"Knot Likely" - A Redfish King

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This boat has been on my list since I paddled the prototype at R2K2. I'm very impressed with the handling, and expect it to become my "everyday" boat. I don't plan to document the construction as completely as the Return, but will note those things that I do differently this time. I'm expecting that this boat will use a simpler deck design, an inset compass, magnetic hatches fabricated differently, and thigh braces fabricated differently. Woods will include some light colored knotty western red cedar left over from the first boat, some dark western red cedar, and some Port Orford cedar for the waterline and the deck. I'm going to take some editorial license with the documentation, organizing by subject rather than chronologically.

The construction schedule on this boat will be impacted by a request I received from the Arizona Game & Fish Department. They are filming the construction for use in one of their "AZ Wildlife" PBS TV programs, although I've not promised that I'll be able to get it done before the deadline. Meanwhile, 3 or 4 other local paddlers have decided that they want to build wood kayaks and want to look over my shoulder. Should be interesting. We'll have 2 (maybe three) Kings, a Silver, and a Spring Run all under construction at the same time.

Construction started with a "Ripping Party" on April 5, 2003 where the team cut strips for three boats (they actually cut enough for about 5 boats, but...) while I cut forms and aligned the strongback for the camera crew. Use of the 2x2 square steel tube for the Return's strongback paid off - it was easily reassembled and adjusted for the King forms. Helen Howard (background) will be building a Spring Run, Greg Morse (left) may be building a King or a Guillemot once he quit paddling it long enough to put the finishing touches on his Coho, and Bob Halunka (back to camera) will be building a King.

This time, instead of using 3M spray adhesive, I applied a layer of wood glue to the partical board, let it dry, then brushed on a thinned layer of glue and applied the patterns. I think this method worked out much better, the patterns have stuck tight to the forms. Use of partical board made edge sanding the forms easier and faster as well. I tried to "iron" the patterns to the glue as mentioned on the Kayak Building Bulletin Board, but didn't have success with that technique.

One of the new tool purchases for this boat was a heat gun. It has proved very helpful for dealing with the twists in the strips at the bow and stern. Perhaps even more helpful has been the ability to set the Titebond glue so that I can more quickly apply the next strip. This boat, like the Return, will be built "stapleless." (We used a DeWalt 36 tooth 7.25" "finishing blade" (DW3176) this time - just about 1/8" kurf, and very easy cutting.)

The use of inner tube strips and binder clips between the stations is new to me on this boat, but works very well. The binder clips are much cheaper than the small Pony clamps, and work very well with the rubber strips as well as holding the brackets to keep the shear strip in position. This method is sure neater and faster than the 3M strapping tape I used on the Return!

I'm trying a waterline stripe this time. It's actually a fair amount of extra work, but does allow for the use of some of the short off-cuts. As with the Return, all full length strips will have a scarf splice. The longest board used for this boat was the 13' Port Orford 2x6.

I stripped from the shear to the waterline with dark western red cedar and then below the waterline I used the knotty wood left over from the If n' When II project. I ran out of it as I got to the football, so I slipped in a pinstripe and finished with dark WRC. The pinstripes are amazingly easy. The knots in the hull (and my wife's reaction when I said I was going to build another boat) resulted in the name - "Knot Likely".

I had the hull finished and sanded by May 6th, but waited until May 17th to do the first layer of hull cloth, since Gary want footage for the PBS program he's doing. Early on, I had decided to use 3.25 oz. satin cloth, with a second layer below the waterline. The satin was much more challenging to work with than the 4 & 6 oz. plain weave used on the last boat. I'll be going back to plain weave cloth once I've used up my stock of this material.

I added a second layer of 3.25 oz below the waterline this morning, and then added 4" stripes on the stems / keel this afternoon. I'll do one fill coat (Raka 127/350) tonight and then be ready to flip it over and start on the deck.