Build a foam 12 foot kayak for $100.00 or so....

[richg99]

http://www.instructables.com/id/Sawfish ... t-wieght-/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[RealBigReel]

Styrofoam is a wonderful material to work with. Cuts easily with a saw or knife, sands like butter and can be bent easily to shape.
But plain foam or even painted foam will not hold up well. Styrofoam is susceptible to UV and has very little strength. Styrofoam is easily abraded and comes apart quite easily. If fiberglass and epoxy are added the cost will not be 100 dollar range any longer, however it will be much more durable. Still not on the order of anything you would want for white or rocky water but good enough for most people.
I have built 2 kayaks now out of sheet Styrofoam and Fiberglass. The first was my kayak SANDY which is 14' X28" and weighs less than 30 lbs. It has rod holders and a custom cooler slot. The pirogue like bottom draws very little water.





SANDY is for sale for 350. Includes seat but no paddle. I need to make room for my next build.

The 2nd sheet Styrofoam build was my kayak STRIPER. STRIPER is a moderately sophisticated build with a Hobie Mirage drive.



Wood trim will do wonders for a Styrofoam build. Stiffens things up and provides hard points.

[richg99]

Good input. Nice boats. Might want to add a price for your yak for sale.

The builder on this site covered his yak with cotton. I've read about a number of skin on frame builds that used regular cloth instead of fiberglass. Wouldn't subject them to rocks or oyster shell though. richg99

[josh.withe]

Painted cotton canvas or bed sheets is much tougher than you might imagine.
The nice part is that it is very easy to repair if you do gouge the fabric and foam .
Unlike any other boat, a Sawfish kayak will float just fine with a hole through the hull.
I tried making Sawfish into a self draining cockpit kayak when riding the surf.
It worked by punching holes through the cockpit floor with the paddle shaft, but needed bigger holes than that to bail fast enough.
I'm the sawfish kayak creator.

[richg99]

Very nice work. I LINKed the original Sawfish article below.

Since I have reached the fine old age of 78, I've sold off my kayaks. None-the-less, there are many other readers who should consider one of these neat boats.
richg99

http://www.instructables.com/id/Sawfish ... t-wieght-/

[TexasJim]

Thanks, josh & rich: I first saw the cotton sheet/paint covered foam process used in making small, light, teardrop trailers. Interesting. I could make all sorts of things with that technique. If I had a shop. Or didn't live in an RV park, and had room. And money to spare. I want to make SoloSkiff -type flats boat using a Laser sailboat hull. More beam and deck room.
I'll probably just fish on my kayak or in my 59-year-old aluminum skiff. If it ever warms up.

TexasJim

[richg99]

"SoloSkiff -type flats boat using a Laser sailboat hull."

I've never done it and I also gave it some thought many years ago. However, I've also been reading various boating magazines and websites for 20/30 years.

On more than one occasion, I've read that many guys have tried that exact conversion. Seemingly, most have been unsuccessful. From what I have read, everyone who tries it, starts out by saying " the Laser/Dolphin/Sunfish hull is a planing hull". True, BUT....

Having sailed for many years, and having owned a Laser knockoff as well as a Dolphin (sunfish knockoff), I can attest that all of them ARE, "planing hulls". BUT....If you've ever sailed any of those boats, you may recognize that the planing always happened when the boat was heeled to one side while tacking or on a beam reach. i.e. No planing was happening when the boat was going straight downwind.

First, most of a sailboat's thrust/speed is generated when a boat is tacking.... not running with the wind, and Second, the hulls are shaped with a slight V. That means that either side of the "V" can plane, but when heading straight ahead, the V cuts the water and doesn't rise up on it, as you'd want a planing hull to do. It might plane if one had a very large motor on it, but the 4 to 6 hp engines on the boats that we are talking about probably would struggle to get her up.

Anyhow, whether my theory is correct or not, very few people who attempt to convert a small sailboat hull to a planing type of hull like a Soloskiff ever seem to come back to the sites to show their finished product. I have to assume that it is because their finished product doesn't function as they hoped it would.

As I said, I haven't done it (convert a small sailboat to a Soloskiff type boat) and I wouldn't due to my reading and my modest understanding of their hull shapes.

I'd be far more likely to build a flat bottom jon boat style hull, maybe out of foam and cloth, and expect that it would plane easily with a small motor.

regards, richg99

[Kayak Kid]

Very nice work. I LINKed the original Sawfish article below.

Since I have reached the fine old age of 78, I've sold off my kayaks. None-the-less, there are many other readers who should consider one of these neat boats.
richg99

http://www.instructables.com/id/Sawfish ... t-wieght-/

What's with the magic age of 78? I was hoping to extend my kayak/fishing/primitive camping adventures till at least age 80. Unfortunately I also hit a wall at 78. Other than my Revenge 17 1/2 footer, I've sold or given all my kayak gear away.

You youngsters enjoy the sport, to the fullest extent, every chance you get. Like the say, "all good things eventually come to an end".

[TexasJim]

rich: My "ideal" hull to convert to power would be a Force 5, which is a tad bigger than the Laser, but has hard chines, especially aft. It would be a much better to use. But, they're much more scarce than Lasers. I'll probably just keep my two existing boats, and keep fantasizing.

kid: I thought I was the "Old Guy" here, at 72! In did go kayak fishing Wednesday, to "Subway", home of the foot-long trout!

TexasJim

[richg99]

My moving away from kayaking is kind of complicated.

Actually, at age 78, I am in better shape than I was at age 68 (not saying a lot, I know), or maybe even 58.

We have two homes. One in TN. and the one here in TX. We spend six months in each one. Did you know that it is hot in Texas in the Summer?

We have seven grandkids in TX, so we will be here.. kind of... permanently. My wife simply HATED pulling my 16 ft tinny back and forth every Summer/Fall. She wouldn't drive the van with a boat behind it. I don't blame her, but it put a 14/16 hour drive totally on me.

SHE suggested I buy a boat for TX and leave the other one in TN full time. OK with me.

My kayaking was getting limited anyhow, what with having a full sized, stand-up boat available all of the time.

She asked me to promise to cut the fleet down when I bought the second tinny (1756 2007 Lowe with a 50 hp 2 cycle Merc on it).

Seemed reasonable, since my issue was never the actually paddling and fishing. It was the getting in and out. My local pond doesn't have a "beach" so I had to hang my big butt over the yak and kind of jump in over about two or three feet of water. That, on occasion, produced a cold water bath that I didn't need.

So, the kayaks (3) of them, went. The boats increased to (2). I am OK with it, but I still miss the yak and its special fishing qualities. Two new knees; arthritis; and just general stiffness in the morning makes Boating easier than Kayaking for this old codger.

richg99

[texnomad]

Thank you for the details Rich. I am 71.5 and hitting a lot of limitations you described. I , also, summer in north Alabama and winter in the mid Texas coast. Your choice of boat looks like nearly the same rig I was looking at a couple of days ago. I do a lot of shore wading and pier fishing now in the Corpus Christi area. Thank you for leading us older folks into the old world of fishing.