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Skin-on-Frame: Strip/skin hybrid surf kayak
By:Strip/skin hybrid
Date: 2/20/2012, 8:13 pm

I've been really hankering for a surf kayak lately, and am thinking about planning my spring/summer boatbuilding time.

I live in michigan, so any surfing I'd be doing will be on the great lakes (cold and with wimpy surf).
I want a kayak (instead of a board) because:
A) Cold - it seems to me it'd be easier to kayak surf in colder weather. I'd need a less intense wetsuit/drysuit and I'd be warmer in general.
B) I don't live on the lakes, so a lot of my kayaking will be local on lakes and rivers. I have a normal kayak for this, but a less aggressive surf kayak could double as a cruiser for a friend in a pinch, where a board would be pretty useless.

I'd really prefer to build skin-on-frame, but (although I've seen a few skin-on-frames for surfing) that there are some limitations when it comes to hull shape with a skin on frame (hard chines, can't do a concave bottom, etc).

I'm wondering if I could do a hybrid strip/skin boat. I'm imagining a strip-built bottom that copies as exactly as I can a typical longboard shape with a skinned upper portion. Imagine a flat bottom, solid wood or foam rails, ribs that bend downward into the rails, and a skin that gets stapled to the rails.

I could just do all strip-built, but the top of a strip-built surfer kind of looks like a nightmare to me, and I'd really like to minimize the amount of epoxy/fiberglass I need to use. Also it seems like a fun experiment.

Has anyone ever built something like this? Any thoughts?

Messages In This Thread

Skin-on-Frame: Strip/skin hybrid surf kayak
Strip/skin hybrid -- 2/20/2012, 8:13 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: Strip/skin hybrid surf kayak *PIC*
Dan Caouette (CSFW) -- 2/21/2012, 8:50 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: Strip/skin hybrid surf kayak
Steve Crawford -- 2/22/2012, 10:22 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: Strip/skin hybrid surf kayak
Dan Caouette (CSFW) -- 2/23/2012, 7:26 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: Strip/skin hybrid surf kayak
Steve Crawford -- 2/23/2012, 9:26 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: Strip/skin hybrid surf kayak
Bill Hamm -- 2/26/2012, 2:40 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: Strip/skin hybrid surf kayak
Bill Hamm -- 2/26/2012, 2:41 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: Strip/skin hybrid surf kayak
Luke H -- 2/26/2012, 12:57 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: Strip/skin hybrid surf kayak
ancient kayaker -- 2/27/2012, 9:22 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: Strip/skin hybrid surf kayak
ancient kayaker -- 2/26/2012, 12:40 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: Strip/skin hybrid surf kayak
StephenHJ -- 2/27/2012, 6:49 pm