Shearwater 17' Hybrid Kayak Buildup

Talic Storage System

2008-05-09T20:59:00.005-05:00

Well after we returned from the christening today, I began installing the Talic kayak condo. I was intrigued by the suspension system incorporated into this wall mount which cradles your kayak on it's side via wide nylon straps. Easily mounted but just make double sure you secure the uprights into a good solid stud. I'm also very happy with the Yakima Bowdown racks. They fold down when not in use and are very well padded. I do not have end holes in my Shearwater 17 so the only hold down is what is used by the Bowdown racks. The kayak rides very solidly the Bowdown rack with no shaking or looseness whatsoever.

This picture, I tried to show the backside of the kayak while resting in the Talic wall mounted cradle. I thought there was going to be a need for some padding on the wall behind the kayak however, the way that the kayak sits in the cradling straps it doesn't even touch the wall.

Here, you see the operation of the Yakima Bowdown racks.

Christening Day

2008-05-09T20:37:00.003-05:00

Christened with bottle of champagne on Town Lake, oops ( Lady Bird Lake). The Skwoosh seat is awesome. The boat rides very well and I will enjoy it for a long time. I think my First Mate had even more fun than I did today with the first few trips. She's only 5'2" so she will be getting the Shearwater 14 or 16. I think it'll be a little easier for her to maneuver than this 17 footer. We had a great time and the boat handles like a dream.

Almost ready to go

2008-05-09T19:51:00.004-05:00

This is Monday the 5th and the footrests are finished so I think thats just about everything. I did order this new seat from Skwoosh, I think it will be quite an improvement over the pieces of foam that were sent in the kit. It requires nothing to hold it in place because the underside is made of a rubbery, sticky, material. The seat has gel pads in it to protect your butt bones. Very nice! We'll see how it works, christening will be very soon!!!

Footrests Somewhat Installed

2008-05-02T18:52:00.003-05:00

Epoxied footrest backups to inside of hull with epoxy mixed with coilidal silica. Then attached footrests to the oak strips. What a pain in the neck to reach in and try to align the nylon lock nuts on underside of the strips to line up with the screw placed from above thru the footrest.

Footrests

2008-04-30T20:39:00.003-05:00

Pondered for along time about this because I didn't really want to have to drill though the hull in order to attach the original footrests included with the kit, since these were probably the best to go with since they are easily adjustable. You can see that I've cut two pieces of 1 1/2" by 1/2'' red oak about 17"s long which I will attach the foot rests to once the wood is attached to the inside of the hull using epoxy mixed with coilidal silica. I created a notch on the back sides of each piece in order to use a screw thru the outside of the footrest frame, thru the red oak. then a back up locking nut on the backside next to the hull. What I've done so far is cut and coat these pieces with epoxy and again filling the predrilled holes with q-tips coated epoxy. Tomorrow, I'll attempt to attach these wood strips to the inside of the hull.

Hatch Hold Down System

2008-04-30T20:04:00.003-05:00

Decided to go with a clean deck look and epoxy in some triangular blocks inside the hull which bungees will be threaded thru, then hooked onto the underside of the hatches to hold them down flush with the deck. Following is a few pics of that process. I screwed the undersides of the triangular blocks onto a small piece of scrap wood in order to cover all surfaces with one batch of clear epoxy. In order to coat the insides of the thru holes, I used a q-tip to completely coat the interior of the holes, which incidentally were drilled before the triangles were cut. the bungees will be hooked to solid brass cup hooks screwed into the undersides of the hatches. Also applied foam insulation gasket directly to the hatch sills, I think this will be sufficient

. Still haven't figured quiet how to lift the hatches. So far I'm trying to come up with some kind of pop-up circular grab to work with. Such as drilling a hole in the hatch with a hole saw, then using some kind of spring loaded pop up and attaching the cut out from the hole cut with the resulting wood piece attached resulting still in a flush fitting hull with a small spring loaded pop-up hold to grab onto in order to lift the hatches enough to unhook the bungees from underneath.

Long Week of Hard Work

2008-04-25T12:30:00.003-05:00

Well its been a while since my last post but have been hard at work completing the finish of the exterior. After completely wet sanding the entire exterior with 1000,1500, and 2000 grit paper.

The next step was machine polishing with 3m's Finesse-it using a wool pad.

Next used the polisher to apply Wolfgang's paint sealant. Then hand waxed with Pinnacle Sovereign Carnuaba wax. The resulting finish is smooth as glass and feels soft to the touch. There's one picture where I show the products used sitting on the rear deck and the area was almost flat. I had a hard time keeping all three containers from sliding off of the surface because it was so slick. All that is left now is to complete the interior; seat, back brace, install blocks inside the hatches so as to hold the covers on with bungees from underneath, work out some form of foot brace.

