Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: eskimo2 on March 25, 2008, 01:18:57 PM
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I've never seen a factory made kid-sized kayak. A four foot tall 45 pound child is way too small to effectively paddle an adult sized boat. Last year I let Svea paddle my sit-on-top plastic kayak; this boat is four times as long as she was tall and it significantly outweighed her. She had fun but really had trouble since everything was so oversized. She was at the mercy of the wind and eventually my tow line.
So now I'm building a little skin-on-frame kayak for my girls. I intended on starting this project last summer, and bought five one-by-four by ten foot cedar boards. The boards, waiting to become a kayak, sat in the shed until Friday. Although I have thought about design and construction methods for years, I didn't even begin to sketch this boat until Friday. I wanted to keep this kayak small, light, relatively stable, relatively fast and above all I wanted to make it exceptionally easy to enter and quick to build.
The baidarka (Inuit kayak) hanging in our living room is 17.5 feet long, weighs 75 pounds and is too small for me. Eskimos built their kayaks relative to their body proportions. Measurements for every frame member was measured by the paddler's finger-span, or elbow to opposite outstretched fingertip, etc. The builder of my baidarka had shorter legs than I do. The diameter of the hoop/hole and location of its front and rear supports is such that I cannot enter the boat without hyper extending my legs. I also cannot bend my legs what-so-ever while seated. Entering a holed kayak involves stepping into the boat and sliding one's feet forward while gripping the sides of the hoop to lower oneself into the boat. The legs must be straight while entering if the hole is small. This is difficult to do from a dock and nearly impossible to do from the water. With my plastic and fiberglass boats I've always entered the cockpit from the shore and scooted into the water, exiting first involves running the boat onto the stable shore. A cloth skinned boat will only survive this so many times.
I wanted to make their boat easy to enter from a dock or shallow water. The solution was too make the hoop significantly bigger. I wanted to make the hoop big enough that even I could enter the boat from the water; this would ensure that the girls would never outgrow it. There are many styles and designs of Inuit kayaks. Variables effect the boat's stability, speed, cargo capacity, stealth, maneuverability, tracking, seaworthiness, easy of entry, crosswind profile and weight. This boat is not patterned after any particular Inuit tribe design, but is an amalgamation of many design features. The hoop is glue laminated from eight pieces of wood, including plywood. The front and rear vertical boards also are glued. Everything else is held together only by wooden pegs and lashing; Eskimo style. I've ordered some Kevlar strands/string; I'm not happy with either of the strings/cords I've used so far. The Inuits built their kayaks to be semi flexible so that they would work/twist with the waves. I don't think glue was an option for them, but I think if I build another one I'll save much time gluing and pegging the the frame together.
As shown below with floorboards, the ten foot boat weighs 16 pounds. One fourth of that weight is the hoop and floorboards. Svea is putting a coat of sealer on the wood; that should add a bit of weight as well. I have a few yards of aircraft Dacron fabric on order. I expect the fabric and fabric glue to increase the boat's weight by about two pounds and the sealer/paint also may add a couple of pounds. Today I'll build a polycarbonate rudder. The rudder hinge is aluminum, the lines will be made of fishing line and the rudder "pedals" will be nylon straps. I'm hoping to keep it under 20 pounds, but it may end up around 21 or 22 pounds.
I've devoted about 28 hours to the the project so far. This includes design, building a simple hull form, drawing a few patterns, tweaking ill performing tools, sanding and sweeping up my messes. The last eight of these hours were spent on the hoop and partial lashing work.
(http://hallbuzz.com/images/2008/mar/kayak_frame_640.jpg)
(http://hallbuzz.com/images/2008/mar/kayak_frame_girls_640.jpg)
(http://hallbuzz.com/images/2008/mar/svea_in_kayak_frame.jpg)
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I have a Dagger Charleston that I use for play and multi day river tours. Dagger makes seceral junior kayaks.
