yggmeanhorse

My son waited till the last minute to get some of the things he needed to finish the boat. It was done the weekend before the race. Lets see if he is up to trying the race again next year. Jay

I have float bags in my Firefly. I also have a paddle float. It works great. It is a good idea to practice getting in the boat. My paddle is not secured all that tight to the boat but it still works. I don't know if you can see the set up in this picture. I have some wood block thing that will hold the paddle down pretty secure but I found that it still works ok even if I just put it through the ropes going around the deck.

Hi, Yes, my son did the 340 race. The heat did him in though. I am not sure if he will try it again next year. I also raced in my Firefly. I love the Firefly. It has proven its self for two trips down the Missouri. The first year 2011 the river was very high and fast. I really wished I had a rudder that year. 2012 the river was very low. The Firefly handled a lot better with the lower, slower water and it was a lot easier to handle with out a rudder. Also maybe I had gained some experiance. *Jay*

Hi, I used Cypress on my Firefly and my son's. It worked just fine. I put my boat through its paces too. *Jay*

I have a 12 ft plastic kayak for my son, a 10 foot plastic sit on top for any little kid that may want to go kayaking with us. The Firefly Baidarka for me. Now I am building two more Fireflys. One for my oldest son and the second because now that I have already built one, I know I could do a much better job. Hopefully my oldest son will keep his Firefly at his house but that will leave me with 2. I think I will need the Shad. I want the Stonefly. The Mess About looks interesting. I very much want to build a certain wood kayak I seen on another web site. Should you design the trimaran I will have to have it. Should you design a tandam kayak that is some what fast, but stable enough to take a beginner out, I will have to have it. Should you design a two place canoe I will have to have it. But, I only have a one car garage to keep my (right now 3 kayaks) one motorcycle and a riding mower. Also, this one car garage is where I build the boats. Looks like I have myself in a little bit of a jam. Any way, I am still voting for the trimaran, two place canoe, tandam kayak..... in that order. *Jay*

Thats a good point about the canoe. I would be more interested in one that would hold a few people. Jay

Hi Jeff, I am interested in a small sail boat. Have you considered designing some thing that does not use SOF? Say for the catamaran. Also I would be interested in a tandam kayak, an out rigger, a more stable sea kayak ( so I could take a first timer out ). What I have really been looking forward too is that sailing kayak that you were talking about before. I saw a fiberglass one for sail last year, it was more or less a trimaran. That thing looked really cool. I am hoping that you design some thing like that. Even if its not really a sailing kayak but more of a small trimaran or how ever it turns out. Jay

Hi, I got the blank seat from Redfish kayaks for my Firefly. After sitting in it for almost 3 days strait and 340 miles I can tell you it is a good seat. *Jay*

I live in St. Louis.......actually Florissant MO. I would like to build at least one more SOF kayak then try a wood strip. My problem is room. I really do not have a good place to build a boat. But that did not stop me with the Firefly so I guess I will figure out some thing. I got some teflon strips today to use for rub strips. Hopefully I can put them on Thursday. Cant wait to get this kayak back out.....busy working all this week :-(

Its Ok with me....... Thanks for posting more pictures. Its really cool to see them. Its really cool that you were there and took them. *Jay*

That's really cool. Thanks a lot. What a great time!!! *Jay*

Yes, that rub strip is what I had in mind. I think I can fix the hole and add the strip. Then I will take it out and paddle some more and see if I can get used to steering by leaning. I have a few friends that want to paddle it and they know a lot about kayaks so maybe I can get some feed back from them also. Thanks a lot *Jay*

Hi, I did it in about 74 and a half hours. The fastest boat this year did it in around 38 hours. Its hard to do it in less the 50. It seems like its some what evenly spread out for 60's, 70,s and 80,s hour wise. 88 is the limit. If you want to know more about the race the web site is at www.rivermiles.com You can read a lot about it on the forum. I do not have a lot of experience with boats or boat building so I may be missing some thing or maybe just not understanding whats going on.. Also, I was in some pretty high winds. At first I did not think it was the wind, but the more I paid attention the more it seemed like that was it. Other boats around me were having the same problems. It did seem like boats with rudders were not having the problems. The Firefly did not turn into the wind but wanted to turn sideways to it. I am not sure how well balanced my load was, but I would suspect more weight to the rear. My Firefly looks nice and strait, but I think it would be possible that it is not so perfect. So it may not all be wind causing my problem. Still, it would want to turn one way or the other, I would think if I built it a little off, it would pull the same way all the time. Anyway, I did not notice it unless it was windy. I want to experiment a little with it and see if I can improve on it so any suggestions to help me trouble shoot some thing I may have done wrong and ideas to try would be a big help. I think first I will try putting a skeg on it and see how it handles. Seemed like almost every one I talked to on the river wanted a rudder on their boat, but I agree with you. I would rather not have one. Seems like just one more thing to have problems with. I think if it turns out I like the skeg or rudder I could fabricate one that would be stealth and not mess up the looks of the boat to much. I do not mean to complain about the boat because I really like it. The more I paddle, the more I love it. I am only bringing up my problem with keeping it pointed the way I wanted because if I could solve that.....this boat would be perfect. I also think a lot of that may be the way I was using the boat. I mean, I was on a fast river and in pretty high winds most the time and being a rookie, maybe a lot of it is the way I was paddling. Who knows, but I want to figure it out. Ok, whats really bothering me now is fixing the spot where I rubbed a hole pulling onto boat ramps. Any Ideas on the best way to patch this? Could I glue some fabric over it or should I try sewing some thing over it? What about not patching it but covering it with a teflon or brass strip, screwed on with lots of the Lexel stuff? I want the rub strip but wonder if I need to patch it then add the rub strip or if I could just add the rub strip and it would be the patch too. Thanks *Jay*

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A few more pictures.

