: Hi Guys, I’ve finally completed a Guillemot. 18 Months start to finish. I
: want to thank Nick for a superb book and also everyone who contributes to
: this forum, there is a wealth of information here and of course its easier
: to learn by other peoples mistakes.

: I live in one of the most beautiful places on the plant, Cape Town South
: Africa. My house is situated 5 minutes drive from either the Indian or the
: Atlantic Oceans and that puts me literally on the tip of Africa. In South
: Africa, we do not have access to the same woods that you guys in the
: states and Canada do. I spent a lot of time looking into the locally
: available woods and also trying to assemble the tools required for the
: building process. I also had to convert all the measurements from Nicks
: book into metric units as everything here is measured in meters and
: centimetres as apposed to feet and inches.

: I used three types of wood in the construction. Maranti, which is a locally
: available soft wood and is a type of mahogany, this was used to do the
: hull and some of the deck, its relatively cheep and easy to work with. The
: remainder of the deck is done in Ash and African Teak (Kiat), this gives a
: nice contrast.

: Went for a first paddle last weekend and was surprised by the stability and
: speed. I was accompanied by a friend on a surf ski and managed to keep up
: with him quite easily. I have posted some pics of the construction, first
: launch and some pics of the area around where I stay. If there are any
: other South African boat builders on this forum, I would like to hear from
: you. I am interested to know what woods and suppliers other locals are
: using.

: Sea kayaking is very popular here but I have yet to see a stripper. Most of
: the kayaks are fibreglass. Although I have not had the boat out much yet,
: it has already received a lot of attention. Now that I have completed one,
: I am trying to decide what to build next. This is completely addictive and
: needing a kayak for the wife gives me a good excuse to build another one.

: The web site for those interested is:
: http://www.spiralmedia.co.za/Kayak/index.htm Please excuse the lack of
: creativity but I uploaded these pics late last night.

: Thanks again to everyone for the assistance.
: Regards
: Adrian

As with all of Nicks designs,a beautiful craft.