One of Dagger's Junior Kayaks (http://www.dagger.com/agent-6-0/)
Nice work by the way....
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Some really neat workmanship there bud.
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I have a Dagger Charleston that I use for play and multi day river tours. Dagger makes seceral junior kayaks.
One of Dagger's Junior Kayaks (http://www.dagger.com/agent-6-0/)
Nice work by the way....
That’s the way to go for white water.
I paddle in lakes, however, and usually go pretty far. I can’t imagine that thing tracks worth a darn or has a reasonable hull speed for touring.
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I almost drowned in a kayak while my entire class watched.
It was in a gym class and the teacher had made a bunch of kayaks the previous summer out of a fibreglass mould he had. He made the hole to get in extremely small. I was able to get into mine but didn't realise how difficult it was to get out until I was upside down under the water.
Each of us were assigned a *buddy* and we were shown how to right the kayak if we flipped over in shallow water using our paddles. Basically we just pushed the paddle against the bottom of the shallow end of the pool and used it to push ourselves upright again. Our *buddy* was there in case something went wrong and was tasked with reaching over the kayak and pulling it over.
I was up first and the first two times I did it everything was fine. On my third and final attempt I didn't have enough angle on the paddle against the bottom of the pool and it slipped right out of my hands as I tried to push myself upright.
I tapped the bottom of the kayak to let my buddy know I needed help. Nothing happened. I did it again...and again...nothing.
Soon I began to really need to take a breath and started to flail. I twisted myself as far as I could and desparately tried to take a breath when I came out of the water on the side of the kayak briefly but ended up breathing in nothing but water. I tried to get out but the darn thing was too tight around my hips.
I started to black out when he teacher finally pulled me over after finally noticing my struggling. After they got me *back to life* I was told by someone else that my *buddy* had simply stood next to me laughing the entire time. He got into quite a bit of trouble but it wasn't enough as far as I was concerned.
Make sure the hole is big enough Eskimo...please.
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Nice Job. Thats going to be sweet!
I have a Mailbu II XL Sit-On-Top yak I use for warm weather fishing. It's great to be paddling across a small lake when the wind is low. It kinda sucks when its windy. :confused:
Wab
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Not really. :aok
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I almost drowned in a kayak while my entire class watched.
It was in a gym class and the teacher had made a bunch of kayaks the previous summer out of a fibreglass mould he had. He made the hole to get in extremely small. I was able to get into mine but didn't realise how difficult it was to get out until I was upside down under the water.
Each of us were assigned a *buddy* and we were shown how to right the kayak if we flipped over in shallow water using our paddles. Basically we just pushed the paddle against the bottom of the shallow end of the pool and used it to push ourselves upright again. Our *buddy* was there in case something went wrong and was tasked with reaching over the kayak and pulling it over.
I was up first and the first two times I did it everything was fine. On my third and final attempt I didn't have enough angle on the paddle against the bottom of the pool and it slipped right out of my hands as I tried to push myself upright.
I tapped the bottom of the kayak to let my buddy know I needed help. Nothing happened. I did it again...and again...nothing.
Soon I began to really need to take a breath and started to flail. I twisted myself as far as I could and desparately tried to take a breath when I came out of the water on the side of the kayak briefly but ended up breathing in nothing but water. I tried to get out but the darn thing was too tight around my hips.
I started to black out when he teacher finally pulled me over after finally noticing my struggling. After they got me *back to life* I was told by someone else that my *buddy* had simply stood next to me laughing the entire time. He got into quite a bit of trouble but it wasn't enough as far as I was concerned.
Make sure the hole is big enough Eskimo...please.
Holy cow! That’s why I’ll never paddle my baidarka again; I had a heck of a time getting out while on shore and probably would have drowned had I capsized the one time I paddled it. The hole in this boat is huge; even my wife would just fall out of it in the event of a capsize.
