I should probably explain my progress here, as it was always my intention to take my time here. I'm not a boatbuilder, I'm a software engineer, I'm married and I have 2 young girls. All of this keeps me quite busy, and the intention of the kayak project was that it was fun. I'm lucky enough that we have a single garage that we don't keep the car in, and nobody really needs it for anything, so I can leave the kayak untouched without getting told off for weeks, even a month or 2 without being told off that its in the way! This was quite important to me, because I'm building this for fun, and I don't have a lot of time always, so I really wanted to build something I'm proud of, but in a timeframe that suits me. I get a lot of people asking me how its getting on, and whilst I'd always love to tell them of the vast changes I'd imagine myself making, I'm quite happy.
Having said that, I've probably failed to blog just as much as build, and have managed not to cover the most fun part of the project - putting the hull together and getting a boat shape! To recap - I cut some 8 ft x 4ft boards into 11inch wide strips, then from those created (using scarf joints) 16ft long blanks. I then plotted out the hull sections on them and cut them out.
The next step is to create the kayak shape - this is the "stitch" of "stitch and glue" construction. Its quite simple to do, and allows you to take flat panels and create a kayak in under an hour! This is magic - the hull is more or less monocoque (no internal framing) so the shape forms itself.
As it was a nice summer day (then, not now!) I did this outside on our grass, and my 5 yr old daughter (and the 3 yr old for a bit!) helped me do it. This is highly recommended actually - its not too technical, and kids love the immediacy of this bit. They also can't break anything provided they are told not to stand on the wood in no uncertain terms! First, I cut up a load of copper wire into 4-5 inch lengths and put them into a tub. 4 inches is quite wasteful once these are in place, and it uses up a lot of wire to do that (I ordered a 2nd bundle of wire from Fyne boat kits in the end) but it makes it easy to work with whilst you are doing it.
Drill holes at equal lengths down the edges to join together (about every 6 inches, but more near detailed curves, etc) - the smallest drill bit you've got, just enough for the wire to poke through.
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| Its an awesome hat - don't argue :) |
The order of assembly is this - start with the bottom panels, and drill the bottom edge of them, and wire the whole length of the bottom. Do not wind the wires tight - you want plenty of movement (think keyring sized loops). This should effectively make you a panel that opens like a book.
Next drill the ends of the top panels (the very front edge of the boat, and the very back). Wire these up. This should get you 2 long panels with the ends wired, which you can open up in the middle. Find your plans and find the distance from the bow (make sure you measure from the right end!) that the spreader stick needs to be placed. This is just a scrap piece of wood, cut to a size to open the boat out. This is exciting because you see the size and shape of the boat already.
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| At this stage, the upper panels are resting on the lower panels - they would fall through without the scrap wood separating them. |
Next, lay some spare bits of wood on the upside down top-panels, and lay the open-book bottom panels on top. You will want to do this on some trestles, because the panels won't marry up flat, you'll want to bend them (they're upside down, so this is effectively making them droop off the trestles) until they line up. Next, you guessed it - wire them all together. Voila! One kayak!
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| Stitching the upper and lower panels together |
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