Went and saw this.

http://maritimeblacksmiths.ca/clinker/

Then came home and did a little bit of this.

Thanks for the help Dad.

And thanks for the stew Mom and Mary.

I filled in some gaps tonight too.

Tomorrow is work on the pontoons, wing and rudder.

Getting my mast sometime this week too.

It's all coming together.

Over 1000 views.

Wow.

I know I've been lax with my parents around.  We've been doing the touristy thing up in Cape Breton, but that doesn't mean the work stops on the kayak.

Here are some pics to get us back into the project.

Here is the ends all taped up so the epoxy doesn't leak out the ends.

Should have done that first.  Lesson learned.  Wasted quite a bit of epoxy.

Bow

Stern

(Thanks Justin for the tape.  I really got to get that back to you.)

Here is how I get the epoxy down into the ends.

I just pour it down the holes.

So when it's dry I can take all the wires out, sand it, then fill in the cracks with thickened epoxy and she'll be ready to fibre glass.

The wing is coming along well.  I have all the parts for it, I just need to put it together.

Speaking of parts I have new parts for the rudder so it won't break any more.

The $1.50 hinge was a bad idea.

The only thing I need to get now is the mast.  I have all the hardware for it already.

I'm trying to get a 19 foot long tube of aluminium, but I think I may have to get three pieces and attach them together.

I may run out of epoxy before I finish this, but I pray I don't.  That stuff in not cheap.

Maritime Blacksmith's Meeting tomorrow so probably not much work will be done on the kayak.

Monday will be a great day for that.

I had a helper today.  Too bad no photos.

Got the inside fibre glassing of the pontoons done.

I had to take picture of the inside just to see if I did it right.  Two joints took an hour and a half to complete.  Glad It's all over now.

I also got the bottom joint complete. 

Here's a pic of the pontoons.

So now I just have to pour epoxy down each end to fill up the gaps at the ends.

I will put them on ends and pour the epoxy down the centre hole.  Both ends should take a day.  Then I have to sand the outside and make it smooth and fill in the gaps with epoxy and filler.

I use colloidal silica as the filler.  It's a west system product.

After that it'll be time to cover it all in fibre glass.

I also did some work in the lee boards today and the wing.

Sorry I was using my phone to listen to tunes and forgot to take the pics.

No work for the next three days.  Off to the CB.

Have fun.

What a giant pain in the butt tonight was.  I can't wait till tomorrow to do it all over again.

I epoxied the one side of the inside of both pontoons.

It took an hour and a half.

I wasn't expecting that.

Here's the pics.

The stick with the brush came in handy.  The threaded rod on the right also doubled as an epoxy dumper.  I had a soup can with epoxy on the end that could be taken off.

It was a giant pain in the butt because the fibre glass would wrap around the brush and when I pulled the brush out the fibre glass would come out with it.

I also had to use my phone to take pictures to see if the fibre glass was in the right spot or not.  I couldn't get my head in see if it was laying it down in the right spot or not.

Here are the two thirds inside completed pontoons.

I have to do the other side tomorrow then on Monday I just have to do the inside bottom.

Monday will be for working on the wing as well.

It's getting there.

So not much happening.  Busy seeing the tall ships.

Both pontoons are sewn together.  Here are the pics.

Now time for epoxying the insides.

Glad I have helpers now.

Parents got in safe. Will upload pics of the pontoons tomorrow. Computer was off and I'm sleepy.

WARNING!!!

This blog is not a launch of the sail boat.

This was a ride in the kayak.

Enjoy.

Things learned today.

The rudder worked amazing.  For just a little movement it would send the kayak on a totally new course.  That was until it catastrophically failed.  I need a new hinge for the rudder.  One worthy of doing it's job.  The hinge on the rudder bends when it's in the roof racks because of the wind.  It also bends when I try to raise and lower the rudder.  Worst $1.50 I ever spent.  I will be upgrading to a stainless steal jobby that is really thick.  Just need to find one.

The lee board supports also like to splash up water into the cockpit.  I think I'll have to design a splash guard for it, because I don't have enough to do on this thing.

The sound system worked out perfectly.  So that was awesome.

Here is a nice little scenery shot to end it all off.

I forgot to do my last blog so I'm doing Friday's and today's in one.

So here is Pontoon #2 in 2D

Pontoon #2 on the right is starting to take shape.

Finished Pontoon #1 on the left with Pontoon #2 on the right.

Here's a close up of Pontoon #1.  Those black lines by the stern are hockey tape.  I had to switch to the tape and glue method for a couple inches of it.  Didn't really need it, but better safe than sorry.

Here's Pontoon #2.  Just have to sew the top on.  I have a good system for it now so things should go smooth tomorrow night.

