Retro51

Well, thanks. I'm not a craftsman - or only a grade B, as I'm fond of saying. I was just working on the hull this morning, and marveled at my "straight lines" and "square corners", some of which aren't. Oh welll, as long as it floats and is easy to paddle, right?

BTW you do a lot of research on techniques and plans, start with something "hopefully" simple, and learn as you go. The joy of paddling something you built - and the occasional comment or praise - is worth it.

srds

Hopefully I can get started on mine in Sept,too many projects.

srds :cool:
Have Fun

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To Camp or Not to Camp -Lets go Camping- Have Fun

Retro51

Well, here's an update. I did a water test on the hull. The shape is rather pleasing, after some changes to the original design, made mostly on the fly because of construction techniquies, measurements, etc. It is more "slab-sided" than I intended. Also, the V-bottom is not uniform -more pronounced to the bow, flattens out midships. I wanted it thin, and chickened out a little and probably didn't make the bottom as narrow as I had intended (a good thing, you will see). The biggest unitentional change, is it has a lot of rocker.

Well, the water test only found one small leak in the center joint of the bottom. I will probably fibreglas the bottom of the hull on this one, which should take care of that. But I also climbed in to paddle around. Oops, it was way more tippy than I expected. I was able to paddle around, but eventually dumped it.

It may be partly because it is more narrow than my other boats. My Cruising Mouse has more rocker, a very pronounced V-bottom, and it is very stable. But...it is about 8 inches wider too. It may also be that it rides too high (more displacement for my weight), and would settle in with more weight. But there's not much freeboard, so I don't want to carry water ballast or anything like that. I will continue the build, and see if it's something I can get used to and feel safe with. If not, I will add outriggers on the rear, hopefully far enough back to not interfere with paddling.

I'll try to get some pics up of the hull, and the finished boat.

Retro51

Just updated my PhotoStream with some build pics of the new Kayak, of my own design. I have painted the inside of the hull, glued down the peaked front deck, and weighted down the flat rear deck for gluing. None of the decks are trimmed yet, but you can get the look of it.

Front Deck on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Retro51

Well I finished the Kayak to the point where I tried it out yesterday. It is way too tippy for my taste. I've seen Kayaks for sale with 19-20 beams, so I don't know for sure what the problem is. I think I built too much rocker, so with my weight, it doesn't settle properly. But I built the sides very low, so more weight would drag it down too far. I added some material around the cockpit to make it sort of have a tumblehome, and put a coaming on the flat rear deck - all to keep water out. I'm trying different seats - to get the COG low enough for it to handle, but still be comfortable in. On Sunday a church group is coming so I will get to try it for an extended trip, if I've got the guts.

It was a good experiment, but my next one will be from plans so I don't have to worry about stability.

Pics on PhotoStream - see previous links.

rockhill

Guess they consider that live and learn. Even if you are not completely satisfied with the result, you gained some experience an knowledge for the next time.

congratulations on the effort and result.

Retro51

So true. It was an experiment in designing my own, using a jig/form and building upside-down, using the 1/8 ply, etc. For the most part, successful. I could tweak the design to build another one or make something longer/shorter/wider/deeper etc using the same technique.

Update (pictures to follow in a few days): I went out with 2 friends in my boats. I was able to give the new one a good test - we paddled probably an hour in windy conditions with some waves. The new additions to the cockpit were a big help in keeping water out and making me feel safer, because I wasn't as likely to "scoop" water when it came up to the side of the cockpit. Although I never dumped it, I still didn't feel totally comfortable. Certainly OK for Granbury near to shore, not so good for unknown territory where I might be 12 miles in the middle of nowhere.

After my friends left, I put on some outriggers (temporarily) and it made all the difference in security. I could even sit on the side. BUt I could feel the increased drag and I wanted a fast, effortless Kayak - that's why I made it soe light and narrow. The outriggers were from another boat - made of 4 in PVC tubes, mounted in the rear. So I'm now designing some more aqua-dynamic outriggers that will "float" more and not drag so much hopefully. I am considering ripping out the cockpuit, and reinforcing the sides to try to mount outriggers for oars, and using it for rowing. It's a perfect shape for a sculling shell.

Another thought occured to me - I can use the dimensions and patterns I have, and throw together a flat-bottomed version fairly quickly. A flat-bottomed boat will go together much quicker. If I do this, I will change some of the problem areas, such as decrease the rocker and maybe make the sides a tad bit higher. Just to see if these design changes make much difference.

Retro51

Uploaded Pics to PhotoStream - try this link or use one from a previous post:
Flickr: ClutchCargo's Photostream
On the water, and three boats on a beach, where we went for a swim. The two boats in the foreground are my home-builts (the Cruising Mouse is turned on it's side - hard to see).