Removing the deck

Today I took the deck off the forms for the first time. It is very fragile and I have to be very careful not to break it. I swear that it feels like it can't weigh more than five pounds. The color looks a little bla bla but when I wet the wood with water, the colors come alive and it looks great.

The deck is sanded smooth. Next I will mix some epoxy with some wood flower and fill in some cracks and holes. Then I will sand it smooth again.

The strong back and forms are for another kayak. The Petrel. www.louskayakworks3.blogspot.com

This photo shows how the tip of the bow sweeps upward. Click the photo to enlarge and the sweep shows up better.

To the left of the deck is the hull still on the forms. Tomorrow I will fabricate two stem pieces for the bow and stern. Then I can start fairing and sanding the hull.

Cockpit recess

It has been almost a month sense I last posted on the Guillemot progress. Construction of the hull and deck is finished. I just finished the cockpit recess today.

Now it is time to start fairing and sanding. I have a shop vac connected to my orbital sander. It does a great job of catching all the dust so that I can sand in the man cave. I like to sand outside but it is only 6 degrees today.

After all the fairing and sanding is finished, it will be time for the fiberglass and epoxy. The cockpit combing will not be started until after the deck is all glassed up.

My last post was supposed to be a video !!! After fighting with it for over two hours, I give up. Instead of a video, you will have to make do with still photos.

Click on the photo to enlarge.

Finishing up the deck

It's been three weeks since my last post. I have been working hard and making good progress. The Guillemot deck is almost done. I have spent a lot of time building a strong back for the Petrel at the same time as working on the Guillemot. I also spent a lot of time building a dust collection system and getting it hooked up to all of my power tools.

This photo is supposed to be a video. I guess we will see if it is or not.

deck progress

I have made good progress but it does not look like it in the photos. My deck pattern took a long time but I got it done. Now that I have if finished I have changed my mind about how it should look. So I will cut a portion of it away and change part of the pattern. It will take me a few more hours of work but I think it will be worth it in the long run.

I met some kayak builders on the web and they came over to look at my kayaks. Rod and John both liked the man cave and the kayaks. Rod is a pilot so we did not run out of things to talk about.

Deck design

I never left the house all weekend. I worked about 16 hours on the deck pattern. I thought that it would only take about two days to complete. After two days, I only have a third of it finished. Hundreds of small wood parts and not two of them are alike. Each one is made to fit individually.

The dark wood is purple heart left over from the wood duck build. The light colored wood is bass wood.

Click on the photo to enlarge.

turning over the hull

Today I turned the hull over to start working on the deck. I was able to get a full day of work in and I got a lot done.

The deck will have a very complex color design so there is a lot of prep work to do before it starts to take shape.