Any Kayakers...?

Being a west coast Canadian living on an island in the Pacific Ocean, I kayak as do many folk. I was just wondering if there is any other enthusiasts out there in the B&B world.
here are some pics of the frame on skin boat I built last year.

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On the strong back laying strips. Salvaged red cedar strips.

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Off the strong back, floor cross members in. Stem and stern, yellow cedar.



Deck members now done.

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Skin ready. Rigid construction, bronze screws and epoxy.

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Skinned. 24 inches wide by 17 feet long.

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In the water, light and fast. The yak, not the paddler.

That is so cool! Makes me want to start working in wood.

Tell us more about the skin used.

The design is a based on a greenland boat, however used modern construction techniques instead of steamed, bent and lashed frames. You will notice the trestling on the sides. lashed yaks are very flexible and the give contributes to the strength. This style is rgid and all the layers including the skin and the outer gunwales and keelson add to the strength as well. At the time of building and launch I was 235 lbs, this yak weighs about 28 lbs and takes the weigh with ease.

After a lot of consideration I went with "old school" on the skin and finish. There are a lot of synthetic fabrics and epoxys available, but there are pros and cons. I went with 10 oz canvas as it stretches on the bias very well. Classic skinning is done in one piece pulled up from the bottom and seamed on the upper deck. This style is pulled in two pieces, upper and lower and seamed at the gunwales with a final gunwale cap which pinches the seam. It is a very clean look and a good seal. The design calls for a split at the bow and stern, however if you look at the skinned pic you may notice that I was able to stretch the canvas without splitting it. The stretch was so tight, I did not need to shrink it.

So "old school" on finish believe it or not is a good quality exterior enamel oil based house paint loaded with micro bubbles. Micro bubbles are synthetic micro beads that thicken the paint and fill the weave of the canvas and sands easily. This is called breaking the weave or filling in the gaps in the weave. Two coats and then carefully sanded down to flush without worring the canvas, freying it. Final coats are two coats of latex exterior.

So, canvas covered with paint, criminally summarizing. Speaking as someone with no experience in this area, it would seem as if cracks would develop fairly quickly, with weathering, and water leaks would result.

This reminds me of the time or two I was around planes being covered with painted fabric. The fabric wasn't all that substantial. And, when I felt the finished, painted, dried fabric it still had lots of give. (I flew in the thing, so I was foolhardy, or overly paranoid.)

nice work that looks awesome

Nice! Hard to beat a wooden boat.

LarryAndro said:

So, canvas covered with paint, criminally summarizing. Speaking as someone with no experience in this area, it would seem as if cracks would develop fairly quickly, with weathering, and water leaks would result.

This reminds me of the time or two I was around planes being covered with painted fabric. The fabric wasn't all that substantial. And, when I felt the finished, painted, dried fabric it still had lots of give. (I flew in the thing, so I was foolhardy, or overly paranoid.)

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The fabric on aircraft needs some give because of temperature fluctuations encountered during the flight. If it was as tight as possible it could tear.

I was on the river in a raft during our July 4th fireworks. There were a lot of other boats out there as well, mostly kayaks. We noticed that the people in kayaks didn't talk at all compared to those in canoes and rafts. As one guy put it, "They weren't very kayaky."

LarryAndro said:

So, canvas covered with paint, criminally summarizing. Speaking as someone with no experience in this area, it would seem as if cracks would develop fairly quickly, with weathering, and water leaks would result.

This reminds me of the time or two I was around planes being covered with painted fabric. The fabric wasn't all that substantial. And, when I felt the finished, painted, dried fabric it still had lots of give. (I flew in the thing, so I was foolhardy, or overly paranoid.)

Click to expand...

I built a canvas-skinned kayak. I used exterior rated gloss oil paint. It soaks into the canvas. It also stays somewhat flexible. It probably would crack if you could get on thick enough, but I did not have that problem. My kayak was more like an eastern North Carolina duck boat than the beautiful boat shown in this thread. People down east make these flimsy-looking things out of scrap wood and canvas and oil paint. They actually get out on cold water and shoot ducks from them.

_JP_ said:

... As one guy put it, "They weren't very kayaky."

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Even repeating a pun like this should be grounds for something dire...

The worst enemy to any boat is UV, sunlight. This boat is kept in a shed and has been in and out of the salt and fresh water, always washed after salt, dragged over sandy and rocky beaches, I do avoid sharp rocks and shells, almost a year and half since final coat and it looks like new. Modern paint actually takes enormous amounts of time to fully cure, especially water borne, that's why I switch to latex for top coats. This isn't my wisdom, I have picked the brains of all the local small boat experts. As well I used minimum coats required. My research tells me that I may need to refinish this boat probably once every 4 years. Depends on exposure mostly. I have seen and had canvas covered boats that crack over time.

The curse of wooden based boats is maintenance, but in my mind, you can't beat the beauty of them.

Any other boat builders out there...? Pictures, we need pictures, or even boat owners. I may even like looking at pictures of boats more then pictures of razors.

I have kayaks but have never built one. Both of mine (same boats for my brother and I) are just used for river running. Although I want to get a white water kayak/river runner and a 14ft w/ rudder kayak for the bay.

I have a pair of 14 foot yaks with planing hulls...they are called crossovers as they will tour or do some white water. I hope to take to the west side of the island this summer and surf them. Too old to stand on a board, thought sitting in a yak with a foot controlled rudder may be a better way to go...