Stitch and Glue

I have had 30+ wooden kayaks over the past 20 years, most have been low volume Greenland type boats, but a few have been high speed racers and a few general use day boats. I recently saw some postings that categorized the Pygmy Arctic Tern 14 as a boat that a paddler would quickly grow out of. In my experience this is a boat that a beginner can certainly handle, but after many boats and many years of paddling, I still find this boat fun in all kinds of weather and fast enough to stay with most groups. What do you think.

Yesterday I made a grievous error on my Waters Dancing Trillium 21.  My workspace is small, so I took the deck and hung it from the ceiling of the garage.  Seemed like a great solution to get it out of the way temporarily.  But I forgot to figure in the garage door opening.  The result is a full fracture on one side of the stern deck.  See photos.  EDIT:  Turns out I can't post pics, so here's a description:  The fracture is adjacent to the stern hatch opening, on one side only.  It is full thickness and the edges are separated, ie. completely broken.

George G asked me about Bjorn Thomassen's Frej design in the 'Basswood' thread.

https://www.thomassondesign.com/en/katalog/mina-kajaker/frej

I've built two Frej kayaks - one 16' and another longer 18' version for possible use on trips.

I like them both - they are quick, roll very easily and handle waves and wind well.

I’ve built the Petrel S&G and purchased the skirt CLC advertises as the one that fits the Petrel, but the cord in the skirt is way too thick to squeeze into the narrow gap at 8&4 o’clock on the combing. Any ideas on what skirt fits this boat? Please help!

HI guys, 

I've cut out the panels for Nick's free S&G.   years ago I build a Hybrid S&G hull and strip deck.   So I'm going to build two more,  a slightly larger one for me (deck height only) for better foot room. and leg room, and one for my daughter.   I've got the panels cut, and they look pretty good to my eye.  

At this point  have one comment and one question.

While I've built 5 S&G boats, I know very little about how to varnish them; I just blindly did as I was told. That's no longer satisfactory. Lately I've been reading forums, etc, about the subject but I still have a couple unresolved questions. And I think the answers would be of interest to other builders.

A few of you old timers will remember a time back when I used to post stories in the Trips Forum, that’s the one which now dwells in the Archives. I posted something like 30 stories, including the one about my near-drowning up in the Canadian Rockies. Well, I got a request from my olde buddy, Ken Sutherland, that I get back into writing these stories again. In fact, I met an old acquaintance last Sunday who asked me if I was still writing…told him no…he was disappointed.

Hi all,

Sorry if this has been addressed already, but if so I could not find the answer. I'm thinking of building a Petrel Play and have a couple of initial questions.  First, what thickness plywood? I would expect to use Okoume.  Seems like 4mm might be a good combination of weight, strength and bendability, but I saw one post that suggests 3mm.  What is recommended or generally used?  Second, how many sheets are needed?

Thanks,

Lewis

When the temperature gets low, the hatches get loose. Is the nylon webbing expanding or is the kayak shrinking? When the temperature is up everything is fine.