Sea trial...

The proud but skeptical captain awaits his fate at sea... well worst case boat sinks and I stand up in 3ft of water and walk to shore. All things considered, she is very stable, you may not be standing up to fight that striper, but definitely stable enough to take the littleman off momma's hands on a sunny afternoon. She's quite nimble and tracks straight, this sea trial deemed a success!

Stern plate

Had to sure up the stern now that the sheer clamps are no longer attached together. This pine, stern plate (+ a little epoxy filler) ensures a true stern as well as a sturdy platform to attach a nice piece of hardwood to. But now, will she track straight? Will the extra drag slow her down? A sea trial is in order.

Tough decision

When the stern came together, it never lined up correctly ie perpendicular to the floor. It seemed to be favoring the port side, many conversations with esteemed captains, it was decided the stern must be attended to as it may make the boat go in circles. The thought of cutting off the stern was similar to hacking ones leg off. Finally, with enough courage, the Japanese saw was put to work. I took exactly 10 inches off from the tip of the stern on the bottom panel at a 30 degree angle towards the bow. The idea now is to find some nice dark hardwood and create a flat angled stern. This will also provide an area for some gold leaf lettering. The name 'HACK' seems fitting.

The deck removed

With the deck complete, it was time to remove the staples and and pry it away from the molds. Next step will be to fiberglass the underside to give it strength.

The deck continues...

Decided to add one more accent of red cedar (b/c I had some) that follows the inside line of the coaming.

Simple but tedious

I mentioned earlier stripping the deck was simple, well maybe I lied a bit, this took a good bit of time to lay out, measure, cut and fit.

Start strippin...

Well now the task is simple, lay down a cedar strip on each side until the deck is completed. You can get crazy with your design using different color strips. I chose a simple design that outlines the kayak with the dark red cedar. I've also laid a single red cedar strip down the center line. The remaining area will be filled with white cedar.

Temporary deck molds.

Now that her hull has been glassed its time to flip her over again and begin to build the deck from 3/4 inch cedar strips. This makes the kayak a 'hybrid' type, meaning the deck is strip built and the hull is stitch, glue and plywood. We begin by creating molds every so often so that the strips have somewhere to be temporarily tacked in place. I had a difficult time creating the molds and getting them to fit properly, so initially I inquired about purchasing them from CLC, they obliged, but the budget could not afford them. So I took some fiberboard that was laying around and created some molds that I hope will do the job.

Working not posting...

Sorry for the delay in posts... after she was flipped over, the chines where the bottom panels and sheer panels met needed to be rounded over, then quite a bit of sanding was in order to prepare the hull for fiberglass. 150 grit for the bottom painted sections of the hull and down to 220 for the sheer panels as they will be finished bright. Also added some dynel and graphite to toughen up the bow and stern.