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.