Hi Every One, Last week I took my Firefly on a 340 mile race on the Missouri river. It was a lot of fun. At first I was a little worried about staying right side up because I only had the Firefly out a few times before the race. I took it to a lake to test it twice and managed to flip it over both times. After that but before the MR340 I took the Firefly on a 20 mile race on the Kaw river in Kansas and a 40 mile practice run on the Missouri. I did not have any problems then although it still seemed a little shakey. Last I took it back to the lake and flipped it 4 or 5 times and practiced getting back in using a paddle float. Tuesday Oct 11th. I started the race in Kansas City. I don't know if I had got used to it or if having some gear in the boat made it more stable but it felt good and was very stable through out the race. I paddled through some really rough water, two thunderstorms and a few big wakes from barges with out any problem............. I hate to admit this but I also hit the end of a wing dike moving pretty fast and still was able to stay right side up. I got a lot of compliments on my boat along the way. That was really nice. Made it to St. Charles MO, Friday morning around 10:30. I rubbed a hole in the front of the boat on the keel early in the race. It was from pulling up onto boat ramps. I was able to patch it with some duct tape and it never leaked again. But now I will have to repair that. Does any one have any suggestions on how to do that? Once I patch it I will put a teflon, or maybe brass strip over that spot. Hopefully that will keep that from happening again. The only other problem I had was keeping the boat strait. It sure seems like I need a rudder. When I had the boat in the lake it tracked pretty good. But once on the river I met a lot of wind and also I suspect river currents. Anyway It was really hard to keep the thing pointed the way I wanted to go. I would have to paddle on one side a lot and also often paddle on one side then drag my paddle on the other side. Also if I would stop paddling the boat would turn sideways in the river (the way the wind was blowing it). Some of the guys I was with said if I had a rudder I could keep it strait. The bad thing about it turning when I was not paddling was that at night I wanted to look at my map and keep an eye out for bouys that may be in front of me, but in no time I was side ways and it was hard to keep a look out ahead. Anyway, I am just learning about boats so I would sure like some advice on repairing the hole and about rudders or any other way to help me control my boat. I would like to say I had a good time in my Firefly and can now say for sure..... its a tough little boat. That was one long paddle and she came through really good. Thanks *Jay*

I told my son to look at your website and decide if he wants the Firefly or one of your other designs. Once he decides I will see about making what ever he wants. I think I can do a lot better job next time around. Looks like you will have to make a Firefly for your self. No hurry though, you can do the prototype first....... just don't forget that sailing kayak you been thinking about. That sounds very interesting to me. I am really looking forward to the MR340 next week. I wish I had a Kudzu Craft sticker to put on the boat for the race. *Jay*

I like the paint job too, it was not exactly what I had in mind but it ended up that way. I wanted to use Zar with some blue pigment added they had Zar at the hardware store but said they could not add color to it because they only had water based pigment. So I went with the blue Rust-Oleum. with a few coats of Zar over it. Hmmm, I am not sure if they were correct about not being able to tint the Zar though because they did offer to tint the Rust-Oleum.......and its oil based. Anyway the diamond shapes on the side are white paint covered with reflective paint. Diamond shapes were about the only shape I was capable of painting ;-) and of course I added eyes like ones I saw on a flying tiger. It took me a long time to build it. I did not have any wood working tools or experience, that and I was busy with a lot of other things at the same time. My son (in the picture) wants one too so its likely I will make another one over the winter. OK, lets see how it likes 340 miles on the Missouri next week. *Jay*

Hi Everyone, I finished (well almost) my Firefly and have had it out 3 times now. It has taken a little getting used to.....easier to roll over then my general rec kayak. I took it on a 20 mile race last Saturday and was very happy with it. I got a lot of compliments on it at the race, seemed like a lot of guys were interested in building on. This week I need to finish up the rigging and if all goes well I will take it on a 340 mile race next week (MR340 http://rivermiles.com/?page_id=5 ). I will let you know how it holds up and post some pictures after that. *Jay*

Hi All, I am wondering if any one has recomendations for a spray skirt. I have the Firefly with 34 inch coaming. I was wondiring if there is a good (and cheap) one I could buy or if any one has advice on how to make one. Thanks *Jay*

Hi All, Soon I will be skinning my Firefly with polyester and wonder how to handle the coaming. I watched the videos, it looked like the skin was sewn on, then the laminated coaming was added. I am using the plywood coaming and wonder if I should put the part under the skin and clamp it to the cloath. Then put the rest of the coaming on after I sew the skin, or if I should put the complete coaming on then start to sew. What would work best? Thanks *Jim*

Hi Every one, Soon I will be painting my Firefly. I will skin it with polyester. I do not know much about paints so I am hoping some one can give me some pointers on what kind of paint would be a good choice. Thanks Jay