Day 7

I would have to say that I am really enjoying this kayak building lark.  There is something immensely satisfying about building something that you will paddle that should keep you on the sunny side of the water line.  However... down to business.

Not a huge amount done today.   Built a prototype of a small coaming (hatch size rather than body size) by cutting a 800x 40 mm length of 3 ply (7mm) plywood and giving it a bath for a couple of hours.  The result was a very pliable piece of ply which I could bend into a 200mm dia circle.  This is now drying and I will see if it is any good tomorrow.  However, I had another look at Tom Yost's web site and found this http://www.yostwerks.com/SBCoamingA.html which shows, in some detail, how to build a coaming from 13mm ply.  Not for the purists mind you (and is a bit wasteful on plywood) but will work for me very nicely.  Tomorrow I will visit the kayak shops to get the measurements for a spray skirt so that I can build this object d'art to the correct size.  Then down to Bunnings for some more ply and time to have fun the the jigsaw again.  

Since writing the above I have been all over Toms web site again.  He has a whole pile of construction methods for coamings, all of which could be used for my project.  My guess is that I will do the plywood method outlined above simply because it is easy.  However, I particularly like the method he suggested using 18" quilting hoops.  Nice one Tom.  :-)

I haven't heard so I guess the polyester wont be here till Tuesday.  dang.

Did I say that I want to do some multi-day expeditions in the kayak.  That means taking a bit more care about including some multi-day features like...

1.  Extra stowage.  I am going to create stowage space behind the cockpit but, as it is quite narrow, I think I will only get the tent, food items and utensils in there.  This means that the seat will have to be removable.  I will try Velcro as my seat sticking down mechanism.  I will also create a hatch cover between profiles 2 and 3.  There is enough room for a 200mm hatch.  Inside the space I will have a dry bag big enough for my sleeping bag, bed roll and dry clothing.  These stowage areas will have a ply floor to ensure the packages to not touch the fabric skin.

2.  Extra grab lines (I am sure there is a technical name for these) around the kayak edge.  

3.  Easy reach waterproof bags for things like maps, navigation and communication equipment.

I am looking forward to that part of the fitout.

BTW.  Looks like I can get a source of block polystyrene which I can cut into shape and stuff into the bow and stern, to act as a flotation aid in case of 'on water' disaster.  

Tony Calvert posted a great discussion piece on various design architectures for Skin on Frame kayaks.   If he is OK with the idea (I need to ask first) I will post it on the blog at some stage.

Anyway.  Sorry.  No pictures today.  Tomorrow should be lots of fun and Tuesday even better.