If n' When II -- Hull

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There was a big discussion last year on the Kayak Building Bulletin Board hosted by Nick Schade of Guillemot Kayaks about strong back design. I knew before I started that I would want to build more than one boat, so I wanted something that would be easily reusable. I also wanted something that would be easy to store when it wasn't being used. I settled on a length of 2" x .125" square steel tube, and a fist full of 2" square "U" bolts. While I probably spent more (who's counting??) than building up a plywood box beam, it was quick, easy to adjust for other boat designs, and will be easy to store. Installing the risers was quick and easy using Joe's method.

Several people suggested it was foolish to use the steel beam because it would be "unstable" and might bend or twist more than a wooden strongback. I did make it a point to keep it in the same position in the garage, especially while stripping the sides of the hull. The stations were all marked and drilled per Joe's plans and went in place quickly. I only had one station that I needed to move slightly - every other one resulted in fair curves when I mounted them to the risers with the lines aligned.

Early on in the "dreaming" stage of the project, I'd decided that I wanted to build this boat without staples. On the other hand, I also decided that I wanted to resist my perfectionist tendencies, and be willing to use whatever techniques seemed appropriate for the given situation. The shear strip was held in place with plywood "u" brackets, spring clamps, and hot glue at each station.

As I continued "up" the hull, I tried several techniques. The plywood "u" brackets did reasonably well, especially after gluing sandpaper to both sides of the bracket to reduce slippage. Between the stations, I taped the strips together, initially using masking tape (which tore too easily) and then settling on Scotch brand straping tape. All of the strips from the shear to the football were done with the bead "up." Unlike another hardware store's brand, the Scotch brand didn't get stringy when removing the tape. I continued to use hot glue on occasion in those places where the strips had a tendency to move away from the forms. I was able to do all the stripping to this point over the Labor Day weekend.

Once I reached the "football" I outlined the area with a strip set of poplar / redwood / poplar as an excuse to see how 1/4 x 1/4 strips would work for stripes. The remaining strips on the inside of the football were laid with the cove "in." In most cases, rather than using the "u" brackets, I just stapled short pieces of strip to the forms to hold them in place. I stripped all one side of the football, cut the centerline with a pullsaw, and then stripped the other side of the football.

After watching the "wet exit in mass" at the Rendevous this year, I decided I wanted to get the football as light colored as possible. The dark bottomed boats just don't show up as well in my opinion.

It should be noted that I decided pragmatic was better than stapleless. I used seven staples in the hull at stations 2 and 15 to keep the sides tight to the forms just before starting filling in the football. I suppose I'll fill the holes with slivers of cedar & see if I can hide them. :-)

I set up a guide fabricated out of a 1x6 and a straight 1x2 which I taped to the hull to rout a 1/4 slot along the centerline of the hull. A redwood strip was then inserted to finish the stripping of the hull.

Some of the strips were a bit thicker than they should have been. I made sure that the "proud" side was always to the outside, knowing it would take more work to fair the boat. I brought most everything to fair with the old planes as well as a new Stanley low angle block plane. For the concave areas at the bow I used a spokeshave.

At this point, the stern external stem has been epoxied in place and shaped, and about half of the sanding has been completed. The bow stem, final sanding, and glass/epoxy will have to wait until we return from a week on the Green River!