labrat

That skin sure is taut, not a wrinkle to be seen - good job. Where was the first photo taken?

Nice job there Bunyip - not shambling at all! It looks like the back bands are attached to the sides of the coaming only - is there a strap behind them to hold them up?

This question has been asked a few times over the years and I've never seen anyone come up with a source in Aus. I bought my polyester from Jeff along with footrests, sinew and Jeff's book. There should not be a lot of extra postage for the extra items if you get them all in 1 order. That $92 US is excessive, especially with the exchange rate, but if it was under about 50 for all the items you need then it would be worthwhile.

I had a similar problem with my Curlew. I believe it was due to uneven stresses in the stringers. This is copied from my post at the time: "The entire assembly corkscrewed when I took it off the strongback. I spent weeks trying to figure out why it sprang that way when not held in place. I can only assume that a number of the stringers had bends that aligned and pushed it that way. In the end I used brute force to twist it back past straight to corkscrew in the other direction and held it that way for some days. It is still not 100% but is as close as I can get it." I suspect that twisting it back to exactly straight and holding it there will not entirely fix it. Like everything, it will have a slight tendency to spring back when released so forcing it back past straight will help. I like the idea of wetting the frame too. Some people use heat guns to bend timber but I am not sure if that would work with timber that is the thickness of the stringers. It's something you could look into if all else fails. You probably noticed that my post says it did not come out perfectly straight. It turned out OK though - paddles fine with no tendency to go off course that I can pick. Good luck with yours.

Looks nice and it floats - good result!? Did you make the paddle too?

I made my curlew coaming from WRC but it was done in several thin laminations. The cedar also needs to be straight grained and heat is required. If you are getting cracking then halve the thickness of the strip and try again. It may take twice as many layers but it will be strong. There's not much info on the coaming in my thread but it is here if you want to look: https://messing-about.com/forums/topic/8574-a-curlew-in-adelaide/?tab=comments#comment-75335

I have not built one of these so can't help a lot but there is a photo of a frame on the Kudzu website at this web address: http://www.kudzucraft.com/web/boat-designs/mess-about Also, with regard to the stringer length, I seem to recall that the stringers should be cut a little bit oversize initially and then trimmed when attaching them. Presumably this is because they join the bow and stern assemblies at a shallow angle so even a small variation in the size / position of frames can make a difference to stringer length. It was a while back that I built my Curlew but I think I attached the stringers at the stern first then worked along toward the bow. They would have been held in place with temporary fixings on the forward few frames for final sizing so they could be marked and then released for cutting. As for the clear vinyl, does this shrink? It would be very difficult to get a smooth skin without shrinking after sewing. Anyway I hope it all works out and look forward to seeing a photo of it finished. The clear skin would look cool.

Hello Jeff, Hola Jeff Looks very nice - you did a good job. Se ve muy bien, hiciste un buen trabajo. What is the harbour in the second photo? ¿Cuál es el puerto en la segunda foto? (Translation of Jeff's post courtesy of uncle google: "I just finished my Kayak SOF. It is a vardo. It has been a fantastic experience to build it, and now navigate, in the waters of the Costa Brava (Catalonia) with it.")

You've done a fine job - it looks fantastic. You'll probably get held up a lot at launch sites by people wanting to admire it and ask questions.

Suitable fabrics are so rare in Aus that I've never heard of anybody finding any. I bought mine from Jeff along with book, sinew and adjustable footpegs. Shipping costs a bit but as I recall it was reasonable enough to be well worth the trouble it saved by not having to find that stuff here. Plus you know it's suitable for the application. As for coatings, I used a gloss enamel house paint - oil, not water based. My Curlew has scraped over a few things in skinny water and been fine so far. Also used something similar on a sailing dinghy many years ago and it was quite durable on that too. If you want to go for a clear finish then a single pack marine grade polyurethane might be OK. As per Jeff's advice always check for compatibility on a small area first. My experience is that these PUs stand up to the sun quite well these days but I suspect they would be less abrasion resistant than the gloss paint. Depending on where you paddle and how careful you are this may not be an issue. Good luck with it, let us know how you go.

Glad to hear it turned out OK Leo - I was a bit worried by the thread title. What you found ties in with the recognized tendency for the bow and stern to wear through first from repeated grounding on the frame. They are still quite durable boats though. I've scraped my Curlew across submerged logs and the odd rock in skinny backwaters but nothing like what you find on marine reefs. I don't recall even being able to see any evidence of the scrapes on mine.

What are you talking about? Of COURSE you need 3 boats! ? .... and never mind the mistakes, it turned out nice in the end.

Good review Denis. I was goin to say you should do yourself a favour and get some float bags - then I noticed some colour that could be float bags showing through from inside. Is that the case or is the hull empty?

Even half a world away PAR will be missed by many. He was a frequent, knowledgeable and generous contributor to the wooden boat section of the Aussie based Woodwork Forums. His willingness to freely share his experience helped many of us make decisions and find a way through difficulties with boat building and repairs. He explained things in a way that was easy to understand and also engaged in the humorous banter that goes on. Of course we never met him in person but in the Forum environment he was good company for many reasons. RIP

Very nice frame John, it's going to be a special boat when finished.