Thought I'd share my experiences building a Sea Island Sport (first kayak build after doing some previous furniture work). Decided to build from scratch rather than using a kit as the shipping to Canada and the US$ exchange rate was just way too expensive.
Big thanks to John Harris from CLC who answered a lot of questions and provided fantastic guidance throughout the project.
The biggest challenge was working with epoxy in my cold garage (started in early March) but more on that later. Here is my inital setup - simply two 4x8 plys on multiple sawhorses - it was tight in a single car garage but manageable.
I think I'll need to split this into multiple posts so I can include pictures along the way (first time posting on this forum so hopefully this works OK.....)
Step 2 - I decided I was going to scarf join the entire 4x8 panels of Okume before cutting any parts. This may not be the recommended way, but I was more comfortable doing this than cutting blanks and worrying about getting the wrong angle on the scarf joints as there wasn't much scrap room on the plans.
Here is the first of my "tents" that I created to help the epoxy cure in the cold weather - simply poly plastic tented over 2x4's with work lights underneath to create enough heat. In this case, I only tented the scarf joints that were glued. I put a thermometer underneath and the temps ranged from 80 to 100 degrees (with outside temps below freezing) even in the largest tents that I built (shown in later steps).
Step 3 - Marking and cutting the parts took WAAAY longer than I thought it would. Be warned if you're building from scratch that this will take a couple weeks (working nights and weekends). I marked everything with an awl, then connected the awl marks with a pencil then cut using a circular saw and jig saw. I was skeptical of using a circular saw, but that turned out to be the far better option.
Pic of marking with the awl - no pics of cutting the parts...
Step 4 - Drilling a LOT of holes and starting to stitch the hull together. Building from scratch, nothing is pre-drilled so make sure you have a cordless drill. Here are a couple of hull parts stitched.
Step 5 - Not sure why I'm numbering the steps - I'm obviously skipping a lot of stuff that I didn't take pictures of (since the instruction book is actually 90 pages). Beveling all the edges for example was a big task that I didn't take any pictures of - make sure you have a very good and sharp plane. Also I found a sharp rasp to be invaluable.
Anyway, after stitching, the hull is tack welded - below the tack welds are in but the stitches haven't been removed yet.
OK no more numbering of the steps, because I just realized I missed a major picture and can't figure out how to edit a post....
The tack welds (and most of the epoxy work) was done in cold temperatures, so every time I used epoxy I had to tent my work with poly plastic and use work lights. Here's my setup - temporary vertical 2x4's attached to my plywood worktable using dowels (so they could be removed when I didn't need a tent) and then vertical "roof beam" 2x4's rested on top (again with dowels to connect them temporarily) so the plastic could be laid over top of this. Worked like a charm with the temp inside the tent going up to about 80 when outside temps were around the freezing mark,
First time ever using fiberglass - it was challenging but with patience it worked out pretty well. The excess on the sides in the pic below hasn't been trimmed off yet.
The Sea Island Sport being a sit-on-top model adds the extra challenge of having the create (not so difficult) and attach (much more difficult) a cockpit. Here's the stitched cockpit.
Attaching the cockpit to the deck was a challenge - here is the cockpit (already fiberglassed) stitched to the assembled deck (which is not yet fiberglassed).
Fiberglassing the underside of the deck. The hull is resting on its side in the background just to keep it out of the way - like I said, single car garage made for a tight work area.
Remember, the deck is upside down in this pic, so that is actually the underside of the cockpit showing - note the hole in the bottom of the front corner of the cockpit. This is where the scupper box will be attached so water can drain out of the cockpit through the hull. I didn't take any pictures of the scupper box, but picture it as a large wooden tube that goes directly through the deck and hull so all the water is contained only in that tube and nothing gets into the interior of the kayak. Remember that this model is a sit-on-top and not a sit-in so the interior is completely enclosed and dry....theoretically. :-)
Cutting the deck hatches was scary - you've put so much time into building this masterpiece, and if you screw up the deck hatch holes / covers now......
