Image by: Jason B.
Well to the disappointment of some of the onlookers (Jim) the kayak didn’t fold up and sink. It paddles straight and has great stability. I think I can call this a success. There is still a little bit of finishing work but I can go kayaking now.
Now that I’m back from DC I put in some quality time on the boat this weekend. Looks like I should be able to take it out and test it on Tuesday if all goes according to plan. Here are some pics of the work I did over the weekend. I installed the cockpit coaming risers, hatch spacers, and the bulkheads.
I’ve been busy on the boat and didn’t have much time to post pics. Here are some shots of the underside of the deck where the reinforcements have been added. The ply reinforcements also has a fillet of really thick epoxy to help the fiberglass make a flat transition. The last two pictures are of the inside of the hull. The first is with the fiberglass prepped and then fiberglass squeegeed.
Well the kayak is coming along now. This weekend I was able to spend some quality time fiberglassing. The first shot is the hull with the saturation coat on. This seals the wood and keeps it from pulling the epoxy out of the fiberglass making it much easier to wet out. The other pictures are of the hull after fiberglassing, applying the glass tape down the keel and 2 fill coats to smooth out the finish.
I’ve got the hull sanded down using 120 grit. In these pictures I’ve wet out the wood to raise the grain to show the areas that need more sanding. I’ll sand down to 220 grit. These pictures also give a good idea of the final color.
Well I haven’t posted in a few days because there hasn’t been much visible progress. But after this weekend, the wires are out and I’ve started sanding the outside of the hull down. The first picture you can see the port bow that I’ve sanded down. The last picture is shot of the hull on the work bench. I had the garage door open since it was nice an cool this evening after a few 85F+ days.
Well I got the kayak flipped over yesterday and I started gluing the seams between the panels. It is a two pass process first you lay down just epoxy so that the end grain of the wood soaks in the epoxy. Then a bead of epoxy thickened with wood flour (sawdust) is put down about 40 minutes afterward. This makes sure the wood doesn’t soak up too much of the liquid out of the thickened mixture and form a weak joint. Here are some pictures of the seams with the glue on them. The kayak is tipped up on one side so that I could glue the seams that are too vertical when it is sitting flat.
I finished the stitching tonight and it looks like a boat so I think I’m on the right track. I took a couple low angle pictures so you can see the curvature of the hull. Working with the wire is hard on your fingers and hands I caught myself a few times on the sharp wire ends. Bewared and careful during stitching. It’s been a long weekend but I got the point on the kayak I wanted to get. Hopefully the rest of it goes as smoothly.
