# Updates to the kayak



## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

As some may know I built a stitch and glue kayak about 5 or 6 years ago that I very much enjoy. A little over a year and a half ago, I ripped the deck off of her because she needed some work and I decided I'd strip a deck at the same time. I finally got around to actually doing that, so here are a couple of shots of the first few strips going into place. 

The first shot is the fore deck, which has a 16" radius. 
The second shot shows the aft deck, with a 19" radius. 
This boat is a Chesapeake Light Craft NorthBay. She's 18' 7" long with a 21" beam. Really fast boat that handles beautifully once you get used to her.

I'm using painters tape to set the cove and bead strips in place as I glue because I don't like staple holes and this seems to be working just fine. Gluing of the strips is done with TBII and the whole deck will be sandwiched between fiberglass before putting it on the hull.

The deck is primarily white cedar but will have two accent stripes of walnut running the length of the boat and an inlay of walnut and curly maple that is a family of Honu (sea turtles) which will be on the fore deck port side. I've been working a lot on the inlay and it's not fantastic work but I think it will look really nice finished. I don't have a scroll saw and clearly need more practice with a coping saw. Like I said, though, I'll probably be one of very few who actually see the flaws in the finished product.


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

This will be fun to watch. I bet you've had some fun in that. 

I wouldn't have guessed tape would provide the clamping pressure you would want for a tight glue line. And how will you mate the ends of the strips, scarf joints? 











.


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## johnep (Apr 12, 2007)

How about some wide elastic or the rubberised webbing used in upholstery.
Not self adhesive but just secured at each end. Or even a Spanish windlass.
johnep


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Your Kayak build has always impressed me Frank. You take such care in the way you lay out the deck. I still remember all of the comments that were made about you wearing pants, when you posted the pics of the frame covered in clear plastic. :laughing: That project looks like a real back breaker down on the floor like that. Is that where you work on it or do you have some stands that you can put it on. If it were me, I'd be making up a bracket for some saw horses that would support the kayak around waist level. Either way, it's looking great and I can't wait to see the finish product. I especially like the idea of the walnut accent pieces. Great job so far man.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

TT, we'll see if the tape provides enough pressure. So far it seems to be. Most builders use some sort of clamping system that pulls the strips together or they use staples. So far it's clear the glue line is stronger than the wood when I try to move things around a bit so I think I'm safe.

Johnep, that's what a lot of people use as well.

No, I built cradles for the boat orginally, Ken. Right now I've been putting it on the bench but I took it off to take pictures last night and do some cleaning up. I'm really glad to be getting back to this project, though, so hopefully I'll have some progress pics every couple of days. I still have a few decisions to make but I need to get this finished soon as paddling season will be starting in a month or so.


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## tymann09 (Mar 4, 2011)

i'm looking forward to seeing the finished product, i'm sure it'll look nice


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Not too many updates on this yet. I have some more strips done and hopefully I'll get a few more done tonight. I'll definitely upload the latest pics in the next day or so. I ended up buying a used Ryobi scroll saw which is making the inlay work a little cleaner. Still a learning curve, though.

TT, I never noticed your question about the strips. The strips will be full length or "meet" at the cockpit, whereby I won't really have to scarf or butt them because they would just be cut out anyway. Where I put the inlay I'll probably do a minor scarf joint, maybe 45 degree just to reinforce things as the inlay is about 6 inches wide and I'm not planning to rip it into strips. As such, it will be a lot more difficult to put in place without scarfing it at least a little bit. I may end up having to rip it anyway because the radius is going to make bending the curly maple difficult.

I've also rigged up a bungee system for clamping because I was running through tape way too fast. I've gone through about 150 feet of tape and only about half the boat is finished so far. The bungees work reasonably well but they take longer to get in place.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

So I went through my threads and also found the original thread about this project... it was April 2009, only 2 years ago!

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f13/new-kayak-deck-works-9872/


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Okay, here are a few pictures...

1) The boat, bow to stern.

2) An angle from the side of almost the whole boat. This one includes the cockpit coaming so you can tell where I will be sitting.

