I recently purchased the Petrel Play forms and drawings and have a few questions that I would greatly appreciate hearing from your experience.
Some background first: 4 years ago, I tried unsuccessfully to build a Greenland-style kayak (Ooktek), a design that while absolutely beautiful, was frankly over my head at the time. Since then, I learned a lot but decided to start over with Petrel Play. I have some leftover 20’ straight-edged 3/16" medium and dark-colored WRC (400 linear feet).
I really like the simple colors of this design – hspira:
I prefer a light colored deck against a dark hull with an accent strip at the waterline (similar to above). I can purchase either 16’ Alaskan Yellow Cedar or smaller 8’ long Northern White Cedar strips. As the deck looks tricky, would you recommend one species of wood over the other (i.e. I’ve read that NWC is more flexible)?
If I dye the hull a darker color, how can I keep the dye from staining the adjacent lighter color accent strips?
What brand/color of dye was used in the above design?
If I use shorter NWC, am I better off scarfing/glueing shorter strips into one long strip (for twisting along the stern/keel -or- mitre cut at 45 degrees and glue in-place?
I can purchase straight-edge and/or cove-and-bead 3/16 strips. It was suggested that I use a combination of my existing straight-edge strips at the sheerline (and for cheater strips) … and then transition to 3/16" cove-and-bead strips … especially where the hull curves to the bilge. Having never worked with cove and bead, it does seem easier - at least until you get to all the tapers. Is this hybrid approach a good or bad idea?
On my previous build, the plans called for cutting the leading edge of each strip at 3 degrees to mimic a rolling bevel. This definitely worked where the hull was relatively vertical but not so much when the hull transitions to the bilge. Would this work on the Petrel Play -or- should I stay with hand planing the rolling bevel?
Regarding rolling bevels, I own the Robo Bevel and shoulder plane. Maybe it was me, but I didn’t find the Robo Bevel helpful along sloping curves - and often used the tiny shoulder plane without the Robo Bevel jig; this method does work but lack precision. Any suggestions?
I liked using hot glue and/or plywood jigs with c-clamps to hold the strips against the forms. Will this technique be troublesome on the Petrel Play’s curves and twists?
I think I prefer waterproof, glassed-in bulkheads but Nick’s plan calls for cutting foam bulkheads and glueing them in … I assume after the deck is already glassed to the hull?? Do you see a problem first cutting plywood bulkheads, externally glassing the bulkheads, and then epoxying the bulkheads to the hull – before the deck goes on?
For the hull strips that meet at the bow/stern stems, do the strips need join one another at an angle … or do they need to just end at the internal stem since, later, the external stem will cover the gaps? I ask because I saw another CLC kayak for sale on craigslist where it appears that the builder had noticeable gaps between the external stem and the strips (which was filled in with epoxy).
thanks for the complements…let me reply to your questions one-by-one:
the color of the deck, of course, is a personal choice. in the boat in the picture, it was built with a wood species called paulownia - which has the color and consistency of balsa wood. it was then stained white with a custom stain i made up. but back to your question, i would pick the cedar that will give you the color that you want and not worry about the flexibility. the deck of the petrel play is not particularly difficult or requiring severe bending. if you are building with 3/16 strips (which is what i used) bending the wood to this design is pretty easy.
in the boat you see here, the accent strip is part of the hull. the approach i used here is i masked off the accent strip and stained the adjacent wood being careful not to apply the stain too watery (less it get underneath the masking tape) i then fixed the stain in place with a skim coat of epoxy then removed the tape and cleaned up and unclean line with a knife and sandpaper…then glassed over that.
the stains you need to use must be epoxy compatible - CLC sells them …they are the Mohawk (formerly Behlens) alcohol stain. the color here is medium brown walnut but applied robustely to make it a dark brown.
i build with 8 foot strips and scarf up longer pieces as needed. i willl use the longer pieces for the sheer lines and water line and other key alignment strips…but after that, i will often just do a butt joints when adjacent to another piece that already holds the alignment. there are different ways to scarf…i made a scarfing jig that works with my bench sander and standard boat strip that has an ~5 to 1 slope so on my strip when i put it through the jig, i get about a 1 inch chisel like blade. i find that when glued with wood glue, its strong enough to not break when i bend the scarfed strip.
i have built both cove and bead and straight edge. if i am buying my own material these days i buy the straight edge. but i have no concern or problem with cove and bead. i do think cove and bead is easier as a starter and my first strip built i used cove and bead. but once i got handy with a block plane, i started buying straight material. there is no concern, in my book mixing the wood used to build. i get a kick out of building with leftovers and whatever i have around…so i have boxes of strips that are straight and cove and bead that i have picked up over time from other folks abandoned projects.