I used a jig saw and was VERY careful and it worked out fine. You can see the hatch cover here and the hatch rims being epoxied.
Final assembly - attaching the deck to the hull. Wow, it actually looks like a boat!
Laying out the fiberglass tape on the inside seams of the deck and hull was probably the most difficult task. It was messy, awkward, frustrating and hot (it was June by this point). I would highly recommend doing only one side at a time. I tried to do one side, flip it over and do the other side so they could both dry at the same time. The top side (after I flipped it over) has some fiberglass that came away from the edges and is now curled and ugly on the inside. I'm confident that it's secure enough that leaks will never be a problem, but if I was to ever want to use the hatches for real storage spaces (say for camping equipment) I'm afraid the curled fiberglass might cause rips in material or clothing or even cut someones hand if they had to reach in there. Luckily, we're not campers so likely won't ever use the storage capacity that much.
The bar clamps in this pic were just being used to balance the kayak on its side while the fiberglass tape on the deck & hull seam cured.
After the deck was fiberglassed (no pic) the first coat of varnish was applied and I have to say, even I was pretty impressed with how this was turning out.....
Varnish applied and accessories added - it's ready to float.
I added paddle holders to the side - these aren't part of the instructions, but I take a lot of pictures (as you might be able to tell) so I wanted to be able to lock my paddle in while playing with my camera.
I also decided to add brass padeyes for attaching the seat with hooks rather than screwing the seat webbing directly into the deck as per the instructions. This makes it easy to remove the seat either for transporting the kayak on a roof rack or when the seat wears out and needs to be replaced.
First time loading it on the truck - as noted above I transported it with the seat removed and took off the cover hatches, though I'm not sure that was necessary.
Looks pretty good up there!
First test run was in a very small conservation area where they teach kids how to canoe so I knew the water would be calm so I could check things out. This kayak is actually for my wife who prefers sit-on-tops, but she made me test it first to make sure it didn't sink (such faith in me...). 2nd pic is her testing it celebrating that it floats!
Just got back from 2 weeks at the cottage and used it everyday except one. Absolutely love how it turned out - thanks CLC! (Even the dog loves it...)
OK, one question for my last post. How much of a beating do the chine's take on a wooden kayak just from beaching it? We land on a beach at the cottage, and drag it up out of the water. After using it everyday for 2 weeks it looks like the sand on the beach has almost completely worn away the fiberglass on chine at the front of the boat and done some damage near the back from dragging it out also. I know we didn't hit any rocks or anything in the water, so I'm guessing landing this way has pretty much just acted as sand paper. Any suggestions? I'm not worried about any leaks as the epoxy fillets should suffice to take care of that but I am worried about the ply rotting if it wears down to the wood. Should I sand it down and re-fiberglass just the chine, perhaps with 6 oz fiberglass tape? Or maybe even two layers of fiberglass just in the one small area (it's about a 4 inch section of the chine, just on the bottom seam, on both front and back).
Thanks for reading!!
Very nice, Jeff. The SIS has been one of my favorite CLC designs since a little after it was first offered. At first I didn't like it from the pictures, but after seeing one in person I realized that it had a lovely sculptural presence that didn't come across in the photos. I had actually decided to build one and was within days of ordering the kit when the WD12 came out and bumped it from the top of my personal pantheon of kayak designs. But I still like the design quite a bit. It's the easiest one to get in and out of for a swim on a hot day.
Your build is fun to read about, especially how you handled the individual challenges you ran into. And I do think that may be the closest I've seen anyone ever get to a cormorant in a kayak.
That scraping of the chine is a common problem on any beaching kayak. That's why CLC sells their dynel rub strip kits. The dynel provides abrasion resistance and the graphite/epoxy mix provides a slippery, easy-to-maintain surface that resists scratching.
You can also skip the dynel and just paint the trouble areas or the entire bottom with graphite/epoxy mix. I've done that on every boat I've built since 2000 and it's worked well for me. Whatever you choose, though, do keep the wood sealed from water.
Again, congrats on finishing the build and the new boat, and thanks for posting the build.
Laszlo