3) A shot from stern to bow, a little easier to see the height difference between the fore and aft decks. Fore deck is ~10.5 inches in height (centerline) and the aft deck is about 7 inches. Also notice the second aft "accent strip" sitting on the floor to the left of the boat.

4) A shot of the inlay as it is right now... still needs some work and none of the pieces are glued together yet.

5) A final shot of the latest strip. (Right most strip in the picture.) This strip is the first "full length" strip that actually transitions from the 16 inch radius of the fore deck to the 19 inch radius of the aft deck. 

In all of the pics you can see the latest rendition of the bungee and tape "clamp" mechanisms. So far they are working quite well and it's starting to look like a deck again. Yay!


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Slow progress is still progress. I've gotten another dozen or so strips placed. The accent strip is starting to actually show up and I think it will look really nice, despite the obvious small gaps and such. Those will be filled in with epoxy when I glass the deck. 

Here are a couple of pictures, first from the fore deck looking aft and then from the aft deck looking forward.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Fantastic looking progress Frank. It looks incredible. Your skill in this area always amazes me and those turtle inlays are going to be awesome. My wife is a huge lover of turtles and collects them. I showed her your inlays and she thinks they are great as do I. I just hope that she doesn't want me to make her a turtle kayak of her own. :laughing: Great work my friend. Keep it up.
Ken


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## kingcut (Nov 24, 2009)

Looks awesome. I'm building a cedar canoe too right now with bead and cove strips. Check out some of my pics in my thread. Pony makes some nice clamps that work well and allow you to continue building the hull while the others dry. I plan on building a kayak after I'm done.


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## rocklobster (Jun 18, 2008)

I'm not surprised that it takes a little time to make something like that. Those accent lines are really going to look cool. Nice design.

Rob


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## Gerald (Aug 21, 2008)

Frank --That looks awesome. The details really make it special.
You are a very talented man. Keep the pictures coming.
Thanks for sharing.
Gerald


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

A couple more pictures for today. It's really starting to come together and look like a kayak again. After the strips are finished I'll have to scrape them to get a clean surface then it's fiberglass and epoxy time. From there I have to join the hull and the deck and install the bulkheads. Then I get to turn her over and work on her skeg for a while. The plan is to lay up a permanent skeg of mahogany strips right along the keel for about 3 1/2 feet. It will probably be about 3 inches deep, which should give sufficient control to no longer need a retractable skeg and prevent some of the weathercocking that this boat is prone to having. After that I cut the hatches and put on the coaming and take her out to the water.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Some minor updates after a couple weeks of vacation spent in warmer places. I've installed a few more strips in the aft and a couple in the fore deck. Today, while glue was drying on some of those, I started scraping and sanding the fore deck to get a little parallel work going and hopefully get a better idea how bad the "puddy" stage will be. IE how much effort I will spend filling gaps. I'm getting better as I go and my strips are fitting better but it's clear I have room for improvement. Luckily I don't see blemishes as a detractor in this case. Here are a few pics:

The first is the fore deck, the second is the aft deck, and the third is the position where the Honu inlay will be.

The last two pics are the clear skin on frame I built to use while working on this project. Some of you may remember. Over the winter I added two "dry bag" hatches to her. You'll notice she has a hell of a curve to the front end. I didn't let my wood season before I built her and I also didn't secure the stems properly to keep everything lined up. As a result she tends to turn when she's not supposed to but it's easily compensated for with paddling technique.


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## ihackwood (Sep 5, 2009)

nice progress on your kayak frank , i feel your pain in the last couple pics, been there and done that, live and learn right


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## HugeCow inc. (Jun 12, 2010)

looks awesome, i love the accent strip


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Some more progress to note. Nearly finished stripping, though no new pics of that to show for it. Worked on the inlays today. Glued everything in place and used some of the darkened epoxy to fill some of the gaps in the deck. Just a few pics of the inlays today. With these close ups you can see that I used the epoxy judiciously in spots because my intarsia (sp?) isn't so great, yet. As I've said before though, I am pretty satisfied with the way this will look in the final result. I think this is going to look really good under the glass on the boat.