i would handplane your rolling bevels. like anything, practice builds skills and what used to be a struggle is then accomplished with ease. while the deck of the petrel play is relatively straigt forward from a stripping perspective, the hard chine in the aft section of the petrel play is where it gets complicated…Nick Shade has a video series on building a petrel play and its a very handy reference to be ahead of the build…
i have a robo bevel too…and it was not very good on this boat given the curves of the hull…so it did not get a lot of use. my go-to-bevel is the stanley low angle block plane which usually does 95% of the work and then a stanly 79 side rabbet plane wich i use for center lines and comes in handy for the petrel play hull stripping around the hard chine.
i use plywood jigs and c clamps too. have not had good luck with hot glue. as mentioned above, the design, built with 3/16 strips is not particularly tortuous…so i did not have a problem holding strips in place
when i build a boat with a wooden bulkhead, i dry fit it before the hull is glued to the deck (when i am test fitting the hull/deck) but then install after the hull/deck is assembled. this way i can have my inner seam tape go end to end vs having to break it into three sections to go between the bulkheads and between the bulkheads and the ends.
the strips do not need to join…but just touch one another at the outer ends of the inner stem…as you point out the external stem will finish it off. like anything, if you are sloppy in your cuts, epoxy can be used to fill gaps…but these days, if i muck up a cut, i usually just splice in a new piece of wood.
Wow - I cannot thank you enough: great answers and a truly beautiful boat.
If I may, I have a couple of follow up questions:
… i masked off the accent strip and stained the adjacent wood being careful not to apply the stain too watery (less it get underneath the masking tape) i then fixed the stain in place with a skim coat of epoxy then removed the tape and cleaned up and unclean line with a knife and sandpaper…then glassed over that.
After you removed the tape and skim coated with epoxy, how much time elapsed before you fiberglassed the hull – over the skim coat?
Did you use only 4 ounce fiberglass cloth – and/or did you double it up on certain sections like the keel?
Which epoxy system did you use to get such a clear coat on the paulownia?
I purchased CLC’s okoume puzzle-jointed cockpit coaming. I can’t tell from your photo, but did you also stain it (my impression is that okoume doesn’t stain very well.
i don’t recall how many days…but i was not rushing. the skim coat is really just there to seal the pores and lock the stain in place…so its a very very light coat of epoxy and the grain is still rough and great bonding surface. so take whatever time you need, it is not going to impact the bonding/strength of the final build or require any roughing up for a mechanical bond.
great question…on this boat while, i was shooting for a single layer of 4 oz s glass, i had to double up under the flat section of the hull. this was becuase i went with 3/16 paulownia and the large flat section of the hull where the boat is hard chined, was not stiff enough for me. now some of that is due to fact that paulownia is not as stiff as cedar. and second, becuase i was using 3/16. i have a petrel (not the play) done in all cedar 3/16, and the bottom came out stiff enough…but it is a slightly narrower boat. if you read my posting entitled ’ new project’, there is a pretty extensive discussion about this point and how i addressed it in my latest build which is plenty stiff with only 4 oz glass. i did also put exta glass on the keel lines where i would be likely to get abrasion on the bow and stern…but not along the entire keel…just two to three feet from the bow knuckle backward and the stern knuckle forward.
you noticed how clear it looks i used regular MAS epoxy system…but the reason it looks so brite is the varnish. i used MAS Epoxies Bristol Finish UV Clear Urethane which is more like a clear coat with great UV properties…it has no amber hue to it. this happens to be a two part, expensive system, and at the time i did not see any one part systems that appeared to be up to the job. but in writing this note, i see that eipfanes and interlux has, what they claim is, a one part clear varnish they are selling that i don’t recall as an option when i built the boat in the picture in 2020…so that may be worth investigating - i would, however, read very carefully or call someone who has used these one-parts to ensure it is truly clear. when i look at some of the technical specifications, maybe they are a light amber and they are calling it ‘clear’.
i did the same thing you did, i bought the sill, coaming, risers from CLC and left them the natural color and did not stain them. i just thought it looked nice. i have stained okoume plywood before, and it can be done. staining okoume has its own challenges…and generally i have avoided it…but that’s mostly an artistic decision about what you can do with stains within the limitations of plywood (for example, you usually have to stain an entire piece, and there is just a different visual interaction with the randomness of strips and stain vs okoume plywood which is much more uniform, also plywood has veneer and if you sand beyond the veneer you get into a different material that does not stain nicely)
again, thanks for the questions. i hope this is helpful.
i used regular MAS epoxy system…but the reason it looks so brite is the varnish. i used MAS Epoxies Bristol Finish UV Clear Urethane which is more like a clear coat with great UV properties…it has no amber hue to it. this happens to be a two part, expensive system, and at the time i did not see any one part systems that appeared to be up to the job. but in writing this note, i see that eipfanes and interlux has, what they claim is, a one part clear varnish they are selling that i don’t recall as an option when i built the boat in the picture in 2020…so that may be worth investigating - i would, however, read very carefully or call someone who has used these one-parts to ensure it is truly clear. when i look at some of the technical specifications, maybe they are a light amber and they are calling it ‘clear’.