Chris

The last few daze has been a day...I mean the last days is a daze...or something like that. I'm being the batchelor this weekend and spending some time on a friend's boat since Dave is fired up to finish the yak. It rained last night which will be great to cool the fires down, and I tell you, I'm not enjoying the info I've gotten so far for this little consulting gig looking on my horizon. Anyway, the last few days progress. So here ya go!

Team

The last couple days have been partial days of wrestling mania. The okoume decided it wanted to becoming an airplane wing and since the two of us are anal beyond belief, we took apart the side panels apart and so carefully matched the joints, that the seams/chines are faired lines. Really nice job I must say. Dave's been looking at me as the old hand at SG kayaks and I had to admit yesterday that I'm making it up as I go. But, it's all intuitive, and Nick's design is just falling into place. It's a kayak, and designing a few strippers and banging them together over the years I've found that the different ways kayaks are made are essentially straihtforward. Then again, seeing the Night Heron materialize is cool. She's got great lines and it's ahrd to not to stand back and stare at her from different angles.
We've stitched and epoxied the hull together, and last night used 6 oz 2-inch glass tape in pieces between the stitches to attach the panels.
Another thing we've done at my whining and incessant bitching is to place a series of cross pieces spanning the hull width and wired in to keep the hull width at what it's supposed to be prior to placing the glass tape pieces. The idea is today to sand out the sharp points and edges, then make the dazzling Chris O internal keel rub strip attachment strip thing before laying in the CF.
After that, there's some fairing out and stitching of the deck.

We're thinking to make the hatch hold-downs like my strippers so that they'll be bomb-proof. The gasket lip will have 6 s/s t-nuts (yes, I do love my s/s t-nuts) arranged at equal distances with one at each c line point. The gasket we're looking at must be the kind that has it's own adhesive, closed cell, and commonly found in any Home Depot, Lowe's and any other hardware store...none of this channel and special gaskets crap like my first yak (yes, I was an idiot to do that then). The hatck lip will be made of the okoume with CF on both sides, as will be the coaming lip, too.

We're also thinking to make the bulkheads (okay, I'm dictation the way its going to be for Dave's yak) of 1/4 inch ply wood, CF on both side, with foot-pump attachment points installed (yes, more s/s t-nuts!). Also on the rear bulkhead will be a s/s u-bolt at one edge for a lock and chain when Dave is traveling with yak.

We've picked out the decklines, when I drove Dave over to the local kayak store (warning, plug for the buds at Aqua Adventures) where I got Dave to commit to taking a rolling class. Jesse (if you're reading this, many thanks amigo), whipped out this beautiful 1/4 black deckline with a refelction strip woven into it-the same stuff as what's on the new Seaward kayaks.

BTW: speaking of Jesse...some of you from the Sacramento and San Francisco area
might know him. Anyway, Jesse has stripped most of his surf yak that he's designed and it's getting closer to being finished. I'll get him to post pics...it's a really sweet design.

More later...and yes, we blew it with the 10 day goal...maybe it has something to do with the many many beers that have been drunk?

: Isn't it time for another of your harrowing posts full of crab, wine and wild
: guests? I'm betting that the kayak is now stitched, filleted and has a
: full layer of carbon inside and out.

: I see that rain is on the way to Diego for this weekend. We're right in the
: middle of the first snow storm of the winter season. There is now 8 inches
: of snow on the ground here in SLC with close to two feet at Alta Ski
: Resort. More due in tonight and all day tomorrow.

: After five years of drought we could really use the snow. Then again, last
: year we had a huge dump just before Christmas and then nothing but wimpy
: storms for the duration of the winter. One of the mildest on record.

: I hope this cycle puts out the fires back home. I still haven't heard
: anything from my sister in Vista.

: Have you migrated up to Dana Point to sit out the recovery? Tell us how
: you're doing.

: Chris