Well things are shaping up on the project after not getting a whole lot done in early/mid May. I've managed to put the front and back decks on. I should have the cockpit area finished in the next week and a half. I've made a million mistakes and learned twice as much. If my work schedule holds steady I could be done by the 4th of July.

I don't have any pics and I think I hold off till the deck and coaming are done. I'm a little ashamed of my sloppy/rush job on the interior of the hull. It is structurally sound but I wouldn't want to shock anyone with pictures.

I hope to design some foot pegs this week. I have some ideas but have to tune them in a little better. Does anyone out there have any footpegs that are not extremely elaborate? I don't need them to be adjustable as I'll be the only one using the kayak. I don't have a rudder to worry about either. My thought (and I am sure I saw it on someone else's web site so it's not really my thought) was to use the sleeve portion of a sex bolt in a piece of wood. Epoxy the wood to the hull and the foot peg screws into the sleeve. I figure just a block of wood with an angle on the back would do. I would probably need two sex bolts per peg so they would not swivel when pressure is applied. Not adjustable but it should do the trick and keep me in my budget. Of course I could breakdown and buy some adjustables for $25 or $30 and be done with it. I would be very interested to hear some homegrown/simple ideas for that. I'd love to spend less than $10 getting the bolts and wood (I can probably scrounge the wood from a cabinet maker I've done shop drawings for in the past).

I managed to cut the blank for my first Greenland paddle this weekend also. Man all that hand sawing! What a joy! I used a Home Depot special 2 x 4 SPF...SPR...hell it's some kinda wood. I hope to have that done in the next few weeks too.

I still have to make a spray skirt but I'm waiting till I finish the coaming for that one. Speaking of the coaming, has anyone out there built the Sea Kayaker '94 model? I am curious about the coaming and how it rests on the deck. The magazine is not real descriptive but I can see there is some transition issues with the raised/sloping deck. I've already made the coaming pieces and epoxied them together. I know I'll need to make some transition pieces whose design will probably be evident at the time the deck is done. I was hoping maybe someone (Ross Leidy did one but not with the coaming from the magazine) has used this design and can give me a heads up on it.

Thanks to all you out there asking questions and answering questions and definitely you folks that put together building progress web sites. I could never have started or continued with this project without this board and it's buzz. Robert Pruden and his tale of kayak carnage and subsequent rebirth let me know that my little cracked side panel and hull seams were nothing and indeed they were fixed without problem.

--Tony