Re: chesapeake 17

Posted by John Foster on Nov 9, 2005

Mac, I am finishing up my Solace 16XL. I am 6 ft, 210 lbs 32" inseam. They have two bulkhead placements I put mine in the smaller, shorter position to save on pumping water out. Not enuff room to really use the footbraces, I like to stretch out and relax, too small for that. The boat doesn`t semm to weathercock at all, tracks very well, no rudder or skeg, of course it doesn`t turn real quick. More technique cures that. The kit has thse tabs you mark and then sand off, skip that, ask them to send you the bulkhead placement in inches from the bow. MUCH easier. The construction is different from CLC in that the hull is wired together over the bulkheads, then the deck is assembled and wired together over the hull, the deck is then taped in place, then the whole yak is tack welded with dookie. The deck is not affixed to the hull until it is first removed, epoxied underside, then put back on the hull, for final wire and dookie and glass. Probably commonsense to most. But this is my first, I built the hull first, then tried to assemble the deck after the hull was 90% complete. Big mistake, causing me untold hours of fiddling. The plans have you alternately building a nice seat as you build the rest of the boat. I got lost, didn`t use their seat, I want a swivel seat for my lower back. If I hadn`t done that I would have, as even a first timer, had the thing floating in less than sixty hours. The panels all fit like a glove. I would rate the kit as an A+, My following the directions a C-. I have been in a bunch of yaks as a beginner, I like the CD Gulfstream the best, this boat seems close to that. I don`t know of anything extra needed to build the boat. So there you have it, a first hand account. My apologies to CLC for kind of Hi-jacking their forum. But someone may just decide to build a Chessie as they are easier to build. Good nite and good luck! If I ever get to varnish, film at eleven.

In Response to: Re: chesapeake 17 by Mac on Nov 4, 2005

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