TexasKayakFisherman.com

I agree with pogo--you're a natural. We seem to attract natural boat builders to the Boat Builder Forum. Go figure.

You're doing a very good job. I want to point out that the piece of wood you've added to the bulkhead is also one of the methods I use for stapleless construction. Only...I don't clamp--I just staple the strips to that piece of wood. You'll be cutting that part off, then trim the curve of the bulkhead with the inside part of the gunwale. Boy...I'm glad you're building this boat and that it's going so good...

Impressed with your end pour. When I did that, the heat the epoxy generated caused the duck tape to release and I had a big mess on my hands. Guess it might have been dollar store duck tape

Pepperfool wrote:Impressed with your end pour. When I did that, the heat the epoxy generated caused the duck tape to release and I had a big mess on my hands. Guess it might have been dollar store duck tape

Pepperfool,

There are a few things in this world I will skimp on, tape is not one of them. Having spent 15yrs as an HVAC tech and my entire life duct taping things back together I know the importance of quality tape. Also, I had an issue when I did the end pour on my pirogue using straight epoxy so I mixed up some goopie this go around.

WOW It won't be long and you'll be on a test paddle

Mike

I've heard people talk about using only quality duct tape, but can't recall anyone mentioning where to go for it, or what to look for. As you might be able to tell, I haven't used much of it....

In his books and articles, Nick Schade talks about mixing in all kinds of "sweepings" into his "dookie-schmutz", which is what he and a lot of other boat builders call "goopie" for use in end pours. Anyway, he stirs in sawdust (not wood flour, but sawdust), styrofoam crumbs, all sorts of crap as long as it's reasonably fine particles. Just another way of minimizing the use of expen$ive and heavy epoxy in a non-critical application to achieve equal results.

And just because I like giving people heartburn.....



The 1/2" PVC pipe is roughed up with coarse sandpaper, is tapped into a 1/2" hole with a generous smearing of slightly thickened epoxy, is trimmed flush after curing, and serves as a decorative hole liner.

Well, after my initial fiasco I built a "dam" from scrap plywood and put a filler blocks in. Then I just poured whatever was left of each batch of epoxy I used throughout the rest of the build. I'm pretty satisfied with that method now.

It would not be as much fun if we were all experts right of the bat, right?

Pepperfool wrote: It would not be as much fun if we were all experts right of the bat, right?

X2, X3, X4....

Believe me guys--I learn stuff every day--just like ya'll do. And some of it I learn from ya'll.

Y'all are going to have to bear with me, last week I was having trouble with Photobucket, this week my laptop crashed so I am going to be a little slow posting the updated pictures. I have a number of pictures to post and will as soon as I can.

I am going to revisit a question I had several weeks ago regarding seats. I visited Southwest Paddle Sports this week and was told Native has changed their seat design for the 2010 models to "recline" the paddler in order to increase circulation and prevent your butt from going to sleep. What are your thoughts on this? It does not seem like it would be difficult to build a bracket that would recline the seat, but would it be advisable and would the pad eyes support the back rest with all that weight? Would this also help prevent leg fatigue while paddling?

Seat adjustments--forward, backward, up and down, tilting seat, and adjustable, reclining, seat back--are always desireable. The application of these things is sometimes not easy but the more you have of any and all the better off you will be. When I build a race boat--or any boat for that matter--it takes me several months to get the placement, height, padding, and angles all right so I can paddle for hour after hour. But that same seat is very uncomfortable for sitting and fishing. Go figure. Seats for homebuilt craft are something we need to work on.
I'm going to put a Native Ultimate seat in the Triple X Fishing Boat. Native wouldn't sell to me, but the future owner had a spare one. Other seats like those you see from Surf to Summit should be adaptable as well.

Your question about pad eyes simply depends upon the type of pad eyes and your installation technique. The pad eyes I use will support an engine block, or stop a speeding kayak when they get caught in a tree running a rapid, so I'm not worried about them at all.

Correct seat placement and the ability to change positions will help in all paddling situations, however--you're still going to get tired if you push it hard...

The best way I ever heard it put was something like "finding comfort in a kayak is like finding comfort on a bicycle; it isn't always easy, and sometimes takes endless adjustments to get it right".

Gerald brings up the sticking point, whereas you kind of need two different seats, actually: one for the "moder" ( ), and one for the setter. When you're paddling, good posture is the surest bet for my money. Notice marathon racers and expedition canoeists very seldom use any back support at all. The leaned-back paddling posture so many "recreational" paddlers exhibit looks like an impending sciatica episode to me, and an terribly inefficient way to go about it at best. I'm a big believer in sitting up straight, or even pitched a little forward, and forget the back band. I not only quit installing back bands in my boats, but have actually gone back and removed the ones I had in others to make 'em more comfy. I found them to be deceptive, and leading me away from comfort instead of towards it in a sort of vicious circle. But that's just me.

You'll have to try and manage somehow to get along without me when it comes to sitting in a boat for long stretches though, I simply do not do that. If I'm not paddling, it's never long before I hop out to fish, wade, explore, whatever. And I never like Laz-Z-Boys, either in living rooms or in boats, but that's just me (and my 50-year-old back that never gives me any trouble).

