802Projects

Kayak

This kayak took me a long time to build. I started it a year after finishing my canoe. I had enough cedar strips left over from my canoe that I didn't need to purchase more wood. I cut out the patterns, built the strongback, and got the frame aligned in my Grandpa's woodshop. Winter came though and I needed to get it out of the shop as my Grandpa would store a vehicle in there. I brought it to my parents basement and began stripping it there. It was a tedious process as I didn't want to secure the strips to the frame with staples. I used this process for the canoe, but I wanted my kayak to not have staple marks. I rigged up a clamp and jig system. This meant I could only put on one strip at a time. Then I had to let the glue dry before continuing. With college starting I could only work on it when I came home for the weekend.

When it came time to sand the kayak, I couldn't do it in my parents basement. They didn't want dust everywhere. So the kayak sat for about 7 years. I finished up college, rented, and then finally bought a house. I brought the kayak back to the house and decided to sand it in my basement over winter:)

When summer came I had the kayak all sanded and fiberglassed. I moved it out of the basement into the garage. From here I cut out the cockpit opening and storage opening. I epoxied the top on. The rub frails and combing are made from oak.

I brought it back in the basement to varnish. I applied 3 coats of woodspar poly. I used stainless hardware for the nylon storage lines on top. I bought a seat back support that straps in underneath the combing. The seat cushion itself is a foam one made for a Necky kayak. It just sits in the bottom. Between the storage container and cockpit I have a 3" microfoam watertight barrier. That fall I took it out and paddled around Lake Carmi. My old Canoe Class teacher went with me.