Kayak Build, Part 10

Finally, the kayak has been launched! With summer holiday time approaching later this week we had to try the kayak out in the water for leaks before it was officially launched in the ocean. I had bad visions of hiking down to the ocean with the kayak, only to discover it was not going to float, so opted to try in the lake by our house before we left on holiday.

Little J was pretty excited, and even dressed up in his wetsuit for the occasion! We carried the kayak down to the water, and set about getting ready. Skipper Dave attended the launch, and had to explain to Little J about how we need to christen the boat before launching it. Although he wanted to use champagne, we brought the next best thing: a can of Coke! After a few tries, the kayak was christened, but the name is still up for debate: Scurvy Dog, Red Rock or Mario. I am secretly hoping he has some better names in mind...

As Little J paddled about, a flock of Canada Geese even came up to check out the new kayak:

There still was quite a bit of water in the back compartment, so the seal on the hatch wasn't 100% watertight. I may need to rig up a knob that turns and compresses the seal more, otherwise everything in the hatch will need to be put in a watertight bag. As well there is still a few things left to do to finally called it "finished!", such as paint the hatch cover, do lettering, and make a seat back cushion.

I estimate the time to build it was around 150 hours. There was much time spent working out the magnets to hold the hatch down, plus to make and epoxy / varnish the wooden tie-downs. Other unexpected things included having to re-sand and paint parts of the boat added a few hours, having an 8 year old helping, and generally not knowing what I was doing all the time and just sitting there looking at the boards wondering "How will this fit together?". If I were to do it again, I think I could easily do it in 100 hours or so, including painting and varnishing. Although, if I were suggest to do it again, I am not sure LP-ette will let me.

Kayak Build, Part 9

We finally finished the painting, and have almost finished all the small parts! It is true that the last 10% is 90% of the work.



Little J helped do the final painting steps, which took about 3 weeks longer than anticipated. We ran into problems with the easypoxy on the combing for some reason, and had to sand it off. There was a yellow film that appeared and was fairly tacky, so not once, not twice, but three times it needed removed and sanded down to the wood. Even the final coats also would not setup properly in a few small places and is still a little tacky in places. I have a feeling this winter will be sanding and refinishing the combing all over again.

One thing Jordan also helped (and picked) was the red tie-down bungie cords. I am not sure I am totally sold on the color combinations he chose, but it was his kayak, so he got to pick. He is lobbying hard to name it "The Scurvy Dog", so I really hope to change his mind!

The Hatch:

The hatch is still not quite finished yet, but we did get the magnets all epoxied in, which seems to hold it down fairly tight. I talked a little about it in Part 4, but actually didn't know if it would work until I got it all built.

Here you can see we put 10 magnets around the hatch, each inset into the deck and epoxied/fiber glassed over them:





On the hatch, we ran into problems and had to cut some reliefs in the stiffner and then re-stiffen it with a camber to match the deck, finally just epoxying the magnets right on top of the wood. I will have to finish the hatch with an epoxy spread, and then paint it all white to match. Ultimately we will tie the hatch down with a bungie inside, just in case it the magnets let lose and it comes off.



It was actually a pretty tight fit, and I needed to put a knife in to pry the it off and break the magnetic seal. To finish the hatch we will either need to put a pull hole in the hatch, or a knob on the top to help open it.

Still to do:

• Finish the seat for Jordan, as it needs to be adjustable for his small height.
• Splice the ends of the rope together where the carry points are (I just tied them in a knot for now).
• Talk Little J out of naming it "The Scurvy Dog" and into something more, er, normal.
• Still some touch-up paint that needs done where the white bled through the tape.
• Install a water bottle holder. Yes, Little J has insisted on such an addition.
• End-pour, and if needed, some floats inside for buoyancy.
  

It is good enough for now to take it for the inaugural spin this weekend at the lake, then it will be packed up and will head up to Hornby Island for the remainder of it's life.

Next post will be Part 10 of the Kayak Build, and hopefully my last (for now). Then I will have to covertly figure out how to build a SUP....

Little J joins the Volunteer Fire Department

Little J hanging out in one of the HIFD trucks. Thanks to Doug for giving us a tour! He was secretly looking for how to turn on the lights when he thought nobody was looking....



When we got back LP-ette asked me if I would join the rank of volunteer fireman if we moved up here. I think that his her way of placating me for when I wanted to go to back to medical school but was told "not during this marriage you're not", or something similar to that.