"Too Knotty" -- A "Birder 2"

Click on the photos for a larger, uncropped version

As is typically the case, I tend to throw away the instructions when I get to the deck. The designer had a different idea of what the cockpit coaming should look like. I cut this out of a clear piece of Western Red Cedar - it's just a little darker. The top edges were shaped to a 5/16" radius. The bottom had a rabbet cut in it to overlap the deck. It all went together with thickened epoxy and then a layer of 4 oz cloth. Once this cured and was trimmed, the deck was ready to be removed from the forms so I could finish the bottom of the deck.

The under size of the deck was sanded and the bottom corner of the coaming was radiused to 5/16" before glassing. The glass on the bottom of the deck extends up the inside edge of the coaming, resulting in two layers of glass on the inboard side of the coaming. Once the resin cured and the excess cloth was trimmed, I cut the hatches. I did it different than I've done in the past, laying them out and cutting them from the inside rather than the outside. It's slightly less nerve racking when you make the first plunge cut with the sabre saw doing it this way.

In a continued effort to find the easiest way to create hatch lips, I once again tried something different. Short strips of wood were embedded in a base of thickened epoxy perpendicular to the hatch cutout. The underside of this got a layer of 6 oz. glass that extended from the hatch lip onto the underside of the deck, created an quick, strong structure. Once this cured, the inside was trimmed with the sabre saw creating a 1/2" wide lip. (Don't forget to clean any squeeze-out from the radius between the lip and the edge of the hatch cutout. I nearly forgot, but caught it before it was totally cured.)

I notched the lip using a 1/4" rabbet bit in the router. This creates a seat for the foam gasket that will be mounted on the lid. A couple coats of epoxy is all it takes to finish it up.

Instead of magnets like I used on previous boats, I decided to try the "Leidy Lid" approach that Ross Leidy pioneered. Of course, I couldn't do it exactly the same way. I'd heard rumors of wooden hooks popping off of the hatch lids, so I fabricated fiberglass hooks that were seated in thickened epoxy and then covered with a layer of 4 oz glass. I don't think they're going anywhere!

These U-bolts are a bit beefier than what I've used on my kayaks. I had installed a block of cedar in both the bow and stern when glassing the hull. Once the deck was permanently installed, I drilled oversize holes for the U-bolts and filled them with thickened black epoxy. Next step will be to drill the holes through the center of the black epoxy plugs.

The U-bolts are then seated in epoxy in holes. I'll mount a grab handle on each end from these. There's room for rope, or a padlock if the boat ever needs to be secured.

Update - June 20, 2004

Since the last picture, I got the seats carved in the Joe Greenley style, brackets installed for the seat backs, velcro to hold the seat cushions, as well as the Interlux Brightsides Yellow on the hull and Helmsman's Spar Urethane on the inside and the deck. I'm down to covering the seats with very thin neoprene, putting the seat back pads onto the seat backs, installing the grab handles, and putting one coat of varnish in the hatches. Oops - one more project that I hope I can recruit my wife to help with - building a fitted cover for it.

Now the big question is -- Do we test it here, or wait until we get it to the Northwest for it's first trials?

Update - June 26, 2004

I asked the participants on the Wood Kayak Building Bulletin Board for their recommendations regarding testing or waiting. Four of the five respondents recommended testing before the official launching. Who was I to argue? My daughter came along to insure we didn't abuse the boat.

Bob "I'll get my King finished one of these days" Halunka and Greg "no, I haven't varnished my Coho yet" Morse joined me after a morning in our whitewater boats practicing stern squirts on the lower Salt. Since they helped carry the boat, it was only fair that they got to try it! Here, Greg checks out the boat's balance as a solo paddler. The boat seems to handle quite nicely. The seats are close enough together that tandem paddlers need to cooperate. The boat tracks well, responses to leaned turns, and is quite nimble (for a wide boat,) especially in solo mode.

Now, it's back to the garage to wait until it goes to the Northwest for it's official launching.