: I'm interested in building a Night Heron sea kayak but would like to talk to
: any Australian sea kayak builders first about their experiences, the
: availability of timbers and other materials. Cheers Vincent

Simon,

I'm halfway through building a Guillemot Double, having completed the stripping and cockpits and most of the sanding and filling. Will be thinking of glassing soon and am starting to look at fittings.

We used WRC from Timbeck at Bankstown and for some contrast Hoop Pine and Calantis that we bought from Annagote's in Marrickville. We bought the WRC already cut in strips and it was a real mix of colours. I don't think I would do this again. The hoop pine and calantis we bought in planks, cut to strips on the bandsaw. We used a pair of router cutters to put a bead and cove on them all.

It has been a pretty good learning experience for me and I'm glad we started stripping the hull!! We found strips 19x7mm to be the best all round size. Any larger can get difficult to bend and twist. Smaller strips may be useful for some curves, but are generally too slow for the flatter sections.

Take plenty of time to get the cutting of the strips right and it will pay off later on. Cut, thickness, bead and cove, your strips all at once and to the same settings and things will come together easier.

Pat