New Boat 4 Matt

[AntsUiga]

The work seems to be going well to a beautiful result. There should be lot of happy times on the water.

The photos in the shop are amazing. It is safe to say that 150 years (or more) of boat building techniques are on display. Back in the 1870’s in Adirondack Park, Henry Ruston was building small, light double paddle canoes that may be as light as the wood duck. The Wee Lassie is one design that has survived and still being built. Some of the decked canoes had sailing rigs.

Cheers,
Ants

 

[TinkerSSS]

Thanks Ants. I am very grateful for the opportunity to do this build at the historic Spaulding Boatworks. In addition to the great advice from our instructor Pete and helpful tips from the experienced helper Tony, the facility has been a much better place to do the work than at home. The results are going to be much better than if I attempted the build in my garage. I may have had more time at home to more careful get each step done but would have had many mistakes that were avoided with this class. Having oversight was the right call for this my first boat build project.

I've posted an album of pictures that would take up too much space here in the forum. If you're interested in more pictures around the shop at Spaulding Boatworks, here is a link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/B49DfjeDQHQiRMEa7

Day 8

Cut the deck fiberglass with a razor at the shear line and... Guess what was needed next... More sanding. Sanded the deck, hull and cockpit area with 120 grit. Thank you Tony! for your help with sanding.



This picture shows the 12' Wood Duck getting the combing rounded over with a 3/8" rounding router bit. I took my time and was careful to keep the router flat going around the comibing.



The hatch ledges have a ring around the inside edge for the gasket that needed to be clamped in place overnight with thickened epoxy. The hatches get a reinforcing backing that needed to be centered to fit properly. glued with thickened epoxy and held down with some weights.



The bow of the kayak is filled with 14oz of clear epoxy. The last operation for today was to stand the kayaks upright on their bow and pour the epoxy into the bow. There will be a carrying handle hole through the bow and this epoxy.



After an unexpected delay in shipping, I received the Epiphanes wood finish that I'll be using for the finish. https://www.epifanes.com/product/00/wfg-1000/Woodfinish-Gloss-1000-ml Considering options for deck hardware. Maybe some padeyes for the deck shock cord and cleats for the bow and stern. We'll dry fit all the deck hardware, seat, backrest and foot pegs before taking home to varnish on Friday.

 

[TinkerSSS]

Day 9

Feeling the anticipation of getting near to the end of the class. Friday, I'll bring home the kayak and put the first of two coats of epoxy on the deck before starting to varnish next week.

We sanded the hatch cover ledges and removed any sharps from inside the hatches. Sanded around the combing to get it to the final look before applying resin.



Arranged the placement of the togs to hold down the hatch covers. Drilled 8 holes in the deck for the hatch togs.



Applied epoxy to the hatch cover ledges on both sides, back of the hatch covers and eight togs. Applied epoxy to the hatch combing. Flipped the boat to put the first coat of epoxy on the hull. Rolling and tipping to get a smooth even coat and filling the fiberglass weave. The results looked very nice. Starting to get a feel for how the final results will look.



Both Wood Ducks are close to completion. We had a shorter day today and discussed varnishing methods. Tomorrow, we'll work on the fitting the seats, backrest, pad eyes and put a final coat of epoxy on the hulls for one last overnight cure in Sausalito.

 

[TinkerSSS]

Day 10

A little more hand sanding around the combing, edge of the hull from the first coat. For the 2nd coat of epoxy on the hull, we taped for any overage to avoid needing to sand again.

Drilled more holes for the foot pegs and pad eyes. Sat in the boat to determine placement of the foot pegs. It's a large area from the front bulkhead to where my feet will be. Room for a cooler, a large fish and gear.





Taped around the deck for any 2nd coat overage with epoxy on the hull.



Coated the back of the hatches, hatch ledges, togs, holes and combing with a 2nd coat of epoxy and flipped the boat.

Roll and tip applying a thin layer of epoxy 2nd coat on the hull to fill the fiberglass weave and any spots missed with the 1st coat.

Last chance to cure overnight in Sausalito and bring home to finish on Friday.

 

[TinkerSSS]

A BIG Thank You! to Pete and Tony at Spaulding Boatworks!

I'm very appreciative for all of the help with the class and expert advice.

Day 11

Last day of class. Bringing home to complete in the garage. Both Wood Ducks are looking good. They are going to shine!



There was a wind advisory on the Richmond Bridge and this was the first time I've used the Malone roof rack on the Honda Fit. The wind was driving the rain sideways as I went over the bridge. The front strap was taking some serious wind force and I was glad to have tied down securely with Dynema around the boat and rack. The rack moved around a little but remained secure with straps running through the doors of the Honda. It was a little white knuckle driving for a bit but relaxed after passing the bridge. This was not the type of weather I would have preferred for my first test of the rack system with this large kayak. My wife was not happy to have been in the car for the trip saying something like, "Never Again!" Whew! made it home before dark.



The garage was already prepped with tarps, sawhorses and ready for the next steps. I hand sanded the deck with 120 and 220 grit until I was happy.



Flipped and taped the hull.



Flipped and applied clear epoxy roll and tip to the deck for the first of two coats to fill the fiberglass weave.



It feels great to have made it home and get this first coat done. I am grateful to have the garage to work in. The rain was coming down hard last night.

Ordered some more stuff on Amazon for finishing and hoping to get the varnishing done this next week.

 

[Xavier]

Beautiful boat, nice work!

