Hello All:

At last I have completed the my Guillemot Expedition Single to paddle her. I took her out on a seven day trip through the San Juan Islands and I will post the trip report soon. But I have a couple of building questions for the group.

One --

The first two days of paddling the boat (for me and the boat, really) were spent avoiding what I called the Sinister Death Spiral. The boat would NOT track straight. I would have to take more strokes on the right just to keep up with the group. Even in calm water, no wind, sitting in the center of the boat, no leaning, and _coasting_, the boat would veer left. Two other paddlers also noticed the same symptom, either confirming the problem, or the shared hallucination.

When I finally got smart enough to turn the boat over on the beach and sight down the keel I saw some interesting things I overlooked during my construction. The keel is _straight_, as straight as I can detect with my eye. I suppose I could double check with a chalkline too. I also noticed that the part of the hull near the stern, from the keel to the sheer was not symmetrical. On the more hollow side, I built it up with several layers of duct tape, making a patch about 4" x 18" x 1/4" thick. Afterwards, the boat did not want to turn left nearly as much. I believe the hollow was the result of my attempts to make the hull fair and not paying attention to it's symmetry. Well, I'm paying attention now.

I have an idea to mimic the duct tape patch in glass tape/patches to restore the symmetry in a more permanent fashion. Are there any other observations out there?

Two --

I capsized only once during the trip. The amount of water I had to pump/sponge/tip out made me wish I had found time to install the bulkheads _before_ the trip. So they are at the top of my list now. I have this problem though. On the forward one, I don't know how I will fit it in. If I make it small enough to fit in the forward hatch, how will it fit tightly to the larger part of the kayak aft of the hatch? If I go through the cockpit to get to it, how will I get it past the footpeg rails? By the way, the bolts securing the rails do not penetrate the hull, but are fastened to some tee-nuts behind a small strip of wood glassed into the hull. How will I fit the bulkhead?

Third --

During the trip I had the opportunity to sit in some other boats and found the Raven by Eddyline very comfortable. I will try to duplicate that fit in my boat. But I noticed a difference that I don't know how I will duplicate. That is, the seat in the Raven is a few inches forward of the back edge of the cockpit. In my boat, I sit against the back of the coaming. I don't know if this is a problem or not, but it sure isn't as comfy as the Raven. Suggestions?

Fourth --

I made flush hatches as described in Nick's wonderful book. They look nice enough, but when I made the lip for the hatch to rest upon, I failed to anticipate the thickness of any seal. So, my hatches were flush only until I put a seal on them. Now, any seal I use, (1/4" closed cell self adhesive weatherstripping at this point,) will raise the hatch above the height of the deck by the thickness of the seal. Not what I had hoped for, of course. I am looking for ways to either lower the lip (ugh!) or make a zero (ha!) thickness seal, or thin the hatch (ahhh, no thanks) or ??? I need help here, please.

Last --

Thank you Nick Schade for your excellent book, your superb website and your magnificent boats. I picked this boat for all the wrong reasons. I had not paddled one, or evaluated the technical merits of it's design with respect to other boats. I didn't do a cost-benefit analysis or listen to the advice of friends. When I saw that boat, she stole my heart. Honestly, I can't imagine being happier with a boat if I had done all those other things anyway. To think that in thirteen short weeks I watched a bundle of sticks and a roll of blueprints metamorphose into a such a beatutiful creature, is almost incredible. She may have come out of my basement through my hands, but she's your creation too, and I thank you for helping me make it real.

Thanks to Nick and to all my boat's "aunts" and "uncles" on this bbs.

Sincerely,

Ed Valley