Hybrid Northbay

Builder's Forum
1

I built my Northbay about 6 years ago and paddled it faithfully for a few years.  When I built her I made some fairly significant modifications, including removiing all the aft-deck carlins, removing the masik?? (forward deck beam by the knees) removing the thigh braces on the cockpit coaming, adding flush hatches fore and aft and changing the skeg.  I also made a couple of other minor mods, but those were the big ones.

2 years ago I ripped the deck off the boatin order to do some work on the boat and turn her into a hybrid. I bought my woods, ripped my strips and got all ready to make a beautiful new version of my fine watercraft.

About a month ago, I finally started the actual stripping process. I haven't been successful at adding pics since the  format of this forum changed a couple years back so I'll just link to my threads on woodworkingtalk.com.

In the meantime, here are some new mods that I am making in the process of doing this stripped deck.  I ripped out the skeg box and filled the hole with some of the material I removed from the deck.  I will be adding a fixed skeg running from the skeg box ~3 1/2 to the aft edge of the keel.  I never paddle the boat without a skeg and like the idea of the fixed skeg better than the retractable one, at this point.  I will also be removing the sheer clamps in the cockpit area completely and have trimmed them to 1/8 inch for the rest of the boat.  I may round the stems slightly as they are very sharp and there is a lot of wear on the glass at those points.  I haven't decided on that, yet, because I really like the aesthetics of the sharp ends.

Links here:

original project thread:

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f13/new-kayak-deck-works-9872/

current progress thread:

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f13/updates-kayak-24486/

 

2

Looks nice!  I can’t wait to see the deck glassed and that accent strip will show up very nicely.

3

fRANK,

I am interested in how you paln to make, and attach, your fixed skeg.  I have been planning on adding a fixed skeg to my MC 16.5 which has a case of the wonders when I row it.  I am thinking plywood filleted and glassed to a hull doubler.  I can then bolt it thru the bottom and an interior backing piece, all well bedded in silicone.  It will then be removable in case of damage.  The bottom of my boat is coated with epoxy and graphite and I will most likely do the same to the skeg, after liberal fiberglassing.

I look forward to reading your ideas.

Paul

4

Okay, I tried to respond to this post a week ago but it seems to have been eaten by my computer or by the system...

The fixed skeg will be strips of mahogany epoxied and shaped along the keel, about 3.5 feet from the aft all the way to the aft.  I'll build up 1" x 3/8" or 1/4" strips to a total thickness of about 3-3.5 inches at the deepest point and feather that into the keel as I go forward toward the cockpit.  Shape it all and then glass it directly into the hull with a layer or two of 6 oz glass on the bias and I think it will be good to go.

FrankP