Day 4

It got up to, depending on who you read, 35C or 40C today.  Who ever was right, it mattered little.  It was hot.  In the end, due to the need to get aged relative on a plane, I did not start thinking building till about 1:30pm.  Then, of course, I needed to go to the local Bunnings for some ply, and timbers.  They see me coming and always put out their best specials just to tempt me.  But I was strong and came away with only the ply, some timber for the bow and stern, a rasp and a small plane (for planning), and some more screws.  :-).  Think of all the things I could have bought.

By the time I got assembled it was 4 pm and the heat was slowly dissipating.  That gave me 4 good hours to figure out how to build the bow and stern.  In the end I added a further profile to the bow which took some time and plenty of creative talent with a jig saw.  I then made a real hash of drawing the gunwales into the bow.  It looks like the after shot of a dogs breakfast.  However I will apply significant quantities of glue and cover the whole thing in fabric so that it wont look to bad, at a distance of 5kms on a dark night.

Had to do some jiggery pokery with the keelson at the bow which had developed a definite 'kink' to the left.  Again, creative work with the jigsaw and rasp saved some pride.

Been in correspondence with Tony and Grant Glazer about my using Gorilla Glue.  Perhaps this was not the best choice I could have made for glue, but it is done now.  I am however tempted to give the frame a good two or three coats of something to make the timbers and joints water proof.  

After looking at Grants great blog on his building effort http://islandpaddler.blogspot.com/2006_09_01_archive.html I am in awe of the ability of these more experienced guys to make something that looks both fabulous and functional.  I also noted that he 'beefed up' the thickness of the profiles.  Oooooppppps.  In the absence of any instruction I beefed mine down.... so it will be interesting.  In theory the kayak should float better (less weight), that is until the profiles snap and it sinks.   However I suspect that damage to the profiles is done either during launching, or on dry land.  So I am picking that this is not a life threatening issue.  However I might just have a look at profile 5 again (immediately behind the cockpit) and perhaps add a little comfort factor.  :-).

In the end, I added both bow and stern today.  Tomorrow is all about rasping and planing to eliminate all sharp edges and (depending on what the blokes say) some painting.  Also I will order the fabric.  

I am still planning on launching next weekend though I am prepared to delay a couple of days in order to ensure that the kayak is floatable.  I will endure any resulting derision as best as I can.  :-)

You will be please to know that some people (who, I think, have no idea about sea kayaking (and includes my aged mother)) have said very complementary things about my endeavors to date.  My son however, who should have known better, considering I could still change my will, asked how the "life raft" was going and proposed I call it "the Titanic".  Ha.

The photos are just to prove that I did actually do some thing today.  Other than that, I would not waste my time looking at them.

Look at the mess I made with the gunwales.  Making this particular cut is something I have to learn before I die.

At the end of a hot day but I have a feeling that this thing might just float.  Note the extensive use of the garage walls to protect me from the suns harmful rays.

Roll on day 5.