: HI,

: I am just starting to build my first strip kayak, infact my first
: ever kayak. I have decided to build the guillemot from the
: offsets printed in Nick Schade's book (The strip built kayak).

: I have drawn all the patterns and glued them to 1/2" hardwood
: ply and have cut them out rough with a jigsaw, ready to finish
: off with the band saw and sanding block.

: I have planed the 6" X 1" sawn western red cedar down to
: 3/4", ready to cut into 1/4" strips.

: I have made a 16 ft long strong back out of 1/2" hardwood ply
: as per instructions in Nick's book. I still have to cut the
: taper for the bow end otherwise strongback is complete.

: I'm sure I read in Nick's book that the stong back is 2' 1"
: shorter than the finished kayak, but I can't seem to find it
: again. Before I start marking the positions of the forms on the
: strongback I want to make sure of the length that I need to cut
: the strong back to.

I am pretty sure you are right with 14' 11" for the guillemot. That is what I did and it worked out great.

Happy stripping!

dave g.