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Confessions of an inflatable kayak owner


cornfedred

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Yes, I said it. I own an inflatable kayak. Want to know what is worse? I love it! There. I said it. 

 

I've always wanted to kayak, but never have. Two summers ago, I decided it was time. We have a camper and a young son and inflatable seemed the way to go. It packs down to a reasonable size, it is almost impossible to tip (2 adults, a child and a 80 pound dog sailed steadily around a lake with both dog and boy hanging over one side looking for fish), it blows up in under 10 minutes, and it fits nicely in the camper or trunk of my car. My son and I paddle around in sync, happy as clams, sneaking up on turtles. 

 

The downfall? It is heavy. Over 50 pounds. I can't move it around easily by myself and it is getting on my nerves. So, last summer, I decided to build a kayak. Through some email correspondence with Dave Gentry, he suggested building Yostwerk's Sea Flea for my son as a starter build but cover it with polyester and paint. I collected materials, spent more money than expected because I am not a wood worker and didn't have many of the tools needed, then promptly broke my ankle and the whole thing got put on hold. Luckily, that gave me a long, cold winter to research and luckily, I found Jeff's website and things got easier. I discovered lashing (I did not want to glue and peg), where to get ALL my supplies that I couldn't get at the hardware store and this great forum.

 

So, here goes.

 

May 10, 2014

I finished cutting and sanding my materials and have my strongback built. I can't figure out what height to make it and am impatient to build, so I just leave it on my basement floor and do all my work sitting down. It is surprisingly handy and I hate to stand, so win-win.

 

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June 22, 2014

I find I can only work on this an hour here and there, but I finally get the lashing completed and I'm feeling pretty darn good about this. My 7 year old son is very excited about his kayak and can't wait to get on the water.

 

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August 7, 2014

I start the skinning process. It scared me and I found multiple excuses to do other things, but surprisingly, it was much easier than expected. I didn't pull it as tight as I should have because I was worried about pull holes, but I learned a lot and the next one (yes, I said it) will be exponentially better.

 

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August 16, 2014

With my husband's help, we attached the coaming. I couldn't find the screws I wanted and was worried about rust, so I decided to come up through the bottom. It looks good, but I'm pretty sure we won't be using this method again (at least not on a kayak this small). There was very little room to maneuver and everything had to be installed by hand, which resulted in a lot of swearing on the part of my husband. He was a good sport and admits it looks good, but he will NEVER do that again. Then the part I really didn't want to attempt. Ironing. I can melt anything with an iron. I have never worn out an iron, just had to throw them away because of all the melted stuff that could not be removed. After many test irons on scraps, I felt confident and the results were great! I can't believe the difference.

 

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August 18, 2014

Painting. The one area I had complete confidence and it turned out to be the area I need some serious advice. The first coat I thinned a little and it didn't look too bad (for a first coat). The second coat covered fairly well, which is what the photo shows. I still had it thinned a bit, but I had problems with it getting gummy between sections. Yesterday, we did the leak test with 3 coats on the bottom and found a few leaks, so I put a little Lexel on one pin hole and a bit at the front seam, then a fourth coat  this morning and it looks awful. I am using Rustoleum porch paint. It was 80 degrees and humid this morning. I switched to a roller to apply and then used a foam brush to smooth. It seems like it is drying too fast. I started at the front and painted about 2 feet, then smoothed it out. So far, so good. But when I move to the next 2 foot section, when I smooth it out, the area that overlaps is an issue. It gets gummy and I can't get a smooth transition. I feel like I'm moving at a good pace (only 30 minutes to paint the entire bottom), but unless I develop super powers, I don't seem to be painting fast enough. It is killing me that I have such a great construction job (at least for me, some of the rest of you make me feel really inadequate), then it is getting ruined with a bad paint job.

 

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Any advice on the paint would be much appreciated. I can handle the fact that the bottom doesn't look fabulous, but I have one more coat to go on the top and I want it to be showroom quality since that is what everyone will be looking at. If I can get this figured out, I will be ecstatic.

 

And, my second confession? The curlew for my husband is already underway... 

 

 

 

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I am NOT all that familiar with Rusto, but I have painted a lot of stuff. Sounds like you are losing your "wet edge", that is, one section of paint is starting to skin and won't let the new section flow into it, wet on wet.

That gummy part is wet paint trying to mix with not wet paint.

Get a helper to follow you, tipping off as you roll. Or you tip off and they roll.

 

I sometimes paint kitchens for money when I'm desperate, and this is a critical part of smooth gloss cabinets. Wet edge. Keep it.

 

Nice work, by the by.

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Also, does anyone have any advice concerning blades for my hand held jigsaw? I purchased new blades with 14 teeth per inch, but I still shredded some of the edges of the plywood.

I use Bosch 10 and 20 TPI blades and haven't had an issue with shredding (I'm cutting Baltic Birch plywood). One thing I don't like about the 10 TPI blades is that they create a large curl of pattern paper that blocks my view of the line I'm trying to cut. I have to stop frequently and break the curl off so I can see. With the 20 TPI blade, the pattern paper turns to dust.

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Thanks for the advice on the blades. I'll look for something a little better before cutting out the next one. It also seems like part of the issue might be the marine grade plywood I'm using. It is 5 ply and through recent research on this forum, it seems like there are much better options out there (i.e. baltic birch). I couldn't figure out why some of the other frames looked like furniture grade plywood. Now it seems that the answer is, "Probably because they were.".

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  • 2 weeks later...

Inflaties are awesome if you use them right. They are not performance oriented but you can go places and do things that can make your friends drool. If anyone tells you they are not real boats get them to read Paddling North by Audrey Sutherland. Congrats!

Bonus Pic of my packraft set up (yes it works the other way around):

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Bcone,

Standard bikerafting setup. It's an alpacka packraft with sprayskirt and moded with thigh braces. Carries a my steel touring bike easily and fits with paddle in one 25L side bag (camp gear goes in other side bag). Raft setup weighs about 8-9lbs. I live on a small island and I use it when I want to go cycling on one of the other islands. I use a whitewater helmet for cycling and paddling ocean/river. Upside down it turns into a 1.5 ft thick air mattress (just toss a tarp over). :) If you want more info look up packrafting or bikerafting.

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Not sure how easy it would be to put the folding kayak on a bike though or go any distance on bike.

 

EDIT: Just too a quick look at hi end folders (feather craft) and the weight alone is 35-40lb (5x  heavier). Not sure what the packed size would be but I can't see it getting loaded on the same bike it would carry on the water.

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Thanks for the inflatable support group. I am the only kayak person I know, so when I say "inflatable" or worse yet, "blow up boat", everyone has a picture in their mind of that plastic inflatable 2-man brown and beige boat with matching plastic oars that I'm guessing we all had when we were 10. Granted, I loved that one too, but in a 10 year old way. I doubt I will ever get rid of my inflatable, but I am really looking forward to being in a sleek, silent kayak that doesn't take all my energy to paddle in the wind.

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