: Just received my Petrel kit and already stuck on building the
: strongback. I have diagrams with no measurements except one and
: I can't find a specific example in the book. I believe it's
: supposed to be a total of 12' long per the one-sheet diagram
: provided.

: Here is what I have (wood parts) for building an internal box beam
: (advanced apologies for dumb questions):

: 4 x 8' side sections

: 2 x 4' side sections

: 3 x 8' butt joints

: 2 x 6' butt joints

: 2 x 2' butt joints

: So this looks like a total of 40' in length each for sides and butt
: joints. Divided by 4 (sides to a box), that means a total of 10'
: length for the box beam. This disagrees with the only length
: measurement I have for the box beam. I've checked the kit
: contents and it doesn't look like anything is missing. So I am
: confused. Plus ....

: Questions:

: 1. I know I am supposed to stagger the pieces for strength. Am I
: supposed to cut the sections and if so which ones to what
: length?

: 2. What the &*^%! are butt joints and where do they go? From the
: book, it looks like butt joints are for external strongbacks and
: not internal.

: I either have too many pieces or not enough. Any and all help would
: be much appreciated.

: Thanks,

: Jen

Hi Jen, Don't let words scare you, a butt joint is nothing more than two pieces of squared wood fitted end to end.I think a very good investment would be to buy 2 books
by Nick Shade"The Strip-Built Sea Kayak" and"Building Strip-Planked Boats",they will take you step by step through construction and also have a glossary of building terms
that you can refer to,also the latter book describes building a Petrel.Best of luck and send photos.Nick R.