Keel strips

I started laying keel strips on the bottom of the kayak. I am way behind where I should be in this build. Other things in life have distracted me from working on the kayak. Tomorrow I plan a full day of work. I hope to make good progress.

Gluing up strips

Like I said in my last post, gluing strips is a slow process. It would go faster if I used staples. Many people do use staples to lay strips. You do not need to wait for the glue to dry before you lay the next strip. You can lay all the strips in a weekend that way. But because I don't want staple holes all over my kayak I have decided to do it the slow way.

Glue a strip and wait until the glue dry's. Then glue another strip. I will glue a strip in the morning before going to work, another strip after work, and then one more before going to bed.

Slow progress

Things are moving very slow. Very little progress. We have had a crazy September. Lots of illness and injury with close family members. Lots of time spent visiting hospitals. And at the same time I have had to work extra hours at work to fill in for others.

I do try to work at least 15 or 20 minutes every day on the kayak. I glue a strip and let it dry. Then the next day I glue another strip and let it dry.

A few weeks ago I went kayaking with my friend Ted. He has a Chesapeake 17LT that he built himself. It's the only home built kayak I have ever seen other than our Wood Duck. It is truly a beautiful boat. It is the first sea kayak that I have put my hands on. At first I was scared that I would tip over, but after 10 minutes or so it felt great. Very fast and very smooth. The Wood Duck is a very stable platform but the CH 17LT comes alive in the water. Ted did a fantastic job building his kayak and now he is building a power boat.