myth busting wooden boats
Stitch-and-Glue Woodstrip-Epoxy
A well-built cedarstrip kayak has the sheen of a fine piece of furniture. It’s no wonder that Joan Barrett, co-owner of Peterborough’s Bear Mountain Boat Shop, says many builders are tempted to hang their creation on the wall and never let it touch water. Beneath the glossy surface is a brawny fibreglass-wood composite that’s surprisingly tough. Te hull and deck of woodstrip-epoxy kayaks are built on a strongback—a series of plywood forms over which narrow strips of bead and cove are fastened. Once hull and deck are attached, the entire structure is covered with fibreglass and epoxy resin, and finishing details like the cockpit and hatches are installed.
Challenge: Tough not quite as foolproof as stitch-and-glue, complete kits and detailed instructional manuals like Ted Moores’KayakCraft make strippers a reasonable project for novice woodworkers.
Commitment: About 150 to 200 hours.
COST: A complete kit for a 17-foot touring kayak costs $1,200 to $1,800.
Te precision-cut plywood panels of kit boats from designers like Chesapeake Light Craft,
Getonthewater.ca and Pygmy Boats make stitch-and-glue the easiest technique for first-time DIYers. Te panels are temporarily sewn together with wire, seams are locked into place with thickened epoxy fillets and the entire structure gets fibreglassed inside and out. Most models use temporary jigs in the stitching stage to ensure a properly aligned hull. At least two pieces of plywood go into the deck, which is then fastened to the multi-chined hull with epoxy or a gunwale-like strip of wood known as a sheer clamp. It’s also possible to combine a stitch-and-glue hull with a woodstrip- epoxy deck to create a more aesthetically pleasing hybrid that eliminates the awkward process of bending plywood.
Challenge: Precision-cut plywood panels and detailed instructions make kit boats well within the reach of first-time woodworkers. “It’s really just a sewing and fibreglassing job,” says John Lockwood, the founder of Port Townsend, Washington-based Pygmy Boats.
Commitment: Te average builder can produce a stitch-and-glue kayak in 45 to 80 hours.
COST: A complete kit for a 17-foot touring kayak costs about $1,000.
Wooden Kayaks are Fragile Plywood panels and strips of cedar are just as durable and impact-resistant as store- bought composite kayaks when sandwiched between layers of fibreglass and epoxy resin and coated in UV-resistant varnish.
Wooden Kayaks are High- maintenance Wood-fibreglass kayaks require light sanding and a quick coat of varnish every three or four seasons—a small investment to maintain a beautiful watercraft.
Wooden Kayaks are Difficult to Build The simplest pre-cut stitch-and-glue kit boat can be built in 45 hours with minimal tools and no woodworking experience. By signing up for a boat-building workshop, reading instructional manuals and joining an Internet kayak- building forum, just about anyone can build a wooden or skin-on-frame kayak.
Wooden Kayaks are Heavy A full-size stripper or stitch-and- glue touring kayak weighs about the same as a carbon- Kevlar boat.
Wooden Kayaks Lack Performance Wood-fibreglass construction yields ultra-stiff, efficient to paddle hull shapes; and the tight fit of Greenland- style skin-on-frame kayaks make them effortless to roll.
www.adventurekayakmag.com
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PHOTO: COURTESY CHESAPEAKE LIGHT CRAFT
PHOTO: COURTESY PYGMY BOATS
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