Hull Wet Sanded

2008-04-19T23:41:00.007-05:00

Today, I was able to wet sand the hull with the 3 grades of previously mentioned sandpaper. I tried using my sanding block on the flat areas but it didn't seem to work very well. I also used a pump spray bottle to keep the surface wet enough, but it crapped out on me. Surely I'm not the first one to discover this, but I came up with a couple of ideas to make the job faster and easier. For the sanding, I cut the sandpaper sheets in half which fit perfectly around a plain kitchen sponge. The paper wrapped around the sponge like 4 times so I was able to rewrap the sponge at times and in doing so was able to use all surfaces of the sandpaper. Next was the task of keeping the surface wet without the spray bottle. I tried to just use my hand and scoop the water up out of my bucket but this was not very efficient. Remembered that I had a large grout sponge (unused) so I just saturated the sponge and was able to easily and evenly wet the surface. The bare varnished surface was shiny with many surface imperfections due to dust settlement during drying phase and a couple of small insects. When you would run your hand across the surface, you could feel these specks easily and your hand would somewhat drag across the surface A drastic change was noticed after the wet sanding was completed. If you were to look down the length of the boat, it appears to have a mirror effect however, if you looked at the surface straight on the appearance is somewhat dull looking from the sanding. Now when you run your hand across the surface, it feels smooth with no drag and feels very polished already. The polishing compound ( 3M Finesse-it) applied with a Dewalt polisher should bring out the shine more and remove any remaining minute sanding marks left by the 2000 grit paper. Flipped the kayak over in preparation for the wet sanding of the deck before I quit for the day.

Varnishing Done! Yeah

2008-04-19T22:42:00.004-05:00

On Wednesday, I finished the varnishing with 6 coats. The Fuji HVLP gun with the G3 pro turbine worked great. Pics are basically the same, but I'll show some anyway cause I pulled all the plastic sheeting down (the paint booth) which made the garage seem so much larger and cleaner. I think a lot of builders stop at this point, however I am opting to wet sand with 1000, 1500, 2000, the buff out with a polishing compound.

Little Bonus, trip to Weed,NM pop. 19

2008-04-10T23:10:00.005-05:00

My folks are on the move from winter quarters (Rockport,TX to Weed.NM) for the summer. They stopped by on the way and am really enjoying the home cooking. Pot roast, gravy, green beans, brown and serve rolls, mmm mmmm. Reminds me almost of Thanksgiving sans turkey. Sorry Lauren but I am eating some for you, don't worry bout that. The Rav 4 reminds me of how the Expedition was packed the first year we moved Lauren to Vandy. Packed to the max.

Yakima Bowdown Kayak Carrier

2008-04-10T22:24:00.003-05:00

Well I received today my Yakima Bowdown Racks via Ebay at a substantial savings (I'm all about saving a few bucks here and there) compared to local retail. Of course I couldn't resist setting the almost finished Shearwater 17 on the racks just to get a good visual. Everybody knows how guys think! You can think about it but until you actually see the real thing it just does not mean as much. The Yakima Bowdown is a very good looking and working transport system and I couldn't be more pleased with the system. I still need to get a good 350 grit wet sanding done and one more good coat of varnish, but couldn't resist removing the almost finished boat from the pristine confines of my professional spray booth (ha ha) to get an idea of how nice the finished product would look on my lowered Scion XA. Check it out!

-4th Coat of Varnish - Success

2008-04-05T22:19:00.003-05:00

With the kayak now mounted in an inverted position and fully supported from inside the hatches, spraying of the varnish can be applied to both hull and deck in one full step. This will have been the 4th coat on the deck and either the third or fifth on the hull depending on how you would perceive the previous applications. Pictures now do not seem to matter much in that in all appearances seem to be the same. I can attest to the fact that the finish seems to be taking a deeper, thicker clear coat buildup and more covering up of previous blemishes Don't forget to please click on a link or two while your here, you never know what you might run across that you can't live without! Thanks.

First Coat on Deck

2008-03-23T18:13:00.004-05:00

Well I may have figured out this HVLP gun because when I sprayed the deck today it turned out quite a bit better than yesterdays attempt at the hull. Actually I think I was laying on too thick of a coat yesterday and today I set the gun to atomize a fine mist about 6" tall which went on with a lot more confidence . I didn't fel like I had to rush through for fear of getting it on too thick. Only glitch was when I went back and tried to spray the thin section between the coaming and the deck, I got a little bit more on the deck(where I had already sprayed) and wound up with a very small sag in the varnish just in one small area. I believe this will be an easy fix, but the fine mist will allow for many more fine coats on top whereas the bottom is just about done I do think.

