I started rigging the kayak today. I finished the tabs for the deck rigging and paddle park. I also carved a ball from a block of WRC for the park/handle and sanded the toggles for the deck rigging. I’ll finish the front rigging tomorrow and with any luck actually get to paddle it this weekend.

You can see my fat Greenland Paddle in this picture. I still need to plane the blades a bit thinner but I wanted to paddle with it before doing so to see if it made much difference. It was carved out of a near perfect green 2×6 WRC that Tony and I found at Home Depot. We had to have looked at 1000 boards before he spotted this one buried amongst the usual crap they sell. I’m now on the prowl for a suitable board for a spare/storm paddle.

I went out with good buddy Kurt Maurer yesterday to get a bit more practice on rolling. I played around in the shallows for a while and was getting the hip flick and lay-back down pretty good. I was also playing with a sculling roll.

All that seemed pretty easy, but in deeper water, your mind and adrenalin plays tricks on you. After kayaking for a while and sight seeing in some of the canals of Jamaica Beach Texas, I had Kurt get into position for a bow assist if needed. More »

I got the nylon fabric for the spray skirt in the mail this week. It is a little thinner than I expected but it seems to hold water and it is very tough. I’ll be sure to post pictures and a review once I get to paddle with it.

For those curious, I got the 420 Denier Packcloth from Denver Fabrics. It was $5/yd and I got 3 each of red and yellow. Should be enough to make two or three skirts.

Hello Everyone,

 

My Name is Michael Sargent, a mad keen DIY enthusiast.

I have tried my hand at a few endeavors house renovations, Kart Racing, Custom Motorbikes, Stitch and Glue dinghy building, but now believe I am truly hooked on Kayak building.

 

I am lucky to have better than average drafting skills and some exposure to Marine building.  I hang around a group of guy’s, loosely referred to as a Boat Building Club.  Not a lot of building but plenty of stories.  A very practical group, who go out of their way to help anyone build any craft they choose.  

 

Although a few members are shocked at my decision to abandon 50 years of boat building evolution (their description of stitch and glue construction) to revert back to strip planking. I don’t think they understand or appreciate the beauty and craftsmanship involved. I don’t dislike stitch and glue, I still believe it is a good quick way to hit the water.  I am still concidering using vinyl sheets to take the shapes from my forms and quickly build a S&G proto-type to be sure the craft will be stable in the water.

 

After doing a lot of web based research on what to build stitch and glue, strip plank, get a kit or purchase plans? I have decided why purchase a pre cut kit when I can build my own designed strip plank Kayak from first principles.  Obviously I have drawn heavily from designs and looks I like, there are a few key elements that must be maintained to be a Kayak so all will have some features in common.  I will post a plan of my design, all are welcome, however I would suggest waiting until I get a bit further along to prove the design.  I am sure there will be many minor alterations along the way. I will document all of these as building notes that I will also make available.

 

People that know me understand I often aim quite high. So far I have progressed to a point of making stands, cutting out the ribs and dry assembling the Kayak form to get a feel for how it will look.

 

I am struggling to decide if I should use a local Laser cutting company to re-cut the forms or stay with what I have and sand away the imperfections. I printed he forms on to A3 paper and traced through the outline with a pin punch at 10mm steps.   I then cut them out with a hand held jigsaw.  Perhaps some one out there has been down this road, does a 1mm deflection show up in the finished build? Or perhaps I am being too much of a perfectionist?

 

BFN

 

 

MikeS

I heard from Mike Sargent, (from Oz) he has completed a very nice sailing dingy and is starting on a kayak. He can also motor the dingy with a small outboard he found on EBay. Here’s a picture of the boat and you can click on it for a gallery of how he did it. Also, in the gallery, is a good view of how the kayak is coming along. So far no strips, but the forms look like it will be pretty cool!

Tony

Well, the trip to Iowa is about over.  We are in St Louis right now and will be flying out in the morning at 9:30.  It will sure be good to get back home and mow the lawn…  yeah right..  Looking forward to kayaking with Kurt again and getting the boat wet.

I saw quite a few kayak racks on the trip.  My old home town of about 5,000 had quite a few cars and trucks with racks on them and I saw a few SOT’s on some of those racks.  I haven’t seen many racks or kayaks here in St. Louis though.

A little more on the Sea Ranger stripper:  When I glassed the hull, I didn’t do any fill coats.  One reason was that I wanted to save a bit of weight and the other is that I wanted to see if it would slide through the water a bit easier as in ’shark skin’ hulled boats.  Not having anything to compare to, can’t really tell if the departure from laminar flow is helping any, but suspect it is.  When I taped the shear, I used a scraper to even it out and applied a very thin coat to get back to transparency.

That’s about all the news that isn’t from here, catch y’all later..

Tony

John has posted a few nice pages with some great information. I especially love the way he’s got seven kayaks packed into a two stall garage and still has room to spare for his cars.

I may try to make a set of the J racks before my next trip to Gavleston.

Taking Lines From a Kayak
Roof Rack

Storing Kayaks

I’m sure that many of you have noticed the new look. Please drop a comment below to let us know what you think. If there are any other features or kayak related services you’d like to see please let us know.

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New Hat:
You should notice the new hat pictured above. Can you belive that Tony actually bought a new hat? Say good bye to those rusty rivets and that salt stained brim. I think maybe he took Kurt’s advice and bought a hat that floats now that he’s got some mad rolling skills.

Yeah, I know it’s about time I did it. Anyway, here’s what I have done so far:

1.) bungee on the front end with a bead to hold the paddle.

2.) 4 bungees just ahead of the cockpit to hold lord knows what

3.) hip and knee pads in the cockpit

Still to go is bungees behind the cockpit and one on the tail end with a bead… Actually a wooden ball. I knew a guy with a wooden leg once, but….. oh never mind..

Here’s a picture with more if ya want just by clicking on this one.

Later.. Tony Olsen

I finally got a chance to get together with Tony his wooden Sea Ranger, and what a day it was! Besides just a particularly pleasant day of paddling, I got to play with the hot new boat, and then see one of the most amazing and gratifying things I’ve ever witnessed.

We unloaded and made ready to hit the water. Tony said “wanna try ‘er out before we get going?” As if you have to ask me twice. Okay, where do we start? How ’bout here: I’m a devout Outer Island driver, totally in love with it, and well into my second season with that design, so that’s why there’s gonna be constant references to it.

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