I got my first boat in 1985. I practiced rolling it in a lake and dislocated my shoulder in the process. That was the last time I capsized in a holed kayak and I’ve been paddling ever since. In Hawaii I got knocked off my sit-on-top surf ski kayak quite often. A number of times I even flipped that 19 foot boat end over end in the big surf.
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Nice Job. Thats going to be sweet!
I have a Mailbu II XL Sit-On-Top yak I use for warm weather fishing. It's great to be paddling across a small lake when the wind is low. It kinda sucks when its windy. :confused:
Wab
That's a great boat. My sit-on-top Sprinter also is made by Ocean Kayak; it's the red one in my fleet pic below:
(http://hallbuzz.com/images/2007/jun/kayak_fleet_1024.jpg)
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Holy cow! That’s why I’ll never paddle my baidarka again; I had a heck of a time getting out while on shore and probably would have drowned had I capsized the one time I paddled it. The hole in this boat is huge; even my wife would just fall out of it in the event of a capsize.
I got my first boat in 1985. I practiced rolling it in a lake and dislocated my shoulder in the process. That was the last time I capsized in a holed kayak and I’ve been paddling ever since. In Hawaii I got knocked off my sit-on-top surf ski kayak quite often. A number of times I even flipped that 19 foot boat end over end in the big surf.
It does look big but I figured I'd make the point anyway.
They are alot of fun kayaks....I did a big trip up in the Lake District years ago and we just kayaked from one place to another. I made darn sure the hole was big enough for that trip I assure you.
Have fun. Be safe.
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Good job there, your kids are lucky to have a parent talented and interested enough to do something like that for them. :salute
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Nice workmanship. Looking forward to seeing the final product.
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I almost drowned in a kayak while my entire class watched.
It was in a gym class and the teacher had made a bunch of kayaks the previous summer out of a fibreglass mould he had. He made the hole to get in extremely small. I was able to get into mine but didn't realise how difficult it was to get out until I was upside down under the water.
Each of us were assigned a *buddy* and we were shown how to right the kayak if we flipped over in shallow water using our paddles. Basically we just pushed the paddle against the bottom of the shallow end of the pool and used it to push ourselves upright again. Our *buddy* was there in case something went wrong and was tasked with reaching over the kayak and pulling it over.
I was up first and the first two times I did it everything was fine. On my third and final attempt I didn't have enough angle on the paddle against the bottom of the pool and it slipped right out of my hands as I tried to push myself upright.
I tapped the bottom of the kayak to let my buddy know I needed help. Nothing happened. I did it again...and again...nothing.
Soon I began to really need to take a breath and started to flail. I twisted myself as far as I could and desparately tried to take a breath when I came out of the water on the side of the kayak briefly but ended up breathing in nothing but water. I tried to get out but the darn thing was too tight around my hips.
I started to black out when he teacher finally pulled me over after finally noticing my struggling. After they got me *back to life* I was told by someone else that my *buddy* had simply stood next to me laughing the entire time. He got into quite a bit of trouble but it wasn't enough as far as I was concerned.
Make sure the hole is big enough Eskimo...please.
Wow Curv, that must have sucked! You dated his sister or atleast kicked him in the nuts later right?
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Eskimo,
You are always doing some of the most interesting things on this board. Thats awesome.
Your kids must think the sun sets on you! :D
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Nice looking work there Eskimo :aok
shamus
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That's a great boat. My sit-on-top Sprinter also is made by Ocean Kayak; it's the red one in my fleet pic below:
(http://hallbuzz.com/images/2007/jun/kayak_fleet_1024.jpg)
Whats the story on the one with the trolling motor?
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make it a canoe and you won't have to worry about getting in or out of it.
I've been thinking about getting a twin pair of kayaks to use as pontoons for making a small cheap pontoon boat.
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Whats the story on the one with the trolling motor?
