Thread: Wooden Kayaks

G'day Whitwood,

Those kayaks are magnificent mate! Thank you for shareing.

Two questions.

1. Will your friend sell the plans?

2. I live on the Fraser Coast in Qld. I would very much like to buy some Paulonia from you but my getting down to you is problematic. Can shipping be arranged.?

regards,

Mick

I didn't mean the post to end up on the Forum. My reason was that the best 2 photos were too large for the thumbnails and I do not have the skills to reduce them too size. I thought I had deleted the message so I could try again later after my daughter visited and advised me how. Apparently I hadn't which is more evidence of my lack of skills.

Hairymick
I'll send you an email with the original photos. Maybe you have the ability to transfer the remaining 2 photos on to this post for the benefit of members. As far as sending Paulownia to you I can get it to most places in Aust using Couriers Please or IPEC. However if you live off the beaten track it may be necessary to have a friend in town take the delivery. So far I have not had a real problem.

These are the extra photos that Whitewood was unable to include.

Howdy anewhouse,

Are you the designer/builder?

Impressive weights! Advantage of Paulownia, but I imagine you made some decisions about glass weights too - can you provide more information?

Best wishes
Michael

I designed the kayaks using an excellent free piece of software created by Ross Leidy of Blue Heron Kayaks.

You can download the program from here:
http://www.blueheronkayaks.com/kayak/index.html

I used one layer of 125gsm glass inside and out with epoxy resin.

After building the 4.57 metre version to suit my wife, I liked it so much that I decided I wanted a similar, but longer one for myself. Rather than start again from scratch and having to cut out a new set of forms, I just spaced the forms out a bit more to make it 5 metres.

Strip built kayaks are beautiful, but fairly time consuming to build. My first single took 194 hours including every aspect of the construction starting with ripping the strips. The next one, a double, also took about 200 hours. My wife's kayak took about 150 and mine took about the same because I didn't have to build a new strongback or cut out new forms, but the centre strip added a bit of time.

Some builders with higher standards than I have take up to 300 hours.

Originally Posted by hairymick

G'day Whitwood,

Those kayaks are magnificent mate! Thank you for shareing.

Two questions.

1. Will your friend sell the plans?

2. I live on the Fraser Coast in Qld. I would very much like to buy some Paulonia from you but my getting down to you is problematic. Can shipping be arranged.?

regards,

Mick

Mick
I have already sent you an email with more details.
The short answer is:
I am not interested in selling the plans. but am more than happy to share them with you for free.

These are the study drawings for that kayak created by "Kayak Foundry".
This version is 5 metres length 560mm beam with waterline length and beam 4.56 metres by 518mm
With that program it is very easy to change any of the dimensions or the shape, as long as you keep an eye on the design displacement and the relative positions of the CLA and LCB.
It also calculates drag and prints out the forms.
For those who are not familiar with it, it is much, much easier to use than the more sophisticated programs like Freeship but is more than adequate for kayak design. It has been used successfully by a lot of people to produce a wide range of different kayaks.
Even if you never build a kayak using the program, it is great fun playing around with different designs and looking at the effect on drag.

G'day Anewhouse,

and welcome aboard mate.

I will check my emails when I get home - I don't have access to them here. Thank you.

Mate, I meant what I said, Your boats - both of them, are magnificent. I can only aspire to that level of workmanship.


respectfully,

mick

Hi anewhouse,

I concur with the others - fantastic kayaks. Do you have pics of the double one you did too?

How did you do the centre stip on yours - is it built up, then cut into small bits and reassembled as a strip (as some other inlay strips are made) or individually inlaid pieces?

Looking forward to seeing the next ones

Regards,
Darren

Yep, beautiful work they look terrific.

Thanks for posting.

Mike

Welcome to the forums anewhouse. What they all said. I am looking forward to seeing what others here manage with their strip builds.

prozac

Darren
These pictures are of the double I built a couple of years ago.
It is a Guillemot Kayaks Night Heron Double with WRC hull and Redwood deck.
It is 6.4 metres length and weighs 24 kg.
The compass rose is Australian Cedar, Kauri Pine and Silky Oak.
Like the centre strip on my last kayak, it was pre-assembled and fitted in place.

The centre strip on the single started as three 12mm strips glued together, cut into 12mm lengths, glued together at 45 degrees, the corners trimmed off and the thin strips then glued onto the sides.
It was all done as the first step to keep me occupied while I got organised to order the timber I needed for the kayak.
Allan