Leaderboard

Well, she's built. Next up, sealing with Spar Urethane, then sewing the Dacron. This forum has been so helpful and supportive, especially Jeff. Thanks everyone. This has been so much fun so far!

So we finally had a nice day and I had a little time off so I launched my first home made kayak (the second one is slowly being painted)

I ordered the Vardo kit a few weeks ago and I have been slowly been working on it. Here are some photos of the build so far. I'll post more as things progress.

Several months ago I purchased the Vardo plans from Kudzu Craft. I have never built a boat, I have no woodworking skills, and I am no expert on Kayaks. A few friends of mine and I decided that we wanted to Kayak this year instead of going on our usual hike. We chose Yellowstone (Lewis Lake, and Shoshone Lake) and I set out to find a place to rent a kayak. While searching for a rental I came across KudzuCraft.com and was intrigued at the videos and the idea of building my own kayak. I spent a few months building the boat after work and in my spare time. I got really excited as it progressed and I started looking forward to working on it more and more. As our trip got closer I skinned and painted the boat hoping it would have enough time to dry. I let it dry for a couple days and loaded it up and off we went. (I test floated it the night before at a local lake just to make sure it floated) After several conversations with passerby's and other at the lake about how easy it was to build we dropped her in Lewis Lake (Yellowstone) and headed out 10.5 miles to Shoshone lake. Not only does the boat look good, it cruises wonderfully. I was the fastest in our group with a half mile lead at most times. It took a minute to get used to the stability but after a few almost tips I had it down. I was amazed at the amount of room I had to pack stuff in. I added two hatches and packed them full of gear. I weigh in at 230 pounds and probably brought along another 50 pounds of gear. I'll certainly reduce that weight on my next trip...just because you can pack a lot of stuff doesn't mean you should. (ha ha) Out and back we did 21 miles over two lakes and a pretty quick river. I was so impressed with the way the Vardo handled. We had calm water, rough water (1 foot waves), and wind and she handled all of them perfectly. (The 1 foot waves certainly made me nervous, we quickly got off the water. Wouldn't recommend staying on the water with that kind of wind and waves) All in all I would absolutely recommend this boat to anyone looking for a fun project. Great camping kayak, touring kayak and all around drop in any lake and do some sight seeing kayak. Here are a few pics of the final Kayak.

I have continued the build but I am currently stuck. I'm having trouble visualizing and deciding where to make the cut on the stringers and gunwales so they end up flush against the bow and stern respectively. I have read and re-read the manual on this part but I am stuck. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I have included some pictures which I hope illustrate the problem. Bow Stern

First trip to the pond for a test run, no deck rigging yet no float bags yet, but the wife couldn't wait. It floats and no leaks and she loves it. You know just carrying it to the waters edge I was stopped by a guy and got thirty questions. I don't know how I will handle all the celebrity. "you made that"? "looks cool"? whats this ? whats that? How? me - "go to KUDZU CRAFT dot com, it's easy". I got a camp pad (sleeping bag pad) from amazon it fits nicely in the cockpit from the frame at my feet to the frame behind my back it is 5/8 thick closed cell foam, there is enough material to fold it over for a nice seat. This is me varnishing the Long shot I am building for my son the Fire fly is overhead, yes I am using the living room no garage, basement is too small. I should start to skin the fire fly this weekend. I hope to be all done with the three in a week or so. 8 months start to finish 3 kayaks. I am really pumped, we are going to try every body of water in and around cape cod with these. Anyone want to buy two slightly used plastic kayaks? http://s850.photobucket.com/user/John_Casanova/library/?sort=3&page=1

Spent the weekend at the lake with my 87 year young father in law These are pics of us getting back from a 3 mile (slow) sprint, I don't know which one of us was more tired. Dad is in Vardo with a 40 year old all wood one piece kayak paddle, blades are off set and the blades are larger than normal. He was picked by the Olympic committee in 1948 as first alternate for canoe singles he also competed in "Double Blade" races Unfortunately back then you had to pay your own way to the Games, he didn't make it, he paddles almost every weekend in his 1930s Charles River Racing canoe. 87! I will never complain about my age.

I am always impressed with the boats my clients build. But this is one of the best looking ones yet. The colors are outstanding and check out those seams! I don't know when I have seen one that straight. I have sewn a lot of boats and I am not sure mine are this straight!