The fitting of strips to the deck is, at last, proceeding.
In the typical process of building a strip wood kayak the completed hull would be removed from its formwork and put to one side while work on the deck progressed. I've decided to leave the hull on the formwork to be certain that the formwork does not undergo any twisting while having the deck fitted. Of course it will be necessary to ensure that the deck strips are isloated from the hull - so that both can be taken off the formwork.
As this kayak design has a deck with a fairly tight sectional radius immediately above both shear lines I am using very small cross-section strips: just 6mm x 6mm. I forgot to take a photo at the conclusion of this morning's work but suffice to say that two of these 6.1m length strips were fitted before breakfast.
(It's great to be inhaling the delicious aroma of red cedar again.)
In forming the deck of the kayak it's apparent that the narrow tapering ends of the bow and stern will be exposed to damage and would therefore benefit from having a robust end detail - just as the hull uses Spotted Gum to protect the hull's ridgeline. My current thinking is that a shaped section of whale bone would be a nice way to conclude these tapering fore and aft extents of the deck. I have a section of whale bone collected when on a kayak trip down the east coast of Maria Island, Tasmania, that may just do the trick. I've used whale bone in the construction of the paddles (see further below) so it would be consistent to incorporate whale bone detailing in the body of the kayak too.
Whale frollicking off Sydney last week.
(SMH photo)
