Boat Builder Central

Thanks. The blue is just a boat cushion, still working on seat arrangement.

Father-Daughter project splashed. Very happy with results, 40.4 lbs, Just needs skeg, varnish, and paddling.
Few more pics in Mulletchoker gallery.

Any downside to building in a fin box on the Orca 16? That way you could insert a fin/skeg for open water paddling and remove it for narrow, winding rivers.

Steve, We just started the Orca 16 Kayak, I was nervous about butting the 2 cutout pieces together and have them be fair since the width at the splice would be 7 and 9 inches respectively for the sides and bottom panels. (Joel told me the factory edges aren't as exact as we might like to think.) So ...

We found that when the foredeck was clamped to the camber at frame A it held that camber all the way to the aft edge, there didn't seem to be a lot of adjusting we could do, even with the kerfs it was pretty stiff. As for strength, on the seam where the foredeck meets the cabin front we used 2 overl...

We used Merranti plywood which is a bit stiffer than Okume, so for the bow sections to take the curve we cut relief kerfs on the bottom bow panels using a circular saw with the depth set to -1/16". After the hull was taped the kerfs were filled with blended filler. It seemed to help the plywood...

Welcome,
This is a great boat with the added advantage of this very helpful forum. I'll echo the others:just get started, it's a very enjoyable project.
http://gallery.bateau2.com/thumbnails.php?album=763
MC

Still here. Sorry for being away so long, boats, kids, house, wife... you know. Reading through the last few pages of the thread, I thought I'd put in a few cents: Our Nina, now christened the 'Betty Allison' has proven better than expected. A few comments on the cabin top and hatches: for us, the s...

Work on the rail is progressing, albeit slowly. I have another question: The floorboards in the cabin are 1/2" inch teak T&G fastened to 3/4" in plywood. the ply is rotting away but the teak is in good condition. Instead of replacing the 3/4" ply could I use nidacore: epoxy the ni...

We didn't vent the compartment. There's an access hatch just above the tank fittings that would vent but there is so little extra space in the compartment we didn't see a need for a dedicated vent. We are doing some odds and ends; finishing hatches, installing flagstaff etc. The Yamah began running ...