Re: tips for a new builde

Posted by Kurt Maurer on Aug 22, 2004

Ray, it's an interesting question you pose, but still, you give us little to go on. Lotsa folks will consider it a high accomplishment just to end up with a halfway decent, usable boat after it's all over (although it seems like they almost always turn out way more than they expected). On the other end of the spectrum are those who go into it for the first time with rather definite exit strageties (no, do not ask Bush or Kerry about this).

You sound like you're ready to rock 'n' roll, dude. Maybe you oughta consider flush hatches. Or a custom cockpit coaming. Or how 'bout a hybrid kayak, you know, with a cedar stripped deck? Or keep it relatively simple with rice paper graphic underlay, or veneer overlay, designs. If you're really hip as a builder, the finest of all mods is to keep it lightweight, and to do this, you will learn about using epoxy by reading the manufacturer's literature in order to fully understand the stuff, and by performing small test sample work before going into the bigger jobs, and thus divining how to use the minumum, yet safe, amounts for your purposes (hint: epoxy will move the needle on the ol' scale more than anything else you have meaningful control over in boat building).

I'll stop here, and hope you respond with a little more meat on the bone of where you're at as a prospective kayak builder. In the meantime, check out my websites if you want to see lotsa modification stuff performed by an idiot newbie.

Cheers, Kurt

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Pair O' Mill Creeks Project

In Response to: tips for a new builder ? by Ray on Aug 22, 2004

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