Koholo 14: Zebra Beast

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MulletOver
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Koholo 14: Zebra Beast

Post by MulletOver »

Fellow Woodworkers,

I just finished my Chesapeake Light Craft Koholo 14. This was a built from scratch (not kit built) stand-up paddle board and a blast to create! The following is a pictorial of the process. It is certainly not all encompassing and feel free to let me know if you would like any greater detailed explanations in places. Enjoy!

My girlfriends Mercedes got robbed of its home for a little while. All you fellas that have nice well equipped shops and spaces... I hate yall. :D
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Step one was scribing out all the web frames and various pieces using the patterns supplied by CLC (Chesapeake Light Craft).
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Here the patterns are drawn out...
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Just 20+ hours on the other end of a saber-saw resulted in this!!!
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My dog Memphis supervised the entire build. Occasionally stopping to dig random giant un-helpful holes in the yard. Mutt-face...
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When you have zero extra room you gotta improvise!!
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I used Okoume plywood in 3mm and 4mm. The 4x8 sheets had to be scarfed to make the 14 foot board. I used a sharp block plane to make the bevel.
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Glue-ing and clamping the scarf...
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Ohh yeah!!!
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One the pieces were glued together I traced out the pattern and made the cut. I overcut a couple of millimeters and then used a block plane to bring it right down to the line.
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Another umm... "creative" scarf clamping system!
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Here the bottom of the hull is assembled.
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The sides of the hull have a sheer clamp glued to their top to provide a structure for glue-ing down the deck. Thank the heavens for make-um-yourself PVC clamps. I would have been out a fortune otherwise!!
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Got a little arty with this shot!
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Now for the actual fun part!!! Time to assemble the web frames and the hull. Yesssss!
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True love right here! The girlfriend volunteers to do some the interior stitching!!
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It looks like a freaking porcupine but it is all put together!!!
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Flipped the beast over for that "ohhhh, ahhhhh" moment!
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Next step was filleting all the joints between every-freaking-thing with an epoxy wood flour paste so I could pull the stitching wires out.
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I had to make a Spanish Windlass to bring the nose together. I hand carved up a nose piece and epoxied it in to hold all this structure in place.
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Next the deck got glued in place. No fasteners of any type, just epoxy thickened with cell-o-fil. Gotta add a ton of weights to keep the deck down while it hardens. My weights are typically random...
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Another great moment in the build. You finally get to see the crafts fine lines!!!
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Of course now it is time for the sanding job from hell!!
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Once sanded I glassed the entire boat in two steps. Bottom and sides of hull followed by the deck.
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Ok I know I have been being decent with pictures up till now. That is about to change. For whatever reason I just didnt take that many of the final stages. All the finish work if you will. But long story short. I glassed the entire SUP. Then I sanded the piss out of it. Then I put fins on the bottom. Then I varnished the top. Then I installed a deck hatch. Then I painted the bottom and sides. It was tedious and somewhat boring... lets skip to the finished product!!!

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Still supervising all activities the mutt Memphis.
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Anyway. I just got back from sea (merchant shipping), so i have not had a chance to put the Zebra Beast in the water yet. Probably this weekend. I will post pics and a report on how she handles in her natural element!

Would love to hear what yall masters out there think and if there are any improvements I could make. The girlfriend has already hinted at my creation of another one so we can hit the water together! Oh no.... here we go again!!!!! :D
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bowgarguide
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Re: Koholo 14: Zebra Beast

Post by bowgarguide »

Wow
You did a great job on that one.
Cant wait for the report of how she handles
Ron
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makenmend
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Location: Longview E Tx

Re: Koholo 14: Zebra Beast

Post by makenmend »

All i can add is very well done.

MM
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MR2brad
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Joined: Mon May 14, 2012 10:06 pm
Location: Portland, Texas

Re: Koholo 14: Zebra Beast

Post by MR2brad »

Very nice. :clap:
You're going to love it out on the water. They're quite and do a great job at sneaking up on the reds.
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neon14
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Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2009 8:00 pm
Location: Center Point, Tx

Re: Koholo 14: Zebra Beast

Post by neon14 »

Man that is one nice looking board! Your gonna have a lot of explaining to do at the boat ramp with that thing. People are going to ask a million questions, so factor that time into your fishing trip :lol:
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MulletOver
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Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2008 12:02 pm
Location: Houston

Re: Koholo 14: Zebra Beast

Post by MulletOver »

Ok folks the Zebra Beast has gotten wet!!!

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Tried to take the first rid WITHOUT the dog but he was having no part in that idea!!
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The girlfriend takes a spin..
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In summary I was very pleased. It is incredibly stable, fast (for a SUP), and just awesome. I did a little fishing off it and that was sweet as well. The one downside I notice is that standing up you offer a huge sail area to the wind which will send you all over the place. Still worth the million man hours it took to create her :D
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StuckInTheMud
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Location: San Antonio

Re: Koholo 14: Zebra Beast

Post by StuckInTheMud »

Kick ass board man! Nice build.

Something I just thought of. I've seen these built before and I always think, this would be a great marsh flyfishing boat since I stand up in the kayak anyway. However, how much does that fin affect how shallow of water you can get into? The kayak has its own draft depth so I'm curious how much the fin adds to the draft compared to a kayak draft.
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MulletOver
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Re: Koholo 14: Zebra Beast

Post by MulletOver »

StuckInTheMud wrote:Kick ass board man! Nice build.

Something I just thought of. I've seen these built before and I always think, this would be a great marsh flyfishing boat since I stand up in the kayak anyway. However, how much does that fin affect how shallow of water you can get into? The kayak has its own draft depth so I'm curious how much the fin adds to the draft compared to a kayak draft.

This would be a great marsh craft.
The fins are certainly the maximum draft you have on the board, but they are not really very deep. I would say it is very equivalent to a standard SOT kayak.
If you were seriose about marsh fishing you could leave the fins off, tracking would suffer of course but I bet you it would not be bad.
Removable fins are another option and totally doable. I even saw an article on it somewhere online. Generally they make them removable so you can replace damaged ones, but you could also pop them off to sneak in on tailing reds!!!
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bowgarguide
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Re: Koholo 14: Zebra Beast

Post by bowgarguide »

I bet you could hing a fin where it would ride up if it hit bottom and then drop back down in deeper water.
Ron
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awoodman
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Location: Bates city Mo.

Re: Koholo 14: Zebra Beast

Post by awoodman »

bowgarguide wrote:I bet you could hing a fin where it would ride up if it hit bottom and then drop back down in deeper water.
Ron
Ron like a retractable skeg I did on my last SOF...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mo_kayaks/ ... 143894211/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://messing-about.com/forums/topic/8 ... able-skeg/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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