Petrel - Progress Report 2

Hull First

So, as promised here is an update on my first all-strip build: Nick Schade's incomparable Petrel.

I'll try to steer clear of boring you with a blow-by-blow account of my "lessons learned".

For the most part the pictures tell the tale.

The hull comes first...

Rolling Bevel on the Lighter Chine Strip

Rest assured though that a strip-built kayak is a lot more involved than the two hybrid builds I had done previously. Anyway, I was ready for a new challenge and indeed, that is what I got with the Petrel.

Trust me, I have already fathered a fine flock of Petrel bloopers all hatched in an array of (shall we say) somewhat unprofessional discourse.

But that's how it goes: you make mistakes and say to yourself: On my next build I won't do THAT again!  - Right!

So - there will have to be a next build.

Each time you make a mistake you have to ask yourself if it can be corrected, and/or if it is worth correcting or possibly be made into a "feature" or instead chalking it up to experience, and just moving ahead already...

ah, such decisions!

This hull won't float just yet

 

Ready for a Whiskey Plank

Hull is ready for Fiber Glass

Glass still "Green"

Glass on hull cleaned up - would now float

 Oh well, no worries there!

In paddling as much as in the kayak building department I am still very much a learner - albeit an enthusiastic and persistent one - and I fully expect that the Petrel will be a great kayak to help upgrade my paddling skills - regardless to final finish.







And on to the deck...

Give me the cockpit recess, please

Covering cockpit recess with carbon fiber

Now the tricky part: fit in the recess

Inching myself to a fit

Recess all glued in

Giving the deck a rest - preparing the skeg

Deck ready for glass

Glassed over

Coming up:

Cockpit riser and coaming and hatches!
Then comes the skeg installation.
Also, I much prefer to put in the foot braces before putting deck and hull together.

Preparations for the eventual deck rigging.
I still have to consult with my expert friends a bit more before I decide what type of rigging I'll do. Right now I am thinking to go with the standard CLC solution. Nick Schade recently made some persuasive comments on this subject on the Kayak Forum. Maroske fittings would be great and I already purchased fiber glass tubing as well as carbon fiber tubing to do the job but... I have played around making a couple of test maroske fittings on some glassed mock-up cedar scrap pieces and so far I am not happy with my efforts. My new expert kayak-building friend Etienne made this look oh so deceptively easy in his little video.

Sometimes I wonder just how many guitars a talented novice luthier has to build before he or she actually ends up with a concert-level master piece? One that a top-drawer performer would choose to play on... just saying...