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## HugeCow inc. (Jun 12, 2010)

great work so far, definately looking forward to more pics! :thumbsup:


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## Chippin-in (Feb 4, 2010)

Awesome work. You definately have more patience than I. Cant wait to see it finished.

Robert


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Well my last couple of strips on the aft deck turned out pretty horribly. A couple of significant gaps that I can't quite account for how they appeared. Either way, I'll hopefully have some pics up later tonight for the latest on the deck itself. I planed the inlays down to just slightly thicker than the rest of the strips yesterday and will be gluing the inlay and remaining strips in today, if all goes according to plan. I've been debating whether to plane it even further and just put the thing as an "onlay" rather than an inlay. It will make the last bit of stripping much simpler that way, and I will be able to guarantee the integrity of the deck, but any sanding will make the inlay very very thin and likely to "erase" if I do that... More decisions to be made before the last few strips go in, it seems.


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## Brink (Nov 22, 2010)

So intricate, so many pieces. I wouldn't know where to start.

Nice job.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Here are the latest pics. Today I scarfed the inlay and put it on some forms to give it the radius it needs to match the rest of the deck. I'll probably let it sit that way for a day or two. I also scarfed four or five strips to mate with the inlay and glued a couple into the fore deck. The shorter pieces I glued together but not into the deck, yet. The shorter pieces can be seen in one or two of the full deck shots. I also marked out the cockpit cut-out and did some more sanding of the aft deck to get it clean and tidy. The last thing I did was start rough cutting the overlapping strips to match the hull. Unfortunately you can even do damage to yourself with hand saws. Got a significant cut on my index finger from my fine tooth pull-saw. So, here are some pics:


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

So "according to plan" rarely happens around here with all that is going on all the time. Nevertheless, I finally got the final strips of the main deck installed. After that I did some sanding and cut the cockpit hole, which is now being stripped such that the recessed cockpit can be installed. This allows for easier rolling, supposedly, but we'll see. Attached are a couple of the latest progress pictures.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Frank, this is seriously beautiful work brother. I can't imagine the skill level required to accomplish something like this. You never cease to amaze me. I'm excited to see what this kayak will look like when finished. Spectacular to say the least.
:thumbsup:


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## ihackwood (Sep 5, 2009)

yup i can attest to it being alot of work nice job frank


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## HugeCow inc. (Jun 12, 2010)

you make me want to start kayaking.. excellent work my friend


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

That's awesome! Really great work!

~tom


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## awoodman (Dec 15, 2010)

Frank..... got that yak done yet.. saw you're post over at...
http://www.clcboats.com/forum/clcforum/thread/16969.html


I have built a few this yr...


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

awoodman said:


> Frank..... got that yak done yet.. saw you're post over at...
> http://www.clcboats.com/forum/clcforum/thread/16969.html
> 
> 
> I have built a few this yr...


Nope, haven't finished yet. Actually I was thinking about getting it back down and working on it some more this weekend but it looks like I probably won't have time. Same as always, lots of plans but not a lot of time.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Are you waiting for the wood to dry?


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

So I took the boat out of the rafters a couple weeks back and in the process split the deck stem to stern. It cracked directly down one of the glue lines, so at least it was easy to repair. Hopefully when I get back from vacation I'll get back on the rest and get her water-worthy before summer is over.


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## Ostie (Dec 19, 2010)

Looking forward to some more progress and pics!


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## Adrenalin (Nov 28, 2011)

frankp said:


> So I took the boat out of the rafters a couple weeks back and in the process split the deck stem to stern. It cracked directly down one of the glue lines, so at least it was easy to repair. Hopefully when I get back from vacation I'll get back on the rest and get her water-worthy before summer is over.



Good luck, can't wait to see it finished!


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## autre (Jul 12, 2011)

*All new to me...*

I didn't sign up here until July of last year so this is completely new to me, and I hardly know your face, Frank(p) let alone much/any of your work. I am really rooting for you here and looking forward to seeing you get that kayak in the water!
Best of luck. I'll be watching.


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