Any first time strip builders experience with Petrel Play

Builder's Forum
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I've read the book and watched the videos and really want to build a Petrel Play.  I have the strong back kit and plans in the basket and ready to pull the trigger.

My last concern is that the designer - Nick Schade referred to this to this as  more for the advanced builder.  That's not me.  I'd like to hear from any first time builders who have built this. I have seen the SG version, but prefer the look of strip built.  Appreciate any thoughts or suggestions.

Scott 

 

 

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   Hi Scott, I'd say don't stress too much. As a recent newcomer to the world of paddling I am nearly finished building my strip petrel play as my second boat, the first was the wood duck 12 hybrid from a kit. The PP was from plans. If you take your time and be careful its not a project that anyone who is practical and likes working with wood should be intimidated by, and of course its a nice excuse to acquire more tools... I did spend a lot of time re-reading both Nick's books and re-watching the videos, some of them many times over. It will probably take a while - the wood duck took me 10 weeks from ripping the package open to getting into the water while the PP has taken me nearly a year to get to the stage where I'm ready to varnish and get afloat this spring. As well as this forum, there are some good blogs over on the UK Fyne boat website https://forum.fyneboatkits.co.uk/ - including mine - which add valuable guidance for some of the tricky bits.

At the end of the day enjoy the work, its meant to be fun and a bit of an adventure after all.

Pete

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Hi Scott,

I am not a new builder, but have built a number of strip built boats and was new at one time.

I think sailingfree makes a reasonable point that if you are practical and like working with wood and patient, you can make a go of it.  In my experience over building for almost 30 years, I am amazed at the work ‘first time builders’ have done, and at the same time, have also made a hobby of acquiring failed projects where, when the person got the kit, they got a little into it, and just became overwhelmed and stopped.   In a failed project, I acquire the wood and finish the boat, and all I usually pay is the service of cleaning up someone’s garage.

My experience is that folks with a bit of woodworking under their belt can do really well…..they know the basics of measuring, determining level and straight, cutting, sanding and handling a block plane and can think ahead and are patient and detail oriented...they are also resillient when they have a set back.   if that describes you or mostly describes you, you are in a great place.

  In addition to it being a woodworking project, there is also the glass and epoxy skills….which is a different discipline but inevitably important….and bad skills on epoxy and glass can wreck the best woodworking.   The nice thing about epoxy work is that you can practice on scrap wood to get comfortable before doing the larger hull.

On the difference between an easy strip built and a harder one (and I have built all kinds).  The harder ones just typically take longer and have elements that just take more time to execute…but do not really require any different skill…..other than the patience to work through the more difficult elements and stick with it.  When I built my petrel play, I took about a year from opening the box to the finished boat…and just worked carefully.

As inspiration, i offer the three pictures.

the first is my night heron high deck - the first strip built i ever built:

The second is my petrel which where I acquired the wood and forms from somebody’s garage.

The final picture is my petrel play

as sailingfree said, there are a lot of folks who want to help you be successful.

best of luck with your choice.

h

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   Thanks so much.  That's kinda what I thought.Really  appreciate the encouragement. Im not particularly skilled , but try to make up for it with stubbornness and determination. And I think the strip built boats like yours are a beautiful work of art.  Love your pictures! I am placing an order for the forms and plans today. 

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I had done a cedar strip paddleboard and a couple of skin on frame boats, but my first strip kayak was a Petrel (standard, not Play).  The parts I struggled with were:

  • Getting the strips on that have a tight twist.  I should have bought a heat gun to pretwist the strips, and then it would have been a lot easier.
  • Figuring out how to strip around the coaming, specifically at the widest part of the coaming by the hips where it transitions from generally horizontal strips behind the coaming to generally more vertical beside the coaming.  It caused me some stress but I winged it and it turned out fine anyway.  I probably overthought it.
  • Cutting out the hole for the coaming.  I cut it a little too big  in the back by maybe 1/8" and had to backfill with some thickened epoxy.  It's embarassing, but it passes the 10' rule and I don't expect it to affect anything.
  • Joining the hull and the deck.  I didn't have my strips tight enough to the form and got a little spread on the deck so it didn't quite line up with the hull.  I got it together, but my joint isn't the prettiest.  If I had been more careful to keep everything tight to the forms, then it would have been easier.
  • Shaking my varnish like an idiot.  