Sam

 

[Tchoupitoulas]

Nice work Matt! Major boatshop envy.
Paddlefest at RYC!
I'll bring the new canoe.

 

[TinkerSSS]

That Canoe looks like fun. Let's race

Day 12-17

To save on all the daily posts, I've consolidated this post for the 2 coats of varnish on the hull, 2nd coats of epoxy on the deck, varnish on the deck and all of the epoxy hand sanding. Each day, I made progress towards an overnight cure. Much to the chagrin of my wife, coworkers, sailing mates..., I am obsessively blazing forward with the goal of splash down on Sunday if the weather clears. 2 coats of varnish looks good and provides the UV protection needed for the Epoxy. I can put the remaining 3 coats of varnish if needed after launching.

Applied two coats of Epiphanes Wood Finish Gloss varnish on the hull with tip and roll. No sanding between coats after 24 hours. Results looked nice.



Waited an extra day before flipping the boat since the varnish was still sticky after 24 hours. After 48 hours, the varnish was cured enough to set down on some non-stick paper and work on the deck epoxy.

Sanded the 1st coat of Epoxy by hand until I could no longer feel any bumps. The epoxy roller leaves little spots that needed to be sanded down for smoothness. I could have spent more time sanding to perfection but settled after 4 hours of sanding to the degree of perfection that I was happy with.



Applied the 2nd coat of epoxy to the deck.



Hand sanded 2nd coat of epoxy until my arms were falling off. Took a break and sanded some more. After 4 hours sweating in the dust mask respirator, I was satisfied and prepared to varnish the deck. Final sanding with a scotch brite pad, wipe down with alcohol, final wipe down with a tack cloth.

First coat on varnish on the deck looks good.



2nd coat of varnish on the deck tonight. Then, installing hardware on Friday. By Sunday, should be ready to splash down.

Cheers!

 

[TinkerSSS]

I'm anxious to get out there on the water with the new kayak.

Weather looks like it's clearing today.

2nd coat of varnish on the deck turned out OK. I'll come back later, sand and apply a few more coats. Yesterday, installed the fore and aft u-bolts, deck eye straps and bungies

One last trip to West Marine this morning for screws, nuts and washers to hold down the hatch toggles and I'll be ready.

Here is my almost finished wood duck.



Next pics should be in the water splash down day!

 

[Philpott]

I'm sure you are looking forward to splashing down. We all are looking forward to it, too!

Next Saturday is the Bullship Run, 70th year of the "running of the bulls" (el toros) from Sausalito to the city front (aka lunch somewhere over there). There are alot of el toro sailors at RYC. Alot of them are sailing little boats their parents built back when the club was new.

Reason I mention this? I will be on a "mother ship", aka Surprise!, prepared to fish 'em out of the water should the wind scoop 'em up and dump 'em. We have three boat hooks for the purpose.

The next day I leave on a business trip to the land of hard ice.

All this is to explain why I will probably not be there to applaud your marvelous achievement.

I tried to send this via email but your server rejected me.

Regards and all my best wishes to you

 

[TinkerSSS]

Here it is, the 14' Wood Duck, started parts from the box on March 11th and paddling before the end of the month. I launched in the morning yesterday Easter Sunday at a recently renovated boat launch near my house on Doolittle Drive in the MLK Jr. Regional Shoreline park.



The boat dock there was not far from the car. The kayak is light enough for me to carry short distances with one arm or on my head. I did order a kayak cart for singlehanding longer distances from the car to the water.



Paddled 4-1/2 miles in a couple hours under the Bayfarm Island bridge past the Aeolian yacht club and bird sanctuary near Alameda beach. It's a nice flat place to paddle where a lot of other rowers take advantage of the long sheltered estuary.







Beautiful design and look, comfortable to paddle, very stable platform for fishing and birdwatching, lightweight to carry, smooth gliding in the water, durable build that I am confident was done well! I am very happy with the results! Thanks for following along with the build. I'll setup a time and date to come by Richmond and show anyone that wants to see in person.

Cheers,

Matt

 

[AntsUiga]

Superb job and great compliments on the speed of completion.

The result is beautiful.

A spray skirt is something you may want to consider. The Wood Duck probably has enough beam that rolling the kayak, like a whitewater one, will never be considered. There are advantages to a spray skirt to keep paddle drips off you, as well as keeping loose gear i side the boat. Neoprene sheets are available in different colors and 1-4 mm thickness. A little sewing and a bungee cord will anchor it to cockpit coaming. Whirewater kayakers have a neoprene (wet suit thpe material) tube that fits snugly around the waist to be watertight while rolling. A simpler tube with non-stretch fabric and a velco enclosure or drawstring would be fine for touring type paddling.

The same technique can be used for a cockpit cover to keep spiders and dirt out when in storage.

I did find the cockpit cover was like a drum if it was on while driving down the highway. The cockpit cover was quickly removed.

Happy paddling!
Ants

 

[Philpott]

Beautiful design and look, comfortable to paddle, very stable platform for fishing and birdwatching, lightweight to carry, smooth gliding in the water, durable build that I am confident was done well! I am very happy with the results! Thanks for following along with the build. I'll setup a time and date to come by Richmond and show anyone that wants to see in person.
Cheers, Matt

Gorgeous, Matt! Looking forward to seeing it!

 

[Daydreamer]

Well done !

Beautiful work !!

Congrats on your first voyage!

 

[Critter]

Congratulations Matt. Beautiful work!