After 15 months of interrupted work, I have finally completed my Aluetesque build. I no longer track man hours since I am retired, but this boat was more work than either the Mystery or Yukon, so probably well over 300. Nick says that this is a tricky boat to build, and that is certainly true. Most of the boat is a straight forward strip build except for the forward 3’ of the hull and the aft 2’ of the deck. This was my 6th strip build and those two areas took every trick that I have. Once those areas are stripped, then you get to spend a bunch more time whittling away on the hardwood stems. Once the basic shape is done, both the bow and stern have a lot of concave areas which must be hand sanded. For an experienced builder with plenty of time, this is a rewarding build, I am very happy with how my boat turned out.
I used 3/16” square strips for this build. The bulkheads, cockpit recess and coaming lip are 3mm Sapelle plywood, and the external stems are cherry. The interior is glassed with 4oz S-glass and exterior is 4oz E-glass. It has a Redfish seat, Stellar Surfski footbrace (non-steering) and KayakSport skeg. I have added a Stellar venturi which makes the cockpit self bailing. The completed boat prior to rigging weighed 40# with skeg and footbrace rails installed. Fully rigged the boat weighs 44.6#.
One time/labor saving tip if you build the Aluetesque is to buy the forms from CLC. Due to the complex shape the design uses 10” form spacing for most of the length with 5” spacing. As a result, there are a bunch more forms than a normal 18’ kayak, and they have a more complex shape. When I saw that I could buy the forms for $245, I took the easy way.
Two areas where I diverged from the plans are the skeg and the bow. Instead of the fixed skeg detailed in the plans, I elected to install an adjustable skeg. I purchased and built the Guillemot skeg kit but had concerns that it may be too small for this boat in some of the rough water that I paddle. I went with the KayakSport skeg kit instead, which has about 3x the surface area of the Guillemot skeg. I have the KayakSport skeg in two other boats and it has held up well.
When I bought the design, I knew that the bow was something that I needed to change. Plumb bows like the one in the plans tend to catch weeds here in Florida. I had the same problem with my Mystery build and modified the bow to the same angle (60 degrees at the waterline) as my surfskis which do not catch weeds. In order to get the 60 degree angle, I decided to go with a bifurcated bow like that used by Laughing Loon Kayaks. This modification added about 3” to the length of the boat.
For those interested, photo build log is here: Aleutesque Build | Flickr
Yesterday was launch day for the Aluetesque, and it paddles as well as it looks.
While certainly not as fast as my race boats, it is fast for a recreational kayak. With the skeg up, it tracks very loosely, which is likely why the design includes a small fixed skeg (which I omitted). Just a couple of inches down on the adjustable skeg gives the boat good directional control and full down will give excellent control in big waves. The Aluetesque has light primary stability, so unless you frequently paddle skinny boats, you will find the Aluetesque a bit “twitchy” upon entry. It has good secondary stability so it firms up nicely when edged. Those that can paddle an intermediate surfski will be very comfortable in this boat. I did not do a practice remount because I forgot my paddle leash, but did test the venturi. With the plug pulled at rest, the cockpit took on about 3” of water. After about 2 minutes of hard paddling, most of the water was removed, and it took another 2 minutes at 6 mph to drain the remaining water.
My biggest concern with this design was that the cockpit would be too tight for long paddling days. I serve as a volunteer safety paddler volunteer with a wonderful non-profit called Paddle Florida that does multi-day kayak camping trips. Previously, I had been using either a Chesapeake 17LT or a S&G Petrel Play. The Ch17LT is comfortable/roomy and relatively fast, but it is a heavy design and as my first build it is heavier yet. The Petrel Play is much lighter and a joy to paddle, but it has a tight cockpit and is a bit too short to easily keep up with +16’ boats. I am very to say that I find the cockpit of the Aluetesque a bit larger and more comfortable than then the PP, making it a good choice for these trips which sometimes include 20 mile days. That said, if you are larger than I am (5’7”, 152 lbs) you may find this boat a bit cramped.
(On a side note, anyone looking for a good easy Florida paddling trip should check out Paddleflorida.org).
Thanks to Nick Schade for this excellent design.
