Whatever Floats Your Boat

We just had the unofficial launching of the kayak. Stuart III, Jerri, and Josie went down to the lake with Janet and I to see if 11 months of work stayed above the surface. I was the first to give it a try, followed by III. Then Jerri got into the kayak and put both of us to shame. I'm figuring I'll get better at it with practice.







Of course, it wouldn't be complete unless blood (mine) was spilled.

Here's a short video of Stu-3 in the kayak.

IT'S A BOAT!!!

Well, it's been almost a year, but the kayak is finally done!! I put the hatch straps, the seat back, and the front bungee on today. Now the hardest part: waiting for a day warm enough to launch.

I'm Getting Closer to My Boat....

(With apologies to Grand Funk Railroad).
Well, the hull has three coats of paint, and the deck has two (so far) coats of varnish. Starting to look pretty good, if I do say so. Straps, bungee and seat back are the finishing touches. April launch looks assured.

Did have one minor setback. I won't be launching with a homebrew wooden paddle; my drawknife took a big chunk instead of a shaving. Best I can figure, I muscled it along a contour line in the wood. Oh well, that's why I have the other paddles.

If I'm lucky, varnish will be done this week with the finishing touches starting on the weekend.

Winter months

Things progress more slowly in the winter. Last weekend, we had a warm spell that lasted long enough for me to put the rub rails on the kayak (with the help of my dear wife, Janet). Looking for the next spell so that I can glue in the hip braces and attach the seat back. If I'm REAL lucky, it'll last long enough for me to paint the hull.

You'll recall from the last post I was looking for someone with a bandsaw. Turns out my brother-in-law, Richard, has one. I was able to roughly shape the blades of the paddle and save myself a LOT of hand planing and cutting.

Still anticipating a spring launch.

Propulsion

OK, just because it's too cold to paint or do any epoxy work doesn't mean that there isn't something to do. I figured a homebuilt wooden kayak deserves a homemade wooden paddle, so today I started to make it. It's a piece of ash that started out as an eight foot 2X6 (actually 1-1/2X5-1/2. I cut it down to 5" wide, then laid out the pattern of the paddle on it. Carefully using a circular saw, I cut out the blank for the paddle. My choices now are 1. to find someone with a bandsaw or 2. to get to work with a handsaw and plane. It will probably be the latter.

More to come.

Happy New Year!!

2007 is almost finished with 2008 showing promise of being a very interesting year. Elections, a changing economy, global warming, and (most importantly) the launch of the kayak.

Haven't had opportunity to do any work on the boat over the past week, but I have bought the paint and varnish. Now all I have to do is wait for a day warm enough to work on it.

At any rate, working on the boat has been one of the most gratifying things I've done in a long time. I've learned a lot and seeing it "grow" has been fun. For now, however, I wish all of you who have been following the progress a Happy and Prosperous New Year in 2008. I leave you with this pic that was sent to me by a friend. Wonder if he's trying to tell me something?

Merry Christmas to All

It's 1:23pm on Christmas Eve, and I just finished the second coat of epoxy on the deck. I went out today and bought a couple of syringes to fill voids in the glass. I also purchased an 8' 1"X4" piece of oak to rip for the rubbing strakes. At this point, I'm ready to paint the hull and varnish the deck.

For now, I'm done. I have no idea how many folks are following this blog, but I'd like to take the opportunity to wish all of you and yours a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year!!!