4 Coats?

2008-03-22T21:48:00.003-05:00

Actually I guess my first spray could actually be considered 2 coats as I went form for to aft then back again. That was about 10:00 am this am , was contemplating on wet sanding before the next application but decided to go ahead and shoot again around 6:00 pm. I figure again this is two more coats front to back and back again so far have total of 4 coats on the hull. I think before the final coat/coats I will go ahead and wet sand before application to remove any sags and dust,etc. Before I do this however I think I'll flip it over and go after the deck where appearances are critical. I'm glad I started on the bottom to get a little practice.

First Coat Varnish

2008-03-22T12:48:00.003-05:00

The first coat of varnish on the hull is complete and I am now patiently waiting for it to dry. Just went down to check on it and noticed a few sags on one side at the bow, dang! Everything else looks pretty good.

Voi-La, Paint booth

2008-03-22T12:08:00.002-05:00

Decided to line walls and floor with painters plastic, mainly to cut down on dust. Good thing I did because an unopened can of varnish fell on the floor bursting open the top resulting in whole pint of varnish on the plastic covered floor. Wiped up most that I could, then covered with another coat of plastic. Practiced about 3 minutes with the new Fuji HVLP spray system then attempted to spray the bottom of the kayak. At first I thought I would have a lot of orange peel but as the varnish flowed out, seems it'll produce a fairly smooth surface.

Ready for Varnish?

2008-03-20T19:25:00.003-05:00

Well, I just completed what I think is the final sanding bottom and top with 220 grit sandpaper. Although there are just a few glossy spots about the size of a pen tip, I think it's time to move on and finish up with the varnish. Blew out a lot of dust from the garage this afternoon and will probably do this a couple more times and then let the rest settle before I attempt the varnish stage. If there are any experienced builders out there reading this, please let me know if there is anything else I should take care of before I attempt the final stage of the varnish coats. Thanks.

Oops

2008-03-16T18:48:00.002-05:00

Accidentally sanded through the fiberglass down to bare wood at the stern. Had to lay on a small piece of fiberglass cloth and epoxy thoroughly then sand down and even it out. Sanded out the deck today with the 220 and final grit before applying varnish. Getting close. Still have some very small pitts that will not sand out, no-ones perfect.

Sanding is no Fun

2008-03-09T20:08:00.003-05:00

Today after I got home for work I thought a little sanding of the epoxy on the deck would help to get me reinvigorated to get the kayak finished. It seemed such a shame to dull the shiny finish of the epoxy however I knew that the finish of the epoxy was not near as smooth and flawless as this finish sanding would produce. So I was able to knock down all the drips, runs, etc. from the epoxy with the 100 grit sandpaper, which is the first of three stages of sanding. Next will be 150 then finish up with 220. Should be ready for the varnish after that stage. For some reason I haven't been able to load up any pics after several attempts. Will try load load again later. Really not much change from previous few pics except a dull finish now on top deck from the sanding.

Began Finish Sanding

2008-03-07T18:37:00.003-06:00

Experimented with hand sanding the coaming with 80 grit sandpaper. Got about half of the coaming done and once I have the coaming complete which includes working my way up to 220 grit paper, I'll get out the random orbital and go over the deck, hatch covers, and part way down the sides again beginning with 80 grit and working up to 220 grit in order to get the best possible finish to apply the varnish coats to.

Kayak Structurally Complete

2008-03-07T18:14:00.003-06:00

Well I know it's been awhile since an update, took a little break since the kayak is now structurally complete. The cheek plates have been completed and the following pics show the boat in it's almost finished stage. During the hiatus from working on the boat, a little reorganizing was done in the garage. This gives me a little more room to work plus will allow for the car to occupy it's warm home once the kayak is sanded again and varnished. That's the only steps left till christening!

Began Installing Cheek Plates

2008-02-18T19:49:00.003-06:00

According to the instruction manual, this step was supposed to have taken 1 hour, hah. Worked for 2 hours in am setting up fillets for the backsides of the plates then fashioning some wedges to hold them in place till they cured. that took the 2 hours, with the help of my first mate I might mention. Later in the afternoon after some curing of the previously aforementioned work, I turned the kayak over and applied fillets to the outside top edges of the cheek plates. That is what you're seeing in the pics. Maybe tomorrow I'll flip it back over and finish applying the remaining fillets to the bottom of the plates.

Back in the Cradles

2008-02-17T21:54:00.003-06:00

After what seemed to be an eternity for the second end pour to setup, was able to replace the kayak back into its homey crib/cradle. Waiting to be attacked again tomorrow.

Couldn't Resist Trying to Capture the Moon

2008-02-17T21:41:00.003-06:00

As I was waiting for the second end pour to set up and cure I noticed the moon was peeking over the building where I had the kayak leaning so I tried to get a few picks of that as well.

