Beach Got Bored

[Beach]

A few years ago, 2005, I got bored and decided to take on a new project. Not only because I was bored, but because I needed to teach myself a new skill that encompassed not only physical skills, but some mental ones as well....firstly patience, secondly the mental skill that allows one to see something through from beginning to end. I'm not sure what you call that last item.

I chose this project because I thought the results could be beautiful, not because I would expect a utility from it in the end.

I'm going to post a few pictures to show my project. It was immensely satisfying. As I'm not able to be here a lot (with quality time) from my home computer, the posts may have several hours/days in between, or maybe they won't.

I wasn't the best at taking a lot of pictures along the way, this one was taken a few weeks into the project.

So here's the first picture: (Oh, and I know what we're looking at here is UGLY!)

 

[Beach]

About three weeks later, this is how it all looked:

 

[Beach]

Here's another picture from the same night as the last picture. I had sanded (roughly) half of it down and wetted it down to see the colors of the wood.

 

[HeliumAvid]

WOW that is one fine Surf Board

Just waiting to see what the inside of the boat looks like, benches?

HeliumAvid

 

[sssarawolf]

Nice boat super job on it.

 

[MaureenO]

What do you mean it's "ugly?" It's beautiful craftsmanship, Beach! I hope you get bored often. :-)

Maureen

 

[Beach]

Okay here's one more from the same night and a couple of more a few weeks later where I had started on the deck.

Thanks for the kind words ya'll.

 

[tno5]

What talent you have! How you can turn pieces of wood into something like this. I can't imagine the patience required.

 

[Beach]

So here we are about 6 weeks later. I had finished stripping the hull and the deck, sanded and had applied the fiberglass and first coat of epoxy to the deck. This was a pretty exciting night to see how the colors of the different woods would come out with the epoxy.

You can see in the first picture, the hull is on the right, with spreader bars to keep its shape until it is fiberglassed. Funny enough, to me at least, the kayak wood strips are held together with Elmer's wood glue until it gets the structural strength of the fiberglass.

 

[HeliumAvid]

Mighty Fine Workmanship... I would love to see an 8x10 color glossy of her when she is all ready to get wet!!

HeliumAvid

 

[Beach]

So here goes another six weeks (oh and BTW, I spent between 1 to 3 hours in the evenings after work). These kayaks get fiberglassed and epoxied inside and out. The previous picture showed the very beginning of the fiberglassing process (the outside of the deck). After you do the glassing, the fill coats, the sanding, you join the hull and deck together with more fiberglass tape and epoxy, much sanding, much more epoxy. My next pic is after I've done all that and taken it on the first float test.

After the float test comes the final finishing, fine sanding, varnishing and fitting out.

So here she is after her float test. Yes, she floated without leaks and she glides through the water, although a bit tippy at 16 ft long by 20 inches wide.

 

[dwsjr]

Really nice Kayak...super of you to walk us thru the process!

 

[MaureenO]

Thank you so much for getting bored, Beach!! She's a beauty!

Maureen

 

[workerbee]

That is truely amazing!

 

[Zulu Cowboy]

Impressive!

Zulu Cowboy

 

[colonel holman]

THAT is a work of art!