I started on March 17th with plans and some 4x8 sheets of Okoume and on April 29th I went for a ride. Thanks to everyone who has posted information to this forum as it was a great help.
Here's a couple of pictures.
Looks good! I hope to finish mine soon, too.
Mark
Hi,
Looks great.
Dan-Fl
The idea of finishing one of these in six weeks is unfathomable to me. I am impressed. Of course, it’s supposed to take three, right? Hm. Mine took four years.
I started mine last August..., yesterday I taped it up for painting. I figure I've got one month left to complete it; hope to have it on the water by June 1st at the latest. Can't wait!!!
Larry
In early March I was invited to go on a paddling trip the first week of May ( I leave in the morning!) and at that point I though it would be neat to go in a kayak. That gave me the motivation to take on the project and I figured I had enough spare hours each day to get it done. I will say though, that every step took longer than I thought it would. They key to getting it done was to prepare for the next step while the last step was curing/hardening/drying etc. I would say I put in 100 to 120 hours.
Here are a few of my trials and tribulations...most, if not all seemed to be common amongst the many builds I read about here. That's the beauty of this site.
-I tried a few scarfing jigs but wasn't satisfied with the outcome so I ended up doing them by hand with a plane. As is documented, it really isn't that difficult and really doesn't take that long.
-I thought that the fillets would take 3 or 4 hours but they took 9.
-I thought I could plane the sheer clamps in 3 or 4 hours but it took me 6.
-I had to make a custom-sized aft bulkhead as the one in the plans was a little small.
-I had a gap (like many others) between the forward bulkhead and the deck which I fixed with a thin slice of ply and a fillet.
-My first deck beam sprung back too much so I had to change my jig radius and make another beam.
-After installing the deck, the final radius of the foredeck was such that I had to make a second set of forward hatch frames that better matched the curvature of the deck.
- I used Schooner Gold varnish and after 5 coats I think I was just starting to get the right mix of thinners, flow agents and techniques to get a good coat. (Thanks to Joey at CLC for some good tips) I think if I did 2 or 3 more coats that I might be close to nailing it but I'd had enough punishment after 5. (actually, 5 on the deck and bottom, 6 on one sheer and 7 on the other...but that's another story.)
Like the pirate code in the Pirates of the Carribean, the plans and instructions are more like guidelines rather than rules. I found that the key to moving steadily along with the build was to adapt things along the way and not worry about them too much. I kept telling myself that it would all work out in the end which it did. It's a beautiful craft and I'll probably build another for my wife; likely a CH16 from a kit.
Cheers.