A stitch and glue kayak with no plans

[awoodman]

I saw a tandem Old Town kayak at Bass Pro and decided on building one for fishing the streams. I measured the depth and the width and the cockpit and went from their.
It is 14' long and a 32'' beam. With one person and no gear to speak of it rides about 3 1/2'' deep.

I started with 1/4 of the hull and used pb. and cardboard to mock it up.



Then made plywood templates off the cardboard which took considerable modifying to get. The pcs. ready to assemble.




9 days later working part time on it.

[awoodman]

I used a pc. of 3/8 baltic birch to reinforce the nose.


More framing done in this pic. I decided to cedar strip the deck and paint the hull.


The hull glassed and painted.

The deck ready for sanding.

[Light Keeper's Kid]

Great Workmanship

Mike

[awoodman]

The boat was finished in about a month.


The wood seats I spent so much time on were never comfortable enough.
So I used these I had.
On the Little Niangua my sis and her boy friend.

Also trolling motor added.


.



Pvc pipe with a T drilled out to slide back and forth for the foot to push against and bungee cords to keep tension on the cord...



And the motor controll is just bungeen in place.


http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r302 ... C_1466.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Night Wing]

That's a nice looking boat. Congrats on a fine build.

[bowgarguide]

Pretty boat and craftsmanship.
Ron

[gerald]

Alright! I like it. Some good ideas here. I especially like your cardboard mock up before you started. This is a good example of wood frame conventional construction.

So...what's next?

[preacher]

WTG

[Dogpaddlin]

This was obviously not your first rodeo, very nice!

[barditch]

This was obviously not your first rodeo, very nice!

I agree with this and the preacher's comments as well! Lovely job, and a craft to enjoy for years!

[awoodman]

This was my first boat, a Glen-L TNT modified for a jetski drive instead of the outboard.
http://s147.photobucket.com/albums/r302 ... NT%20boat/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And that, with others started a whole new category on their forum to consolidate the info. You really learn a lot lengthen and changing angels of frames etc. on a boat. It is assume to see the skeleton covered in ply. and take shape. You learn what plywood will conform to. I am so used to building cabinets and furniture for about 30 yrs. boxes are boring....

And my second was "for the fun of it" a modified 8' minimost.
http://s147.photobucket.com/albums/r302 ... rototypes/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

My next boat is going to be a cedar striped kayak modeled after one of Old Towns 12' sit-in fishing ones. I should start a new post for that project...

This is a very nice site especially with all the various "home made Fishing " kayaks.

[Jeaux]

awoodman,
Great Job!
I have a 12' OT Vapor that I have been paddling, sailing and fishing out of for about a year and have been very happy with it's performaance in rough conditions. I really like the lines from mid-ship to stern, . Have been thinking about a cedar strip build using those lines but extending it to 14/15' with a much cleaner bow entry and a lower front deck. Also thinking about bow & stern bulkheads with the cockpit being self bailing.

Please do post your build.

[awoodman]

That is assume Jeaux I increased the width to 30'' do you think that was necessary for stability, and I mostly did it for riding shallow in the Ozark streams.
I would think the forward hull being tall would give more knee room with a spray skirt.

[Jeaux]

Awoodman you have a great design. I really like the painted hull and strips on the deck.
I was thinking about 30" wide for standing and casting stability, the Vapor is 28.5.
Would keep the same cockpit height and would gradually drop the front deck. I'm 6'4" with size 12s and I have been known to slide down into the hull and spend the night on the water, so some height is needed under deck. Cockpit length = just long enough for me to pull my legs up and scoot back to sit on the back deck for fishing. Working on a pivoting seat bracket for that purpose. I would welcome any ideas.

[TKFStubb]

Beautiful build!

[Jerry Hamon]

WOW that's beautiful!!!

[awoodman]

Gerald when I started this boat I had not discovered this or the JEM site.
And thumbing through you're builds again this morning I looked closer at the hull of you're SrchrF16S&G I love it and it makes way more sense with the narrow center section compared to mine.

I can't wait to redesign and build another S&G hull.

Thanks for the inspiration..

[gerald]

Awoodman: The srchrF1628 was a 5 panel prototype that was eventually named the Conquista. From that boat I made a few changes and came up with the current Challenger, which in the albums is called "strider's new boat". Your boats and design methods are very similar to the SOP (seat of the pants) and board and batten methods that I used many years ago before I switched over to the current wood composite no-frame construction. You're doing a good job and I applaud your efforts. Plus we are all learning something from you as well. Keep up the good work.
I've sent you a pm....

[awoodman]

Thanks Gerald the TNT I built is where the frame thing comes from. I am learning about the strength capacity of the epoxy over the ply. and cedar strips.
I guess a person can always go back and add some support to these builds where needed, as long as it can be reached.

On the TNT a friend of mine did the fiberglass. We came up with a huge roll of matt. and 5 gall. of polly. resin and a gall. of hardener, all free. I just did the mixing. It took nearly all of 4 gall. of resin.
Man that was a pain, the matt left such a rough surface. Had to fill the surface again and try to get a smooth finish in order to paint and airbrush it. That boat weighs a ton and built like a house, all in luan. My son-in=law can walk across the back hatch (boat in water) and he's 6'4'' 280lbs.