Straightening Up the Shop

2008-02-17T21:18:00.003-06:00

Seems like I was spending as much time looking for a particular tool as was needed to actually use it so while the second end pour was curing I took the time to attempt to somewhat straighten up and organize the remaining tools needed into a somewhat orderly fashion.

Much better now.

Second End Pour

2008-02-17T21:02:00.003-06:00

After the first end pour had cured which didn't take very long, maybe about 30 minutes till solid, I inverted the kayak positioning the opposite end readying it for it's end pour. Maybe you can see how my bucket works here.

After the second end pour which was to the stern end.

The sun was setting and temperature was dropping so it took a little longer for this end pour to set up.

End Pours?

2008-02-17T20:43:00.003-06:00

Okay, so in between everything else that I was doing today, I had to stand the kayak up on it's end and mix up about a cup or more of epoxy and pour inside the ends of the kayak which will provide strength to the bow and stern.

Before end pour.

I fashioned this nifty little dump bucket to lower into lowest part of the internal ends with two cords attached. One to lower, the other used to raise or tip the bucket over and pour its contents directly into the pockets in the ends of the kayak where I was not able to reach with a brush earlier in construction.

After first end pour.

Got Lots Done Today

2008-02-17T20:22:00.003-06:00

Applied some strips to the undersides of the hatches to allow for either a brass or stainless steel hook hook to be inserted. I'll have the hatches held down with bungee cords attached to the inside of the hatches in order to keep the top smooth and clean.

After a few hours, the added strips where adhered enough to go ahead and apply a full coat of epoxy to the exposed pieces of raw wood. Remember all wood needs to completely sealed by epoxy to prevent water from penetrating the wood which is not good! This brings me to the next post which was also accomplished today and that was the end pours. check out the next post for more details.

Test Fit

2008-02-17T19:56:00.003-06:00

First thing this am was to set the kayak down on some pads and do a test fit partly just for fun but, mainly to get the positioning of the cheek plates established.

Cheek plates locations established and needed to be trimmed slightly for that almost perfect fit.

Backing for the cheek plates was suggested so epoxied them on to the backside early in the day.

Later in the afternoon the backing plates where secured enough that a coat of clear epoxy could be applied before the actual installation which will hopefully occur tomorrow.

Hatches Almost Done

2008-02-16T18:01:00.002-06:00

All clamps removed this afternoon and some remaining gaps where filled with epoxy mixed with cab-o-sil so there would be no cavities to hold any water. This should allow for flush fitting hatches for a smoother, cleaner looking deck.

Glued up Hatch Sills

2008-02-15T18:54:00.004-06:00

Today after cutting the hatches previously, I glued(epoxied) in the hatch spacers and sills which will support and keep the hatch covers flush with the deck and also help to seal the hatch openings by ultimately creating a waterproof seal. Also backed up the rear hatch cover with a piece of thin mahogany to strengthen the hatch in case of added weight on top due to a wet reentry.

Cut Hatches, Yikes

2008-02-13T21:32:00.003-06:00

Today had a very apprehensive job ahead and that was to try to saw through the top to create the storage hatch covers. Tried the jigsaw method and it seemed to wander too much. Luckily I had started on the rear hatch and only on one side. Once I saw the results of the cut, I immediately decided to try another approach. The Japanese saw set that I had ordered previously came with a small, narrow blade which I used on the remainder of the hatches. It was slow going , especially around the corners. Still have to epoxy in the hatch spacers, sills, and weatherproofing materal.

Sealing tops of Bulkheads to Underside of Decl

2008-02-12T19:59:00.003-06:00

Today I flipped the boat over in order to poke my head up inside the cockpit and apply fillets along the seam where the tops of the bulkheads meet up with the underside of the deck. The first pics are of the kayak flipped over, then the before pics of the seam and then the seams after the fillets molded in.

4th Coat on Top

2008-02-10T20:29:00.002-06:00

Went ahead and rolled the 4th coat on about 8:00p. By the way the cookies where great. I went ahead and posted some pics but I think they will look very similar to Saturdays pics, maybe just a little more glossier.

3rd Coat Epoxy on Top

2008-02-10T14:55:00.000-06:00

Today the 3rd coat of epoxy was rolled on using 3" foam roller. I think the roller procedure puts a more even coat on however a thinner coat is the trade off. I may need to put on one more coat to completely fill the weave of the fiberglass but I don,t mind as the roller thing goes fast. No pictures today because it really looks no different than the previous day, just a little thicker coat of epoxy. Oh yeah, just as I was finishing up today touching up with a 2" brush around the underside of the coaming, my nice neighbor Mary brought me some home made chocolate chip cookies. How nice of her as it was just in time for lunch! :-),

I've already eaten a few, yum yum. Mary is in her 80's but you wouldn't really think it. She is beginning to have trouble with her hip so sometimes I'll pick up her mail for her so she doesn't have to walk up the hill. She's having cataract surgery tomorrow.

