At least the ones I have photos of Editing Note- When I started building the Night Heron in 2014, I had no idea that I would do a blog about the experience. These posts are recalling the build from memory with a few photos. To recap, I took pictures while I was building the boat…
Wood Kayak
Hitting the deck
Another change in stapling I would use is to make sure the staples are lined up. Many times, the staple would be slightly angled. This had the effect of making the staple line look a little wider. It’s a small detail but it’s all part of learning. If I had it do over again, I’d…
Starting the hull
The Night Heron hull is assembled using the stitch and glue technique. You literally stitch the pieces of the boat together using wire. The hull panels came pre-cut and also were pre-drilled for the wire to be thread through. I failed to get good pictures here, posting about building the boat had not even crossed…
Setting up the workspace and getting started with the hull
The Night Heron is formed a little different than most other kayak builds. Instead of using forms on a strongback, the Heron is started with forms sitting flat. This is kind of hard to explain but here goes. This is an example of the use of a strongback. It’s how the Great Auk is formed….
Pewaukee, we’ve got a problem!
I didn’t plan on doing any more posts about the boats. The stories has been told, embellished and generally classified as legends but alas there is apparently one more chapter to be chronicled. Our first paddling race/event of 2021 was in Pewaukee Wisconsin May 8th. An 8 1/2 mile paddle down the narrow and shallow…
Moving along…
I’ll use this post to move the project along. Wait, it’s white, or at least translucent. No it’s actually clear, it’s the light that is refracting through the fibers that cause it to turn white. In the photos of the embed coat, you can still see the texture of the weave. That’s because the light…
Clear as glass
Sanded and ready, it was time to glass the hull. I used 4oz fiberglass cloth that came with the kit. 4oz means four ounces weight per square yard. I used about 15′ of cloth 50″ wide. That piece, before trimming, weighed how much? Anyone? Anyone? Fiberglass cloth comes in all kinds of weights and weaves….
Figuring out the cockpit
The Great Auk has a generous size cockpit but I wanted to add some detail to accent the opening. I found quite a few examples on the interweb and chose a basic design. A recessed cockpit for lack of a better description, creates an “apron” around the cockpit. Some recesses are small areas in the…
Thank goodness I started this project when I did.
When I built my Night Heron, I started just before Christmas and completed the final rigging the first week of April. When I opened the box to start the Great Auk in September, I really thought I was getting a head start and would have the boat built by Christmas, finish it out in January,…
Hitting the deck
Once the hull was planked, I needed to flip the boat but still keep the hull on the frame. I made a couple of cradles to the curve of the hull. I simply used the plans and chose a couple of form outlines, laid them down on some plywood and used pushpins to mark the…
The hull is complete…sort of
After gluing in the lattice, I was able to complete the planking of hull. From the pictures, you can see that some of the joints are not all that good. I had the wood curving back and forth and it’s not always easy to get a perfect fit. Most of the planks had the bead…
Well it seemed like a cool idea at the time
When coming up with the wood design for the Great Auk I saw a number of boat photos using what I call a lattice detail. The detail uses small, alternating color pieces of wood oriented perpendicular to the planking, creating an eye-catching accent. Well that was the plan anyway. I thought using this lattice detail…
Setting the sheer strip is sheer madness
The first and one of the most critical steps in the assembly of a strip-built kayak is to set the sheer strip. What is a sheer strip? Well I’m so glad you asked. Let me tell you. But WARNING: sort of technical content. The sheer line is where the deck and hull meet. The line…
Setting up a frame, but this time it’s to build a boat
I ordered the complete Great Auk kit which shipped with the building frame (you can also order the kit without, for example if you are building a second boat). The strongback is the part of the building frame that runs the length of the boat and holds the forms in place. It needs to be…
What do you know?
When I started this blog I had no intention of posting my kayak race and competition results. Just not my style. However I’m going to make an exception to my publishing code just this time. Normally at most all the kayak races, I use my 18′ Night Heron. There are size classes in all of…