I bought that POS at a garage sale for $35, because it was only $35. It’s fiberglass, flat bottomed like a canoe and as wide as a canoe. It leaked like crazy, so I reglassed the bottom. The molded mini keel promotes cracking and the floor is so flat that it has to flex with any weight in it.
My wife and I have taken the two oldest out with one parent and one child in each hole. The thing is stable but slow and it’s with makes paddling a little awkward.
Anyway, We stopped using it so I hooked a $3 garage sale motor to it just for yucks. It has foot -pedal-rudder steering and a motor lift mechanism. I modified it with nothing but junk that was laying around. It now weighs about 80 pounds without the battery.
Oh heck, I’ll just copy & paste from last year’s blog:
(http://hallbuzz.com/images/2007/jun/moto_yak_notes_1024.jpg)
They say a picture is worth 1,000 words; this one must be worth at least 1,049! The challenge on this project was to take a regular small electric trolling motor and convert it to remote foot pedal steering and remote lifting without the paddler having to exit the rear hole. I figured that remote motor lifting would be critical so the prop could be cleared of weeds and the motor could be lifted in shallow water. It also would be nice to have it out of the water when paddling only. Another complication was that the motor needs to be able to turn 90 degrees when in the full up position so the prop can be viewed from the rear hole and cleared of weeds with a three foot stick. To solve this, I tied 1,000 pound fishing line to a big washer just above the motor. An ordinary hose clamp keeps the washer from sliding up the main shaft but still allows the shaft to turn within the washer.
(http://hallbuzz.com/images/2007/jun/moto_yak_lift.jpg)
When considering how to fabricate rudder pedals with the least amount of effort I considered a few ideas that involved sliding some sort of a rod through a mounted guide, much like the pedals on the other boats. None of the materials that I had on hand pointed to this option, however. The other basic idea involved rope as a guide that would keep forward tension on the pedals. In the end I went with a three foot section of bamboo through a chunk of high density foam rubber as the actual pedal. The foam blocks have two pedal surfaces; one for a 6' tall paddler (me) and the other for a 5'6 paddler (Joan or Bill). In just a few minutes I could modify the system to fit Svea or Brigitta. Forward tension is achieved through a pulley near the bow. The control lines basically make a loop from stern to bow and back; the boat could be steered left or right with only one pedal. A final complication is that when the motor is raised both control lines move back to make up for the steeper angle of the control lines. This was solved with a bungee cord that holds the front pulley; when the motor is raised, this bow bungee stretches.
Yes, the speed and forward/reverse control box is just a Tupperware container. What can I say, it's light, semi-watertight, just the right size and on hand. And yes, the rear motor mount is made from a block of wood and our old Colorado license plates. Once again, cheap, light, strong but twistable and most importantly: available.
It all sounds and looks terribly convoluted but the entire modification used only found materials, went together fairly quickly and works remarkably well.
I'm not happy with how the top and bottom parts of the fiberglass hull are held together. Originally it was pop riveted together with a C-shaped plastic trim glued over the raw edges. Many of the rivets have broken and the plastic trim no longer fits correctly in many places. Bill added a few rivets which has helped much but the entire seam is pretty shoddy, even by my standards. I'm contemplating sewing it together with a non corrosive wire and then glassing it over. My gallon jug of resin is almost empty, however. I may have to purchase more.
Boat weight: 81 pounds (without removable 16 pound lawn tractor battery).
(http://hallbuzz.com/images/2007/jun/joan_svea_britta_motoyak_640.jpg)
The blue one was my first boat; last year I chopped it up and made it a three hole:
(http://hallbuzz.com/images/2007/jun/david_anni_blue_kayak_640.jpg)
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LOL nice! Thats some funny stuff!
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Nice work Eskimo! :aok
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what are you going to skin the boat with?
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what are you going to skin the boat with?
I have a few yards of aircraft Dacron fabric on order. I expect the fabric and fabric glue to increase the boat's weight by about two pounds and the sealer/paint also may add a couple of pounds.