2nd Coat of Epoxy Topside

2008-02-09T11:34:00.000-06:00

Well, this morning I applied the 2nd of 3 maybe 4 coats of epoxy to help fill in the fiberglass to arrive at a completely smooth finish. Of course after that is done I'll have to sand it all down again in preparation of the UV protectant varnish coats which will bring back the luster to the finish. Right now it looks like I could put it in the water and go!

Finishing off Coaming

2008-02-08T21:06:00.000-06:00

Rounded off the edges of the coaming lip then applied fiberglass cloth and applied epoxy to bond the cloth to the coaming. After this has cured the next step will be to apply two more coats of epoxy to the deck and the coaming to finish filling the weave of the fiberglass cloth.

Cockpit Lip

2008-02-07T21:06:00.000-06:00

Epoxied second layer of coaming spacer on yesterday. Today epoxied on the coaming lip which is a little over sized but will be shaped tomorrow after setting up.

Coaming Started

2008-02-05T17:12:00.000-06:00

Epoxied on the first layer of coaming surrounding the cockpit. I'll have to let this set up then epoxy on another layer, then the top piece which is a little oversized in order to produce a lip for attaching a spray skirt if you so elect

Today's the Day, First Coat on Deck, Yeah!!!

2008-02-04T16:55:00.000-06:00

After sanding for what seemed an eternity, laid on the fiberglass and trimmed around the edges. Nervously, I began applying the epoxy, spreading, and smoothing. Next the coaming will go on around the cockpit and then two more coats of epoxy applied. This is what I've been waiting to see, the top in true final color. Very satisfying.

Sanded, and Sanded. and Sanded, and Sanded, and Sanded

2008-02-03T19:11:00.000-06:00

Ok, sanded till my arms almost fell off using the fairing boards and hand sanding (remember wax on, wax off ). Was able to remove most of the excess wood filler and smooth the strips mostly too a nice fair curve. Now it'll probably take about another week of hand sanding before fiberglassing can occur.

Still Smoothing the Deck

2008-02-03T09:19:00.000-06:00

Well, after a day and a half of sanding and scraping, I decided that a fairing board would have to be used to smooth down all of the strips to the same height; ie smoothness. A fairing board is a long piece of thin plywood 3 to 4 inches wide that is flexible enough to bend around the different curves on the boat. I couldn't find one locally and didn't want to wait a week to order one online, so made my own. Went down to local Home Depot and purchased a 2' by 2' piece of 1/4" plywood for 2.98, bought 4 big wooden drawer handles, and several sanding belts meant for use by a hand held belt sander that where 21" in a continuous loop. Got home and cut 2 lengths at 21" from the piece of plywood, one across the grain and the other with the grain. The long grain board would give me a stiff sanding board for flatter areas such as the rear of the kayak and the other with the cross grain would be a lot more flexible to follow the curves on the front of the boat. Affixed one drawer handle to each end of each board, lined the undersides of each by spraying adhesive on board and some cork salvaged from an old stick pin type bulletin board. This would give just a little cushion. Took the sanding belts and cut them open to create a long piece 21" in length and again used spray on adhesive to attach to the bottom of each cork lined board. Then went to town and made tremendous progress. Before I got to far, I took some wood filler and filled in some of the more obvious open cracks where some of the strips did not quite meet each other at the ends where they meet and also along the strips in the middle where the bead and coves didn't fit perfectly. I will then go back over the whole thing with the fairing boards hopefully knock down the extra wood filler leaving only the cracks filled. Hope I didn't get to carried away with the filler!

Deck attached, clean up before glassing

2008-01-31T21:41:00.000-06:00

Well Tuesday removed the straps and plastic wrap, then began smoothing the deck with planes, japanese rasp, surform tool , cabinet scrapers, and hand held sandpaper. Seems like the planes, cabinet scrapers, and sandpaper produced the best results. Then began to trim the overhang around the perimeter of the hull so that the deck would become one with the complete boat.

Permanently Attaching Deck to Hull

2008-01-30T20:15:00.000-06:00

After mixing up some very thick epoxy with cab-o-sil, the deck was permanently attached to the hull using rachet clamps and plastic wrap to fill in the gaps.