I figure all of those things are probably true for almost all kayaks, so I wouldn't recommend fretting about it too much in terms of design choice.  I'm honestly not sure what would make one easier or harder except maybe somewhat less tight twists.

Going into mine, I was most worried about the fiberglass, but I felt like that was almost the easiest part. 

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   Just one more question ( as if LOL ) do you recommend using cove & bead or the Robo bevel with shoulder plane? 

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my first strip build was built with cove and bead strips and i think it makes it a lot easier to do a nice job compared to square strips and using things like the robo bevel and low angle block plane to completely shape all the edges of each strip.

even with cove and bead strips, you will still need a block plane and get plenty of practice.  but most of your block plane work will be relegated to the ends of the strips where they are not parrallel adjacent to one another and need to be shaped.   

the robo bevel itself is a useful tool....but not so much on a petrel play.   the robo bevel pays back in spades on designs that have long and relatively straight runs like the bootlegger series.  the petrel play is short and has a lot of curves.   in these situations, the robo bevel tool just doesn't have the space to do a lot of work relative to what you will need to do by hand with a block plane with the strip off the boat.

i did do my petrel play with square strips.....and i did use the robo bevel and block plane.....i just got a lot less use out of the robo bevel than i thought i was going to get.

fwiw, i think blueriverpaddlers five bullet points on the more challenging parts of a petrel are spot on.....but i think you can easily avoid the varnish problem :)

h

 

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I did both of my strip builds so far 100% with a block plane (no cove & bead, no robo bevel). 

I mounted 2x8s sticking out along either sides of my strongback to use as work tables.  I'd hold the strip in place and eyeball the gap to judge how much bevel was needed, then flip it over on my table to hit it with the block plane.  It was easy where the bevel was small and consistent, but where it started to twist into the end I tended to add too much bevel which caused some unsightly wide gaps on the inside that weren't apparent until I pulled it off the forms.  I backfilled them with thickened epoxy before glassing.  I'll be more careful with that next time.

h - I find it interesting that you didn't get much value out of the robo bevel where the curves get tight.  I was figuring on getting or building one for my next build, but if it wouldn't help where I'm having trouble anyway, then I might skip it.

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Hi blueriverpaddler, 

let me try to clarify the note on robobevel. 

it was more of disapointment that i thought it was really going to signifcantly displace the how much work i needed to do with the block plane.....and between getting very comfortable with the block plane and the many limitations i was finding with the robo-bevel (oops...won't fit in here....so let me do this with my block plane) .....i didn't end up using it that much.

so when i say it didn't handle tight curves well....i maybe should have clarified that.  if you curve is in only one dimensions (e.g., a cylinder) and you are laying your planks along the long access of the cylinder, the robo bevel works great...even at relatively tight angles (e.g, a narrow tube).   the long access of the robo bevel easily tracks along the straight strip and it just makes it really easy.

now if you your cylinder is no longer a cylinder and is coming to a point and then that point is also upward sloping, at a curve that is tight compared to the length of the robo bevel, the guide of the robo bevel has very little to work with and becomes less effective....or the robo bevel won't actually engage with the wood.....in some stripping situations.

and if you have a stripping technique and strips are coming together from opposing sides, and the section is relatively flat, the robobevel can't fit into the corners....and so you end up pulling out your hand held block plane.

so i just found between all the angles and curves that come into play on a petrel play, which couldn't be addressed with the robobevel, i was disappointed relative to my expectations.  

fwiw, i had built several strip builds with square strips like you, with only a block plane....and while i enjoyed it, i thought the robobevel was going to change my life and render good block plane skills obsolete.  it didn't.

h