Chesapeake 17 and Sail Rig Assumptions

Hello from Guam, again.

I am on the verge of ordering a Ch17 and following up with a 55sf sailrig in a few months. I am planning on purchasing the entire CH17 kit but only purchasing the amas for the sailrig and building the rest of the sailrig from plans.  

I am, as a new builder, making these assumptions.  Please uphold or knock them down so I don't make an ASS out of U and ME.  Mostly me... :-)

1) Instaling the foot brace rudder system (from the sailrig) during kayak assembly would be easier due to access.  Or install it after the kayak has been built as a modification.

2) Sailrig:  Could I use locally purchased 6061 tubing that is the same size 1.5" and diameter 1/8" wall thickness vs. paying big bucks to ship one to Guam?  Or even purchase carbon fiber tubes of similar sizes.   

3) Sailrig Akas.  From what I can glean the akas for the sail rig are layered wood.  What is the nature of this wood?  Is it plywood, solid wood?  I have yet to buy the manual for the Sailrig.

Asking so I know what I may be getting into since Guam is so far and so expensive to get stuff here.  Shipping of the Sailrig costs as much as the full kit itself.


5 replies:

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RE: Chesapeake 17 and Sail Rig Assumptions

1. Yes. Everything related to footbraces and pedals is very much easier without a deck in the way.

2. Yes. As long as all the specs match there's no reason to pay for shipping halfway around the world.  A carbon fiber mast would be a very nice substitution, as long as it's right about the same flexibility as the aluminum one.

3. The akas are exactly the same wood as the kayak is made from - thin okoume plywood. They're built exactly the same way as the Chesapeake series of kayaks, with solid sheer clamps, internal bulkheads, etc. The main difference is that the deck is not curved.

Have fun,

Laszlo

 

RE: Chesapeake 17 and Sail Rig Assumptions

   Many years ago I built a trimaran. While a little bigger than what you will end up with the principles should hold the same.

I like the look of the CLC kit, but shipping it to guam would give me second guesses. I would get just the plans and source local materials for the akas.

On the above trimaran I actually used marine grade plywood to build a frame and key bulk heads, I then took a bunch of scrap foam and filled and shaped between the bulk heads, covered with plastic and tape, and then fiberglassed the crap out of it.

One area of change is that since that time I have found greatstuff and total boats expanding foam. If I do a project like the trimaran I am likely to use expanding foam and a hot knife.

I think you would be looking for strength and floatation, the above did the trick for me and I would use again.

One other thing I might do, Guam has a long history of multi-hulled craft, you may be able to find a museum or even some working craft to see and get some ideas as to how the locals have accomplished the same build with hyper local materials.

RE: Chesapeake 17 and Sail Rig Assumptions

   Just a point of clarification:  the akas (crossbeams) are a glued laminate of 1/8" strips of solid wood, glued up against a form. I believe the wood used for my SailRig was cypress, but any light, strong wood should suffice.  Happy building!

RE: Chesapeake 17 and Sail Rig Assumptions

Good catch Peter! You're absolutely correct, I got my akas and amas mixed up.

Laszlo

RE: Chesapeake 17 and Sail Rig Assumptions

   Lazlo,

Thanks for the assessments!

Peter thanks for the aka vs ama heads up.

dmiddad: thanks for mentioning the Guam multihull past.  Its so obvious...  I will be diving into those sources to see how I can use it to build my vessel!

 

 

 

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