2nd Coat of Epoxy on Underside of Deck

2008-01-28T20:39:00.000-06:00

Sunday, finished 2nd coat of epoxy over the fiberglass on the underside of the deck which is really bringing through the deep colors. This time I used a 3" foam mini roller to equalize the epoxy after application with brush and squeegee. Should have used this technique on the hull as I think it would alleviated a lot of the runs and sags that developed after the epoxy set for a couple of hours

Smoothing and Fiberglassing of Underside of Deck

2008-01-26T21:05:00.000-06:00

Well they say when you fall of your horse, you get back on it so after the nasty spill I took last night after tripping over some electrical cords and shop vac, taking some heat from my co-workers about how the other guy fared or that I fell of my skate board, I decided to continue with progress of the kayak. Cleaned up the underside of the deck mostly using an assortment of cabinet scrapers in different shapes. This seemed to work the best, then took a litre water bottle and wrapped sandpaper around it to smooth up the surface. From there I attempted to lay on the fiberglass cloth without snagging it by laying old sheets on the deck first. This worked alright and I tried to trim the cloth so that I'll have enough for the topside of deck when it comes time for that. I'm afraid that I'll have to obtain more cloth to finish up since in the beginning, I wasn't to concerned with not having enough. After applying the epoxy to the fiberglass and trying to fill the weave as even as possible, I stood back and admired the deep colors of the natural wood evolving through the finish. This is a good indication of what the topside of the deck will appear like. Still have to apply two more coats of epoxy to the current underside of the deck, hopefully tomorrow.

Removed Stripped Deck

2008-01-25T20:25:00.000-06:00

On Thursday, I removed the deck first by removing all the staples and gently lifting up all along the edges till the whole top was loose. I'm glad that the duct tape was applied to the tops of the temporary forms to facilitate the ease of removing the deck as the deck released easily since the glue didn't stick to the duct tape. Then I knocked out all of the temporary forms and set the deck back on to visualize the almost finished project without the deck forms in the way.

Deck Is Stripped -- Finally

2008-01-23T20:56:00.000-06:00

Finished stripping the deck today. The last 6 strips along the side of the cockpit has taken me 3 days to complete. But now its done and I can move on to the next step which consists of removing the top from the forms, flipping it over and fiberglassing the underside of the deck( after smoothing and sanding of course).

Almost Done Stripping

2008-01-21T00:42:00.000-06:00

Today was spent continuing to fit the last few remaining strips all the way down to the sheer line. Will continue tomorrow with the last couple of strips which will probably take some time to fit properly

More Strips Added

2008-01-19T09:06:00.000-06:00

Took a break Thursday but was able to get quite a few more strips added on Friday. Rubbed some denatured alcohol onto the wood strips in an attempt to capture the beauty of the wood when it will be in its finished stage after the epoxy as been applied.

Comin Along on the Deck

2008-01-16T20:32:00.000-06:00

The last two days were spent continuing to fit the pieces into the deck and working the different shades of cedar into some kind of subtle transitional blend from dark to light

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Making a Little Headway On Deck

2008-01-14T19:59:00.000-06:00

Today was pretty productive after first couple of strips next to the centerplank were installed, I began to figure out the best steps for ways to make the end joints fit tight. With the help of my first mate as seen in the 2nd picture, a considerable amount of time was spent deciding which strips would be laid next to each other as I moved down from the centerline both forward of the cockpit and behind it in order to come up with the most uniform and visually appealing design.

Contrast Strips part 2

2008-01-13T20:21:00.000-06:00

Few more pics of the contrast strips fitted today. This is a slow process and progress is not as gratifying as with the previous steps of constructing the hull.

Contrast Strips Completed

2008-01-13T19:57:00.000-06:00

Spent all day fitting the dark cedar strips next to the white cedar around perimeter and down the center. Averaged about an hour per strip fitting 8 strips total for the day.

More of 2nd Perimeter

2008-01-12T22:46:00.000-06:00

More pics of second run of perimeter strips and center strips. I don't like the idea of having all the staple holes but, oh well. The next set of strips will be of the darkest that I have to contrast with the light color. Then who knows from there.

Second Perimeter Strip and Kingplank

2008-01-12T22:28:00.000-06:00

Spent all day fitting the second round of perimeter strips and fitting the kingplanks down the centerline. Had to take a break to run down to Home Depot and pick up a new hand stapler, this made a big difference. My old one just didn't want to work right and I was really getting frustrated with it.

More Preps and First Strip

2008-01-12T22:12:00.000-06:00

Added some protection to inside and tops of bulkheads to avoid glue sticking and stapled on first perimeter strip of the lightest color that came in the kit.

Preparation of Stripping Deck

2008-01-10T22:34:00.000-06:00

Well today was spent mostly cleaning up and regrouping in preparations for stripping the deck. I had to remove the cove off of the strips that would be glued together to form the centerline and glue them together. This would leave a bead facing outwards toward the sides to match up with the upward facing cove on the first strips to be placed along the sheerline. In turn all of the in between strips would will have the same orientation as far as the bead and cove goes. The strips that will start the outside edge will run the full length of the kayak so I did have to epoxy them together using scarf joints. Tomorrow will be the big day for the start of actually attaching these aforementioned pieces which will form the framework for the fill strips. Before this can happen, I still need to line the inside of the hull with some kind of protective liner to catch any glue drips or debris from the stripping process.

