Finalizing the Tik Tak and starting
on the Kayaks (finally)
March 4/5, 2016
When last
we left the Tik Tak 8, it had two coats of paint and the top
had been attached.
And there she sits. The interesting thing about square-ish boats
is it can be very difficult to get all the edges to line up perfectly.
This 'lack of perfection' is one thing that frustrates neophyte
builders and people who come to boat building from cabinetry. While
we at the Boathouse strive for perfection, we are aware of
it's crushing burden. Instead of being a slave to perfection, we
do as well as we can, then bring out our friends.
Use of a 4.5" angle grinder as a boatbuilding tool was introduced
to me by one of my favorite designers, John
Welsford. When fitted with a 36 grit sanding wheel, it's almost
like using a light saber.
A 5/8" hole in the center of the stems makes for the perfect
place to tie a painter. I put them both fore and aft because you
never know how you'll have to tie off.
There she is, she just needs the edges painted. It's due to be
sold at silent auction in a week, and patience wants to add some
color to it, so I thought I'd do the touchup painting for her.
I wasn't sure when Connie and Patience would be by to pick up the
boat, so I hastened the paint drying process with a heat gun. As
it turns out, Connie will pick up the boat some time during the
week, so this step was not needed. David said he'd put another coat
of paint on her, which is always a good thing.
Saturday morning brought calm weather and some Canvasback ducks
(Aythya valisineria)
This is the kayaks we are making, Sugpiaq-Alutiiqs, a hair over
14.5' long and a hair over 28" wide. My plan is to paddle the
length of the Willamette (Eugene to Point Kelly, anyhow) in them
this summer. I chose this design after consulting with Harvey
Golden, a local resource who literally wrote the book on kayaks
of the Pacific Northwest: Kayaks
of Alaska.
This type of construction has everything starting at the gunnels
and deck beams. I will be pegging the deck beams to the gunnels
using 1/2" dowel. Everything starts with the widest deck beam,
and that's where the first deck beam goes.
The boat has a substantial flair to it. Since I am not actually
assembling the gunnel/deck beams today, I am holding it all together
with straps.
Friend of the Boathouse (and master shipwright,) Rick Johnson,
stopped by to lend me his book, Building
Skin-on-Frame Boats by Robert Morris.
Boatbuilding is about 92% standing around, talking about boat building.
I was, trimming up the ends of the gunnels.
In Building
the Greenland Kayak, Cunningham talks about fitting the ends
by clamping the ends together and drawing an aggressively toothed
handsaw through them. I tried that and immediately cut my thumb.
Obviously, the next step was to mechanize, because why risk a simple
flesh wound when I could potentially cut the whole thing off? This
particular saber saw has an oscillation setting that makes it particularly
aggressive and . . . it actually worked quite well.
And here it is. The next step will be to cut the mortises for the
ribs and cut the deck beams to shape. After that, it's make the
stems, put the gunnel/beams together, attach them to the stems,
and pull it all into shape with the keel.
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