soveirgn state known as 'The Floating Fiefdom of Fermentaville' recognizes that it's citizens are hardworking, loyal, and thirsty.
And that it recognizes that the citizens of FFF have voluntarily left their original homes and emigrated to this fair land in order to improve themselves and their lives, if not their livers.
And as the FFF was founded under that proposition that all beers are created equal,
And since wine is essential to a happy and fulfilling life,
And since running a still is as close as knowing God as any of us are likely to get;


Therefore, let it be known throughout the land,
that The Floating Fiefdom of Fermentables has offically declared,
that Happy Hour will now begin immediatly after Lunch Hour finishes.

And know that all of your bar tabs have been taken care of.

Also, TFFF recognises that Wenches, being essential to the well ordered running of any sort of seagoing vessel, are from this moment forward, to receive two tankards of Grog for every button that is unbuttoned on their blouses, and one tankards of Grog for every inch above their knee that their skirts hem lies. And any Wench who brings aboard a younger sister is excused from galley duty for a week.

So let it be written,
So let it be done!

PTN

ZOMG that was funny...why don't we just take over an island in the keys?

I'm okay with that.

More pics.

I was thinking last night about the boat and decided it would be a shame to build a nice wooden boat and have to buy a metal/plastic paddle to make it go, so I stopped at the lumberyard on the way home this morning. I picked up an 8' 1x3 maple and an 8' 1x4 mahogany and ripped them into 3/4 x 3/4 'strips.'



Then I mixed up some epoxy and glued them up into a checkerboard blank.



Ya need a fair amount of clamp to do this.



And the coolest thing was I saw a Gargoyle on the way home, practically waving at me from the garden center where he was biding his time, waiting for me to come along. Some buttwad stole out gargoyle, Graneuel, off our front porch a few months ago. The police didn't exactly put out an APB for the missing gargoyle and so Graneuel was gone. But now we have a new one, who will be securely epoxied to the porch. But we need an appropriate gargoylish name. Any suggestions?


PTN

Spent all day yesterday working on the kayak. Heres what I managed to get done.

Glued up paddle blanks.


Got the fore and aft decks glued on and partially sanded.




Got the coaming and coaming spacers cut out an did a trial fit.



PTN

Cut out the aft cargo hatch.



Here are the paddle blanks after they dried.



I wanted to work on it today, give the deck a final sanded down to 220 grit and then glass it over but it's raining, so I'm going diving instead. Hope tomorrow is nice. I still have a long way to go.

PTN

Again, beautiful work! Can't wait to see more pics as you project comes to completion. Thanks for sharing .

paulthenurse said:

But we need an appropriate gargoylish name. Any suggestions?


PTN

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How about GARY

or maybe

GARGOMEL