Sorting Strips

2008-01-10T21:22:00.000-06:00

First today I unbundled all of the cove and bead strips, layed them out in the sun (at the advice of someone who means a great deal to me) in order to sort and separate the strips according to their hue. The strips vary from a light,white pine to medium and dark cedar. Once sorted, they were stacked accordingly so as to simplify pulling from the supply as needed by color.

Setting Deck Forms

2008-01-09T23:05:00.000-06:00

Flipped hull back over and began positioning the temporary deck forms. They are held in by hot glue once their position has been established. The the sheer clamp is beveled with a hand plane to match up with the angle of the deck forms. This will allow for the strips to lay evenly across the deck without a drastic transition in angles. Also set in the cockpit form.

Flipped hull back over and began positioning the temporary deck forms. They are held in by hot glue once their position has been established. The the sheer clamp is beveled with a hand plane to match up with the angle of the deck forms. This will allow for the strips to lay evenly across the deck without a drastic transition in angles. Also set in the cockpit form.

Sanding Down Bottom

2008-01-09T22:48:00.000-06:00

Began sanding the bottom with 100 grit paper, followed with 150 grit, then finished with 220 grit. Sure feels nice when you run your hand over it however it is a dull finish now. Once the deck is finished and permanently attached to the hull, the whole thing will be lacquered and the beauty off the wood will once again shine.

After Three Coats of Epoxy

2008-01-09T22:31:00.000-06:00

Trimmed the excess fiberglass cloth from the hull and continued epoxying the bottom of the hull. I did to a light sand in between coats to try and knock down some high spots and blimperfections. After a total of three coats it look pretty good and shiny.

Bottom Done

2008-01-06T23:38:00.000-06:00

First coat of epoxy is applied to the Fiberglass overlayment of the hull. Will allow to dry overnight and finish up with at least two more coats of epoxy, sanding lightly in between. The excess fiberglass will be trimmed flush after the epoxy has set up.

Laying Bottom and Sealing with Epoxy

2008-01-06T23:22:00.000-06:00

Draped the hull with fiberglass and doubled up the bottom panels,bow and stern. Used a dry paint brush to smooth out and even the fiberglass sheets, then began about a three hour job of spreading on the epoxy.

Smooth Bottom

2008-01-06T22:59:00.000-06:00

Crafted some supports to secure the upside-down hull for sanding and glassing, then prepared the hull for fiberglassing. All the joint angles were softened by either planing or sanding a slight radius into them. I then used my random orbital sander with 220 grit paper to give a really smooth finish to the mahogany in preparation to laying on the fiberglass sheets.

Lookin Ahead

2008-01-06T22:29:00.001-06:00

Before I flipped the hull over to begin fiberglassing the bottom, I positioned the temporary deck forms into place to get a glimpse of the final shape of the kayak. These of course would have to be removed in order to continue building the boat but it was fun to temporarily jump ahead to visualize the form of the boat.

Finished Interior Coating

2008-01-05T20:44:00.000-06:00

Finished up epoxy coating of all hull interior surfaces today and had a little left over so I went back over some areas that looked like could use a thicker coat.

Glassed Cockpit Interior

2008-01-04T19:14:00.000-06:00

It finally warmed up enough for me to feel comfortable about working with the epoxy so that it would set up properly. The epoxy was thickened and applied into the inside angles where the panels joined together to soften the transition between the panels. Fiberglass tape was embedded into the fillets and then a whole sheet of fiberglass cloth was cut to fit into the cockpit and laid in and up the sides. Unthickened epoxy was squeegeed and brushed onto the fiberglass cloth to saturate and fill the weave of the cloth The entire interior has now been sealed except for the bulkheads which will be done next after trimming the excess fiberglass cloth. The bulkheads will be sealed with epoxy as well as any other bare interior wood that may have been previously missed.

Cockpit Fillet Prep

2008-01-01T18:03:00.000-06:00

I decided since the cockpit opening would be more visible and I couldn't epoxy today anyway that a little more time should be spent on preparation of this area. I used painters tape to outline the areas where the fillets will go and once I get these nice, neat, and evenly filled in with very thick epoxy, the painters tape will be removed. Then the fiberglass tape will be set in place and epoxied over. Perhaps tomorrow this will happen.

Took Break Today

2008-01-01T17:40:00.001-06:00

Turned pretty cold last night and I don't think the epoxy will set up properly so I took a break from the all day, non-stop work on the boat to regroup. Went to the local HD and picked up some supplies and an 8' overhead shop light. Decided it was about time to do away with the flat work top so I removed it and placed some straps across the uprights to create a cradle. The straps are just some old leather belts and the cradle will allow the kayak to be turned over so the bottom can be worked on and fiberglassed while being held securely without being damaged.

