: Well, my 13 year old daughter has been bugging me for some time now that she
: wants to build her own boat. I worked in a kayak shop and would often
: bring home boats for her to paddle for a day or for a trip. Over the past
: couple of years she has paddled all kinds of different sea kayaks from
: many different manufacturers -- I even offered to buy her one -- any one.
: But she snubbed it and said that what she really wants is to build her own
: boat.

: So, a few days ago she started building her own kayak. She's building a Bear
: Mountain Magic kit -- the very first one ever produced for the public. The
: Magic is designed by Steve Killing, the well known Canadian yacht
: designer. It's 18'2" in length and 22 1/2" wide with lots of
: hatch space -- it should prove to be a fast touring boat -- exactly the
: type of kayak that my daughter likes best.

: She will be doing the build pretty much on her own, with a bit of guidance
: from me when she needs it. She's a bit of a perfectionist so I'm
: anticipating that she'll be doing a pretty good job of it. She's also
: decided that she wants to personalize the boat and has come up with a
: really cool idea to make the boat uniquely her own, but you'll have to
: watch the build to see what it is.

: The build journal is at the link below the photo and there is a discussion
: that has been started on the wcp forums at the following link:
: http://www.westcoastpaddler.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=1922

: Please feel welcome to drop in and offer her tips or encouragement.

: I must say that it is rather satisfying to share my passion for paddling with
: my daughter but it's more than I could hope for to have her also building
: her own boat. I'm definitely a lucky Dad.

: Dan

: http://www.westcoastpaddler.com

: -----

Hi Dan,
Congratulations. She's doing a good job.

Just a small safety point, see if she'll tuck the sleeves into the gloves, it will prevent any epoxy splashes from landing on skin.

Oh yeah. Not safety but,, a hair-net would be handy. My hair is long (what I have left) and I managed to epoxy my hair to my beard. Not a serious problem for your daughter.

I just wish I was that tidy.
Mike Savage
South West Cork