Deck layout

To lay out the deck pattern, I used 1/4 x 1/4 strips in different colors to outline the pattern. I used a hot glue gun to glue the strips to the forms.

Once I have an outline to work to, I can start laying strips. These strips do not get glued to the forms at all. I just glue the strips to each other.

If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you will see the fancy grain in the wood. This is Lace wood from Africa. It is very light weight and very easy to work with. Once it is sanded and glassed, the grain will really stand out.

Cockpit recess

I made the cockpit recess by lofting a template from Nick Schade's book. I glued wood strips over the template. After the glue dried, I sanded the wood smooth. Then I put down one layer of 6 oz. glass cloth.

After trimming the outside of the recess to the template, I set the recess in place so that I could lay out my deck pattern.

Back to work again

Well it's about time that I start working on the Petrel again. The building season is getting under way and I have plenty things to do in the MAN CAVE. This winter I plan to finish this Petrel and I have also started building a small boat for fishing called a Coot. You can watch the Coot progress at www.louskayakworks4.blogspot.com .

Here I am laminating the Stern Stem with strips of Ash. I wet the strips with hot water to let them bend without breaking. When the wood dries, the bend will remain and I will glue it all up.

I did the same thing to make the Bow Stem. After glueing is finished, I will shape the Stems with a block plane and sanding block.

Still striping the hull

I have about two hours work left to finish striping the hull.

It looks rough and ugly now, but it will be beautiful after sanding.

Keel strips

Time to start the keel strips. The short wood strips that are clamped to the center line will act as a guide to lay the first keel strip. This strip is glued to all the forms with hot glue. That way, I don't need to use any staples or nails. When the hull is finished, I can tap the forms with a hammer and the hot glue will break free.

The second keel strip is glued to the first but not to the forms. The forms are now covered with tape so that the strips do not get glued to the forms.

The spring clamps that I use come from Home Depot. I have 50 or 60 of them. Home Depot sells them for $1 each. Today I went to Aco Hardware and they have the same clamps for $11 each !!! At eleven bucks each I could pay for a whole kayak with what 50 clamps would cost. I think I will get some more of them before Home Depot changes the price.

Just laying strips

This is the fun part of kayak building. Laying the strips. Every time you lay a strip it looks like you have made great progress.

Here the Petrel is in the for ground, and the Guillemot is on the other side. Building two at once is so much more productive than just one at a time.

First Glue

After all the work I have done on the Petrel, today was the first glue to be used. I glued the sheer strips in place. They are the dark colored strips. Then I glued the light colored strips to the water line. You can see how much the bow and stern sweep up as the water line is very straight.

You can see the strips that are clamped to the flat 1X6 boards. They are scarfed together in the middle. Two 8 foot strips scarfed together to make a 16 foot strip. Here I have four 16 foot strips waiting for the glue to dry.

The wood is western red cedar from CLC in Annapolis MD. I got five boards of dark and five boards of light. I sawed them into strips and then my cheep a%# table saw died. The wood cost more than the wood I can get from the lumber yard but it is much better wood. No knots and very good color. I might use a little bit of Zebra wood on the deck pattern. It is very beautiful, very heavy, and very expensive.

I was able to sell some things on e-bay over the weekend so now I can get a better table saw to replace the dead one from China.

The wedge

All the spacer blocks are the same except the one in the middle of the kayak. On this one I made a wedge to force all of the floating forms together.

Now all of the forms are square and parallel to each other. And the spacing between them all is the same 12 inches.

setting the forms

Assembling the forms on the strong back. Click on the photo to enlarge.

The forms are not attached to the strong back. They are free floating. They can slide back and forth on the strong back. The "U" shaped spacer blocks will keep the forms square, parallel, and set at exactly 12 inches apart.

All the forms are floating on the strong back. The bow and stern panels are attached to the strong back with screws. Then the spacer blocks are wedged between all the free floating forms.

It can all be set up or taken apart in a few minutes. That is how this set up differs form the strong back I built for the Guillemot. The Guillemot strong back is built as a unit an can not be taken apart. ( A big mistake on my part ).

Petrel Strong back

I made an external strong back for building kayaks. It's 16 feet long and very stiff. No twist and very straight. It will help me build kayaks very straight and true.

On top is an internal strong back for the Petrel. It is imposable to find a long 2x4 with no bend or twist in it. So I made a 2x4 box from ply wood. It is very stiff and will not bend or twist from the weight of the forms. If your strong back will flex, it makes it tough to build a straight kayak.

This will make my forms and strong back all modular so that I can set it up or take it apart in just a few minutes.