Fillet and Fiberglassing of inside seams

2007-12-31T23:25:00.000-06:00

To permanently secure shape of the boat and to provide stability and shape of the hull, fiberglass tape was epoxied to the inside seams of the boat. The beauty of the mahogany plywood is finally brought out by the application of the epoxy. The dark, wet color of the wood looks awesome. Can hardly wait for the cedar strip top to come to life.

Great tip that works from CLC

2007-12-31T23:11:00.000-06:00

I really didn't think that I was going to be able completely remove all of the copper wires that were used to hold the hull in shape after the epoxy was applied to the inside seams 0f the panels. However, after careful snipping and application of a soldering iron to the short nub of the protuding wire, I was able to pull all of the wires out of the boat.

Tacking up inside seams

2007-12-31T22:42:00.000-06:00

Ketchup consistency epoxy applied to inside seams trying to avoid the copper wires as much as possible in order to be able to more easily remove the wires when the epoxy had dried.

More pics of stitched up hull

2007-12-31T22:30:00.000-06:00

More pics of stitched up hull, worked all day on this.

All wiring completed for final hull shape!

2007-12-31T22:14:00.000-06:00

Using 2 to 3" inch copper wire, the complete hull including two permanent bulkheads and two temporary bulkheads are wired together to create the final hull shape. Finally beginning to look like something that will float!

Rough trim of ends of sheer strips

2007-12-31T21:59:00.000-06:00

Guestimated the angle of cut for the ends of the sheer strips after attached to the side panels. These will be precisely trimmed later when the panels are stitched up and the ends are closer to their final positioning to attain the proper measurements for the final fitting. The Japanese hand saw you see is indispensable. I ordered an assortment of blades and they all interchange with the handles which. So you can order many different blades and just a couple of handles and have many different tools for different jobs at a fraction of the cost of a couple different brand saws. You can call and talk to this little old Asian man personally that sells these in fact he has a lot of experience being that he is 86 years old. He is quite a character and it was a pleasure to talk with him at length. Just type in " Tashiro Hardware" in your web browser. I'm sure he would appreciate the business.

Hull taking shape

2007-12-31T21:35:00.000-06:00

Here the bottom panels are wired together, then the bulkheads are wired in to provide the basic shape of the hull.

Attaching sheer strips to side panels

2007-12-31T21:20:00.000-06:00

The bottom panels and side are panels fiberglassed together, and sheer strips are successfully epoxied together to their full 17' length. The sheer strips are then epoxied to the side panels in preparation for the full wiring/stitching up of the hull.

Update, been workin hard

2007-12-31T20:28:00.000-06:00

Showing the sheer strips glued together with the scarf joints precut in the kit. Excuse my ignorance, but I did not know what sheer strips were till I started building this boat. Basically, the sheer strips provide a means of attachment of the top of the boat to the bottom of the boat.

Preparing Bottom, Side Panels

2007-12-25T18:05:00.000-06:00

Before wiring the bottom and side panels together to form the hull, it is necessary to join the panels lengthwise to arrive at the full length of the kayak. Since the panels have been machine cut with puzzle shaped connection points, it was merely a matter of finding the best sides to be facing outwards and then epoxying together with fiberglass tape. Will have to let this sit overnight before going any further.

Inventory of Shearwater 17 Hybrid

2007-12-25T17:46:00.000-06:00

Emptied contents of all three crates and took a visual inventory.

Completed Work Stand

2007-12-25T16:53:00.000-06:00

Attached work surface consisting of 4'x8' sheet of 1/2" plywood ripped down the middle by Lowes secured to 16' long 2"x4",s to the top of the bases. Made for a very solid and stable work surface. Now I can get started on the actual kayak! Yea!!!

Workstand

2007-12-25T16:10:00.001-06:00

While waiting for the delivery of my kit, I began building my own custom designed work stand inspired by different sightings seen on the internet. I ended up with a work surface 24" by 16' and 40" tall with provisions for shelf underneath as a catch all for tools, supplies, etc. accessible from both sides of the work table. After waiting approximately 6 weeks for my kit to arrive, I kinda lost interest since it took so long and the holidays were so near. Finished the construction of the work surface with the help of my Dad and then was able to lay out all the pieces of the three boxes of the kit in preparation of the actual building of the kayak.

Shearwater 17 Hybrid

2007-12-25T15:55:00.000-06:00

Steps of construction beginning with work stand to completion of kayak. Ordered the kit from Chesapeake Light Craft out of Annapolis,MD at the end of October 2007. If all goes well, mine will look something like this example.