Days 1, 2 and 3

This project started on the 18th of February 2009 with a trip or two to get the materials.  In the end I as using:

2 sheets of 'Super light 3.6mm ply', suitable for exterior use, from BBS Timbers Limited.  This comes in sheet sizes of 1220x 2420 or there abouts and has a clean light wood finish.  I am not sure of the actual exterior wood.

West System Z206 Hardener, Z105 Resin and 406 Col Silica as a resin thickener for gluing.  This was obtained from Burnsco.

The design is one given to me to use for this project from Carl, who is a member of the NZ kayak builders forum.  It is about 2.6 metres log and looks fast.  :-).  Having said that, this is the first Stitch and Glue build of the design.

The first trick  was to join the two sheets of ply such that the joined piece was long enough for the panels to be laid out in full.  This required a scarf joint for the full width of the ply sheet.  

One Ocean Kayaks have a great resource for building Stitch and Glue kayak including a page a scarfing plywood.  It is worth a look.

Getting a tidy scarf is not easy.  I would give this effort a 7/10 but it took two tries.  In the first try I used an electric planner to speed cutting the scarf.  Not a great idea.   Not matter how careful I was, I ended up over cutting the scarf.  So I re-cut the scarf with a hand plane.  It took time and was very exacting.  Next time will be better.

The epoxy, thickened with the 406 Col Silica worked well.  There is not a lot of pot life after mixing but enough to apply the resin and set the scarf in place.  I used thin plastic to protect the ply from sticking to the bench.  This worked very well.

The resin took about 24 hours to get very hard.

I drew the panels directly on the the back of the ply.  I used the back because it allowed me a bit of latitude to make pencil marks without having to worry that they be removed.  In addition I will be cutting the ply with a jigsaw.  In the past I have found that the underside (in this case the best side) has the best cut.

The positioning of the panels on the ply sheet required careful placement.  I nearly screwed this up and had overlapping panels.  DOH.  To avoid this start form the centre of the ply and work out.  better still is to draw the panels on heavy packing paper, cut then out and place then on the ply to ensure no overlap.  I was lucky but it was millimeter close.

The panels are now ready for cutting.

I knew these computer books would come in handy some day.

Cutting the scarf with a hand plane.  Slow and exacting.

Both scarfs cut.  Note that the top piece of ply is cut upside down.  Also note the book from West Systems on applying resin.  This book costs little and is a great resource.  Get it.

When you have applied the resin then you need to clamp the joint (or weigh it down) as best you can.  A 1.2m wide scarf requires a lot of very big clamps... of just something heavy.  This is what i rustled up in 5 minutes and it worked a treat.  Don't forget to use a plastic sheet both under and over the joint so that the resin does not stick the ply to the workbench or weights.

Pre-start blah.

So why build a surf kayak.  The answer has three parts which can be summarised as... fun, have fun and learn something.  Enigmatic answer I know but, to start with the last first.

There are many clever people who have built all sorts of kayaks and have all sorts of web sites describing how they did it.  I use these and follow their suggestions.  Where I have gained value I will post the address so that you can also use that site.  In this way I learn the "how to's".  However I have also found that there are not many "what not to do's" mentioned.  You findout about "what not to do" by error.  I hope that by reading this journey, you will make a few less mistakes than me.  :-).  Not that I mind making mistakes.  That is how I learn best.  But, I can promise you, some are real DOH material.

Secondly I want to learn the Stitch and Glue technique for building water craft.  This is the best way to make a great kayak on the dining room table.

Which brings me to the fun part.  These are really fun to paddle... based on what I have seen at Sumner Beach in New Zealand and on Youtube.  They are zippy little speedsters and great to learn real kayak techniques with.  But that is not all.  :-)  They look like a lot of fun to build, and I am into building what I use... and using what I build.

Have a look at this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5670tEppKw

So... the goals are.

1.  Build it.

2.  Surf it.

Simple... :-)