Hey ya Ted

I've looked at Joe's awesome yaks and spent many a night drooling over them. I've thought about it a fair bit and like the black and white contrast idea with a pinstripe of purpleheart. The ultimate white was done by a supply of white pine Joe found. So, I will proudly follow in his footsteps and do so, too.

Now on carbon fiber: I personally like it, but in a narrow range of applications. In my experience the stuff is rigid and strong right up to the point of failure, which is usually pretty dramatic. Fiberglass, fails relatively gradually, and it's strong, clear, dirt cheap, easy to work with. The carbon fiber is a real tank in many layer layups. As an example, my rudder turn arms brackets on the first yak was cast in a total of 14 layers of glass:
from the outside in: 3.4 oz triaxial glass, two layers 6 oz FG, seven layers 5 oz CF, two 6 oz FG, two layers of 3.4 triaxial glass (the brackets are 90 degree shapes that support the rudder and provide steering arms for the S/S cables to the pedals. Well, during the recent paddle in Lake Powell, I was in a narrow, winding canyon when two idiot waverrunners blasted up the canyon kicking up big wave and reflected wave. No big deal to handle it, but on the convergent wave crest I was hit by a third reflected wave coming from behind, reflected from the wall at the curve in the canyon. That turned me around and I slammed into the wall stern first right on the rudder assembly. I had the rudder up but I expected the assembly to have shattered. I think the multiple layups provided resilence and strength however, the 1/4 inch s/s bolt which acts as the pintle was bent. To compare: in the Bering Straits in July I broke a Lendal graphite paddle at the field joint. When I say break I really should say the thing shattered...exploded is a better description. I really don't think a good FG layup or a CF/FG mixed layup would have failed in that manner. All that said...the reason of the CF in the interior is to provide a rigid layer and to have a really serious contrast from the outside wood colors. I really have my sights on a lightweight yak of 18 feet. My goal is under 40 pounds. So, light woods, less glass (except more on the bottom of the hull, and use ribs versus continous sheets of glass.

Also...I'll be real honest. I paddle on the ocean in what's called a Center of Abundance (CA) for great white sharks. I just like to paddle at night (what several call a dangerous time), and a full moon will find me on the water (what several call a real dangerous time). Well, my first yak I deliberately screwed around with poplar for the hull thinking that I'll look like a yellowish white log moving along on it's own and not like a dark sealion. Turns out that the best attractant for white sharks are yellow foam cutouts in seal shapes. Yellow...known as yummy yellow. Great, my first yak has a hull of yummy yellow. So now I'm really thinking about a alternating redwood and pine football shape for the underside of the hull (based on that observation of gray reef sharks bumping kayaks in the South Pacific till stripes were painted on...Sea Kayaker mag about a year ago).

I really aprreciate your thoughts and observations, in fact, copied and pasted into a Word doc of good ideas and experiences that I maintain for my own education. I want to thank you for them!

I'll peep out Joe's deck fittings, too. Thanks for the direction that way, too. I was referring to deep recess flush-wood deck fittings with the s/s bar for the cordage. I think it was Eric's design...?

Magnets...I'll be honest with you...I make a decision and say...no magnets. Then the very next day I find myself playing with magnets and thinking how positively elegant a solution they provide to the whole idea. So at this red-hot moment I'm thinking of 10 sets per hatch plus a s/s screw-down per hatch side....which I'll change my mind within a few hours of deciding. It's clear that casting the hatch rims with magnets under a layer or two of glass will permanently protect the magnets from corrosion. It also looks so...elegant.

Also, the design is mine. I build them around my bod and those skis I call feet, looking for a hull that tracks well yet can be turned and be nimble in surf, and be able to be rolled without effort. Trouble is, it's all subtle in the effects of minor variations. Still, my yaks have come out well and I'm pleased with each one. They feel twitchy, but then again they're responsive and that's what I like.