Today is a banner day for my little project. I've completed another large step in the process of building my kayak, a 14 foot "Great Auk" of Guillemot Kayaks' design, a company which consists of a couple of brothers with a lifetime of boat-building experience. My copy of Nick Shade's "the Strip-Built Sea Kayak" is showing some real wear, as I've soaked up just about every paragraph. If you're going to try this for yourself, you need this book. The only thing I think could be improved is that they recommend "finger joints." As I've worked I realized that it would have been better to use a bow to stern keel piece as an internal stem piece, and by better I mean easier and faster. So that's for the next boat, the "Little Auk."I bought a book about the Great Auk, a north Atlantic penguin that infamously went extinct in about 1844. It was an interesting creature, and I'm hoping to incorporate some of the biological concepts in my design. Their eggs are particularly beautiful, since they didn't build nests they needed unique patterns so they could pick them out from the group. For now I'm pumped to have the hull completed. Until now the dream of this project has lived only in my head, but now the bottom of the boat is tangible; something fun to brag about.
Also I have a little helper that might be more obsessed with "daddy-boat!" than I am. I think it's funny to theorize that his understanding of a "boat" is this giant scheme I have going on in the basement. I can't wait to see his reaction when it goes onto the water.
The piece he's holding is the very last strip I'm going to put into the hull. On the boat itself most all of the tools needed for this project. Glue, sandpaper, a pencil, a staple-gun, razersaw, and finally some shims/clamps. I'm waiting for the glue to dry on the penultimate strip right now.
So now I get to proceed to the next "step" in this project.
- Set up stands
- Lofting step 1 (paper forms)
- Lofting step 2 (wooden forms)
- Attaching/aligning forms to strongback
- Glue hull strips together and staple to forms --- DONE!
- Glue deck strips/ staple to forms
- Cockpit opening shaping, coaming strips, lamination
- External stem piece lamination for bow/stern
- Remove staples
- Fair exterior surfaces (plane/sand)
- Remove from forms
- Fair interior surfaces
- light Epoxy coat/fillers
- Fiberglass outside
- Fiberglass inside
- Join deck to hull with glue and fiberglass tape
- Varnish exterior
- End pours
- Seat/Trimout
I've got maybe 120-150 hours in this project so far, and I think I'm looking at 200 or so more. I think that depends on how difficult it is to strip the deck out. I think it will be easier than the hull because it's less surface area, and there's a large section in the middle where I don't need to fit strips to length, because I can leave the hole for the cockpit open. Wish me luck!
Late night edit: finally glued the last piece into place. They weren't kidding when they said it'd be the hardest. Since it doesn't bend into place, it has to fit the gap perfectly. This picture only shows a little of the mess from the plane and sandpaper. And yes, the hammer was part of that procedure...
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