Hi guys

I reported on the trips board that I got my S&G/Cedar strip guillemot Hybrid out on the water last weekend. It's not quite done, but it seemed I had to launch now or wait for next summer.

During the building phase there were lots of improvisations, lots on help from the board. Thanks to all who have posted in response to my questions, thanks to all who have posted 'dumb' questions before I had the chance to make a dumb mistake. And thanks for all the unsolicited, and great tips.

My paddeling experince of a whole 1.5 hours in flat water, very little wind. Lets me come to the conclusion that overall I like the kayak. There is one exeception however, and it is not the designs fault , but rather the builders fault.

The problem I have is there is not enough knee room in the kayak another inch
would make a world of difference in the comfort catagory. My kayak has reduced knee room from the design. There are two causes for this. One, the width of the beam increased due to not glassing the inside of the deck until 2 months after glassing the outside. However the biggest cause is the way I built the strip deck on the hull.

I used the provided stations, and rounded off the tops a bit, I placed them as
best they fit in the hull, and fixed their position. for me this left a large
space right where the cockpit went, and a bit before. At the time I thougth that was perfect, not stations in the way while I built the cockpit.
However, the station just in front of the cockpit is far enough away, that when
I stripped the deck, the natural bend of the strips started to soon in transitioning from the front of the cockpit to the rear of the cockpit. The result is the loss of knee room.

So, for anyone considering building the Hybrid Guillemot, you should think on adding an extra station about 1 ft to 1.5 ft (going form memory here) behind
the last station prior to the cockpit. This would put it just in front of the
cockpit.

Once I get internet access at home again, I will re-locate, and update my web page with some real detail on what I'm trying to say. I'll add any tips I have for for building Nick's free design as a hybrid.

Even with what felt like strait leg paddling, a 1.5 hr trip with a break 1/2 through did not result in and Numb butt syndrom, it just did not allow me to move my legs at all. I enjoyed being out in the kayak. It was a hightlight of the 'summer'.

I had no problem with the kayak tracking, It did want to turn into what little wind there was a bit, however my stroke is still an amatures stroke, and I'm confident I can trim that with loading. It was really stable, in less 1 minute I felt very confortable in it. (this is my second time in a ocean kayak). I think it looks good, I hope to post pics in a few days.

As for building it, while stripping I was dissapointed in a concave area near the bow... I do not knotice that at all now. I was conserned about joining the 1/4 thick cedar strip deck to the 4mm ply wood hull using the method in Nick's book... that was not a problem at all. The consern was not with the method, but with the step in thickness between the hull and deck. By slightly over beveling the hull and deck, the fiberglass tape had no trouble with a smooth transition over the gap (filled with epoxy) on the inside of the kayak.

So all the stress of worry during building pretty much amounted to nothing.

cheers,

Myrl