Kayak Building

Hi,

     I am in the process of building a boat out of strips and I am using an inexpensive yet effective of holding the strips in place.

I am using old bicycle tubes with the valves cut off and the tube cut to make it a nice long elastic. I have found that the very skinny road bike tires work well. I simply clamp or tie one end off. Then wrap the tube firmly around the pre-glued strip. I dry fit each strip first. I also use latex surgical tubing, but I had to buy that. And I have a good supply of old bike tubes. 

My first post - I've been learning from this forum for a few years, just glassed the hull exterior of my first build which is Jay Babina's Outer Islander.  I love the process of strip building and could not be doing it without this forum and all the support from the great builders I have plans from.  I've read all the threads from past years debating ocean vs keyhole cockpits.  The situation is, I promised this 'first' kayak to my wife.  The next one, which I have already milled strips for, will be for me, and will be an ocean cockpit.  This one, however, just needs to be a keyhole cockpit

I recently noticed that I have a small, about the size of a quarter, hole in the deck fabric of my klepper aerius 2000. I have no idea how to go about repairing it and would appreciate in help, directions, or suggestion on how to handle this.  thank you

Hello, I am new to this site and kayak building. I read Nick Shades book "strip built sea Kayak" several times over and I plan on building the Great Auk. But the more I read about how to Draw the sections, the more confused I get. I am sure for most it is a simple thing to read the offset chart but apparently not for me. I am having a problem understanding exactly how one transfers the numbers on the offset chart into a section drawing. Wood working I know, boat building not so much.  any help would be appreciated thanks in advance

Hi, 

My epoxy and glass fiber supplier, timeout.de, also sells basalt and flax fabrics for epoxy composites. Has anyone used either of these for wooden boat building? I'm looking for something opaque for the inside, and these two are cheaper options, than carbon and/or aramid. The flax is especially appealing because it is a natural material. Unfortunately, this also means, that it will rot. 

Any kind of feedback is appreciated. 

As with many other it appears I will have some time off. Looking to build a kayak. I’ve been thinking for some time. This is my first build.

1. I live on the Hudson River. South of Newburgh. I can see the River from my front door. Boat landing less than a mile away.
2. Good size basement for building.

3. Good shape. Not much kayak experience. Quite a bit of canoe experience. When I was younger I raced war canoes and lead long canoe excursions into parts of Canada.

4. Looking for something I can obviously use on the Hudson but maybe longer excursions.

Glad to be back on this forum, it was instrumental to my success in 2000 - 2001 when I built two Pygmy Arctic Terns.  

Since then my wife and I have switched to a tandem fiberglass kayak for our week long trips.  We still love the Terns but the tandem is a better choice for us now.  The problem is our tandem is a 105 lb beast and the crossbars on top our campervan are 8.5 feet off the ground.  Even with a Hullivator (on order) it's bound to be a struggle.

Anyone have experience doing this? I seem to recall that Nick had a video about it, but I can't find it. Thanks.