Yesterday I learned a very critical and untimely lesson regarding regarding the types of kayak seats and their uses after doing the Trinity Challenge Race. Now, ya' all know by now that I absolutely LOVE Gerald's Srchr but in casual paddling/fishing I felt I needed a backrest to the seat for additional comfort and lower back support and believed this would also be the case for racing. I screwed up BIG time by installing a new, comfy Surf to Summit seat last weekend and then, due to the weather and lack of time, not taking it out for a test run until I was up there!!!!!! The first thing I noticed when planting my butt down while the yak was in water.......was the increased "tippiness" of the yak due to the narrower seat (and perhaps because it sits about 1/2" higher than the old one). Now, my butt isn't that big that it hung over the edges on that narrower seat, but enough so that by using my legs with the power strokes I was on the edge. I found it difficult to re-learn correct posture "on the fly" so to speak and battled not only the quicker tippiness response, but discovering I was also tending to distribute more weight on my left side which contributed some to loss of tracking! Oh, I have so-o-o much to learn!!!

The S-to-S seat will be great to use for a relaxing day of fishing and the ability to lean back and repose in comfort......otherwise, I have proof enough of the time and effort Gerald used in his custom design of the full seat for the Srchr when it comes to some long or serious paddling!

Yep, there's a basic lesson well worth noting right there: everyone who paddles learns sooner or later to test equipment changes before committing to outings any longer than an hour at most. Finding out something isn't working very well at the start of a long day sucks....

...and we come right back to the fact that seats are not easy. I think several of us need to put in some serious research and experimentation into seats for home built craft. I've been working on them for a while. Got some pretty encouraging possibilities for seat "modules" to be installed in home built craft. We'll see what happens and what others come up with.

Toby
Your killing us
PICSSS

Ron

At this point I have finished building the decks and have the final fill coat on everything but the cockpit. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! Enjoy the pic updates

Decks finished


Deck soaked in clean water

Deck sanded

Poor man's table saw

For the "fence" I just nailed a piece of strip down and go

Made nice straight cuts for my inner gunwales/gunnels (which term is correct?)

Here is a shot of the deck precoat

Fiberglass saturated


Decks are fiberglassed on top rough cut at this point

Looks great to me! I'm anxious for the paddling report.

gerald wrote:Looks great to me! I'm anxious for the paddling report.

Speaking of paddling, how should this boat compare to Firefly's speed demon? Stability wise, speed wise, etc. I ask because it is the most recent boat I paddled for comparison (and I want to know if I can take her in a race )

Looking good! I'm really happy to see you stripping the deck that way, since it is so seldom seen. I have no doubt you could strip in more typical pattern, where the outer strips follow the lines of the boat and the others are tapered to fit, but it would be a lotta work for a cosmetic effect. In the meantime, this way is elegantly expedient. Structurally speaking, either is exactly the same. Bang-up work, but then I expected as much.

I particularly applaud your "making do" with the circ saw, and posting it!

Gunwale is proper, and is pronounced gunnel. For centuries the spelling was commonly abbreviated to gun'l, and between that and the way it's pronounced, the word gunnel popped up, and is now so frequently seen that it appears to be taking over. Phonetically it's a good thing, probably, but it will become confusing when dealing with inwales and outwales to make up a gunwale, as with canoes .... but I'd have to say we're doomed to confusion on the matter no matter what because the "innies" and "outies" are pronouced with their "whale" intact.

Dogpaddlin wrote:

gerald wrote:Looks great to me! I'm anxious for the paddling report.

Speaking of paddling, how should this boat compare to Firefly's speed demon? Stability wise, speed wise, etc. I ask because it is the most recent boat I paddled for comparison (and I want to know if I can take her in a race )

Oh gosh!...two 24" wide boats but with entirely different S&G hulls. I would expect the "rocket" to be faster by a smidgeon, but seashell's boat is surprisingly fast--I never really got it up against the wall (of drag). Part of this will depend upon the angle of the sides and the actual waterline width. I believe (haven't looked to be sure) that the "rocket" has steeper sides so this might negate a slight bit of the lower wetted area. The "rocket" might be better in rougher water because of the hull shape. I would expect the boats to be more similar than different though--and neither is designed as a race boat...

Probably at this time you could take her in a race in either boat--but maybe not for much longer....she is very good.

gerald wrote:

Dogpaddlin wrote:

gerald wrote:Looks great to me! I'm anxious for the paddling report.

Speaking of paddling, how should this boat compare to Firefly's speed demon? Stability wise, speed wise, etc. I ask because it is the most recent boat I paddled for comparison (and I want to know if I can take her in a race )

Oh gosh!...two 24" wide boats but with entirely different S&G hulls. I would expect the "rocket" to be faster by a smidgeon, but seashell's boat is surprisingly fast--I never really got it up against the wall (of drag). Part of this will depend upon the angle of the sides and the actual waterline width. I believe (haven't looked to be sure) that the "rocket" has steeper sides so this might negate a slight bit of the lower wetted area. The "rocket" might be better in rougher water because of the hull shape. I would expect the boats to be more similar than different though--and neither is designed as a race boat...

Probably at this time you could take her in a race in either boat--but maybe not for much longer....she is very good.

Gerald, I was referring to Firefly (the most competitive woman on this board). I was thinking about challenging her but I need to know I at least stand a chance

Maybe we could have our own TKF version of PINKS, she brings her title and I will bring mine. Winner takes home both boats!

Ah...I was reading too fast....got the wrong paddler. Firefly should beat you in her boat. If she doesn't it would simply be a matter of technique and the fact that you are much more powerful. I didn't quibble there--did I? The srchr marathon boat has greater inherent potential speed and probably would be more seaworthy in the hands of an experience paddler--which she is becoming.

This is shaping up to a grudge race at Greyloons memorial.
Ron

Looking good, that cedar sure gets pretty when you wet it out.

That boat was already looking good, those decks are icing on the cake. Great job. Can't wait to see this thing in the water.