Here's kind of a close up of the stitching.  The top is tight, but the bottom is loose.  I'll tighten them later.  Need a little space to get the needle nosed pliers through the two pieces so I can get the wire in the hole.

All and all a productive day.  Thanks to Justin for helping me sew it up today and providing the hockey tape.  I'll give it back to you the next time I see you.

So after the sewing project will be epoxying the inside with fibre glass strips on the joints.  Then pour some extra thick epoxy into the ends of the kayak for extra support.  I will do that by standing the pontoons on their ends and pouring the epoxy down the diamond shaped hole.

After that will be to cut the wires off the outside and sand it all down and add filler where necessary. 

Then just in time for my parents to show up to help me fibre glass the outside.  Dad helped me fibre glass the kayak so I hope he remembers how we did it.  I forget.

We're getting closer.  Hoping for a Natal Day launch party.  If things go well it should happen.

I'm only worried about the mast.  That should be interesting.

Today at the Eastern Passage Ship Yards.

It's pontoon day.

So I got the top and sides done.  Now for the bottom.

This is how I did it.  I taped a bunch of bristol board to it with a seam down the middle.  Then I traced along the edge of the side piece.  I also put a piece of plywood in the middle screwed into a small block of 2X4 to get the right height.  After that it was just cut along the line of the bristol board to get the pattern.  Here's some pics.

After I got the pattern I traced them all onto this sheet of plywood.  I have a top piece on the right, two sides and four bottoms.

Friday afternoon I have a date with a jig saw to cut them all out. and hopefully get at least one all sown up.

It's all coming together.

I also painted the two strips on the kayak where the slings were, so that's all done.

I can now officially go kayaking if I wanted too.  I just don't have time.  The clock is ticking and I need to get this project done by Wednesday.  At least most of it.  Pontoons and the wing for sure.  The mast can happen on Friday.  Shouldn't take lone.

Getting closer.

Tonight I had some friends over to help me move the kayak.  So now I have a bike lock on it and I'll be able to paint the two strips Thursday night.  I have a big date tomorrow night so no work tomorrow.

I also did a leak test.  Here's the video.

I started sewing up the pontoons.

Here's some pics of them.

Bow

Stern

Side view.

It should be noted that this is upside down.

I need to cut some material off the sides of the top piece, but it sewed together pretty good.

I'm happy with it.

So after I build this one I have to take it all apart to trace the individual pieces to the sheet of plywood behind it so I can get an exact copy for the other one.

OR

I can use the bristol board cut outs for the side pieces and trace the top right to the other sheet of plywood.  The tough part will be cutting of the excess wood while it's still all together.

We shall see.

Since the kayak is done I'm going to find out the new water line on Friday.

That should be fun.

I think I got paint in my armpit.

So, let's update this blog so I can go make some lunch for tomorrow.

Pictures below.

First I did some epoxying to the kayak.

Had to fix the hatch seal.  It came off.  I'll have to be more careful while putting the hatch on.  I'm also going to do a leak test with my hose just to see where the leaks are.  It's probably not going to be totally water proof, but I'll do the best I can.

Cup holder in.

Next was to work on the roof racks.  I just took my old ones and remounted them onto the new cross bars.

Here's the side view.  I'll get a video up of them in action just to show you how cool they are.  The make loading and  unloading a snap.

 Here she is after a fresh paint job.

I'm thinking that I'll keep it white and make the pontoons red with the wing having a giant Canadian flag painted on it.  Should be cool.

Tomorrow I just have to move the kayak in the slings so I can paint where the slings are in this pic.

Maybe I'll find out where the new water line is this week too.

So I got it outside and painted and realize that I still have to do a little bit more epoxy work.  Good thing the weather is going to be great this week.

Here's the run down of what happened today.

One final look at it in the dining room.  Stern to Bow view.

Hatch installed.  Lookin' good.

Front handle, done like dinner.

In the down position.

Sides all epoxied up.

Lee board in the down position.  I'm making the lee boards longer.  This is just a prototype.

Bow to stern view.

Presto!  In the back yard.

It was so scared to be outside it turned white.

Mast is NOT full height.  Just a trial.

Closer view.

Lookin' good.

List of things to fix.

Epoxy down wing mount washers.

Hatch tubing gave way at one corner.  Need to fix.

Little stainless steel bushing on lee board side piece popped off on Port side.  Need to re-epoxy in.

Forgot to install the most important piece in the whole set-up.

The cup holder.

The next project is all set-up in the dining room.  Pontoons for the sailing rig.

I shall half assemble one then get the lines off it to cut the other one out.  Sounds simple enough, but we'll see what happens.

Getting closer to being done.

Also have designed a new paint job.  Should be brighter, more simplistic, and more patriotic.

A special thanks to Jason for helping me out today.  Without him today wouldn't have happened.

Thanks Jason.