I'm going to build a kayak. It's in my blood. My grandfather was a wooden boat builder all his life. Now it's my turn. I'm going to construct a 17' sea kayak purchased as a kit from Chesapeake Light Craft. These boats are made from mahogany plywood in the "stitch and glue" method. I suspect the project will take me 2 months to complete, but of course, it might take a lot longer. Who knows.
I have chosen to build the Chesapeake 17 LT. Here are some stats from this boat:
• Length: 16' 10 3/4"
• Beam: 23 1/2"
• Depth: 12"
• Weight: 45 lbs
The shipment from Baltimore, MD is schedule to arrive this coming Thursday: eight-five pounds and three boxes, which includes everything that I need to build.
At this point I have decided to build the kayak in my garage, which I have discovered during thunderstorms, is not the most weather proof structure. For this reason, and also for the fact that I am starting this project during the winter, I have chosen to build a warming tent within my garage, made out of 3/4" pvc pipe and heavy plastic. This will serve two main functions: firstly, keep the kayak protected from the elements and secondly, keep the kayak area warm during the epoxy gluing and drying steps.
I purchased all the pvc pipes and joints that I needed at Lowes and with some trial and error engineering I squeezed this thing in to the garage. The tricky part was to make a notch out the end that allows for the garage door to swing closed.
3 comments:
Better change that blog to say...."I'm going to build TWO kayaks." One for me and one for you. See you in April.
This will be fun to follow. Thanks for putting it online so we can watch your progress. What a great picture of your grandfather.
here here! great photo of your grandpa. looks like the front cover of a novel or something. g'luck!
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