Steve Day Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 Hello All, I'll take advantage of a lull in the message traffic to announce that I will be starting a Diva 2 project as soon as I get the materials together and get back home. I am still recovering from the kidney donation here in Atlanta, but that will soon be over. Gina and I will be traveling over to North Carolina next week to visit with Carla and Graham and pick up a lot of the materials for the build. We should be back in Daphne by the 25th or 26th and I will start the Diva shortly after we get back. This will be my first kayak, so it should be a challenge and a lot of fun. :-\ 8) Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Day Posted July 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2007 Hello All, Well, I got home from the transplant and was chomping at the bit to get started on the Diva 2. As of today I have the butterfly sections cut out and the splices in place to make her full length, though she is still a bit flat. Hopefully the epoxy will cure enough today (should be no problem with this heat!) to allow me to start drilling holes for the stitching. Might go 3D tomorrow, if everything looks good (and I can get some help). It is very good to be building again! ;D Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Votaw Posted July 2, 2007 Report Share Posted July 2, 2007 Way to go, Steve! Good luck healing from the kidney situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken_Potts Posted July 3, 2007 Report Share Posted July 3, 2007 It's good to see that you're up and going again Steve - Keep us updated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Luckett Posted July 4, 2007 Report Share Posted July 4, 2007 Steve, It looks like you are making progress. Did you go to Carla and Graham's as you expected to? Greg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Day Posted July 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2007 Greg, Yes, we did get to Carla and Graham's place. We spent a very nice day and evening with them and I got to "pick his brain" a bit on the Diva 2 construction and boat building in general. By luck, we spent a Thursday afternoon and evening with them and I got to go to Graham's boat building class at the local community college. They were working on several boats including three Spindrift 10's, a Spindrift 12, a Diva, and a Diva 2, among others. It helped me visualize the Diva 2 by actually having one to look at, with the bonus of a Diva right next to it that was a little further along in the process. It would be truly great to build a boat in that shop as they had all of the power toys, er tools, that a guy could wish for. 8) I've gotten a bit further with my project and have the stern section about 70% wired up and it is starting to take shape. I hope to get the stern completely wired before we go to the 4th party this afternoon. Here is a shot of the stern taken this morning. [move]BTW, Happy 4th, everyone! ;D ;D[/move] Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Luckett Posted July 4, 2007 Report Share Posted July 4, 2007 I envy your visit there. Graham is a treasure trove of "tricks of the trade". He has helped me during phone conversations. I would really like to visit them sometime, too, and they have invited me to do so. Really special folks, as are most (all?) of our community here. My two youngest sons have been asking for a Diva each for a couple of years now. I told them that the Spindrift gets built first, then maybe. Dragon's head was broken off last week by the dogs playing roughly. Always something to be done....rarely boring here. The Diva looks like an easy and quick build. What do you think, Steve? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Hagan Posted July 4, 2007 Report Share Posted July 4, 2007 Steve, is the Diva 2 because you are going tandem in it? I'm looking at building a couple of Divas for kayaking here locally. Jan and I love to paddle around the harbor, but we sold off the larger blow-molded kayak that weighed about 80 pounds (too heavy to cart around!) We were looking at a couple of the Skedaddle inflatable kayaks but the people who have used them say they're fine as a temporary tender but not really that enjoyable to paddle around for hours like we enjoy doing. But I'm concerned about the standard Diva being large enough to float my 240 pounds. I think the Birder may even be a better choice, with the standard Birder for my wife and the larger one for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Day Posted July 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2007 Frank, Yes, it is. I know that, if I put Gina in another kayak, she would soon be on the horizon at my stern. Therefore, we have to be in the same boat. More to come, as we are going out to enjoy the Garvey in the twilight. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Day Posted July 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 Greg & Frank, So far, so good on the Diva 2. I think the Diva is a boat that takes a moderate skill level. Now that I am on the second build of Graham's designs, I think this one is easier than the Spindrift was. The experience with the previous boat definitely makes a difference, particularly with bringing the boat 3D with the stitching. Some of that relative ease may also be due to using the 4 mm plywood versus the 6 mm on the Spindrift and the Garvey. ??? We'll have to see how she takes my 220 pound butt before I make any comments on how the Diva will carry a load. Perhaps Graham would like to weigh in on that issue. Here are a couple of shots of the Diva 2 taken this evening after our ride in the Garvey. We went out on Mobile Bay to scout around and look at the birds. There were a few more waves than I expected, so it was not a real comfortable ride. : Gina wasn't as happy as I would like when we got back, but it will be OK. Have fun! Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Mellema Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 Steve I am moving to your neighborhood this weekend. You are building a craft that I have been thinking about for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canoewhiteh2o Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 Looks like you are making great progress. I want to build a Diva2 later this year myself. As far as the Diva floating 220 to 240 lbs, I don't think that would be a problem. I have a Diva and it is a high volume boat with a large cockpit. A friend of mine who is around 210 paddles it with ease (I Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Day Posted July 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 Good point on the seat. I'll take a look at that, when I get that far. There is no substitute for a good seat in a small craft. If my sailplane days taught me anything, they taught me that! 6 hours plus in a seat with no way to change positions (significantly) will make a believer out of anyone. Pat, When you get here and get settled, send an e-mail and we can get together to visit and look at boats. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Jones Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 One thing Steve. The seat as designed was just a tad too tall for me in my Birder so I trimmed one inch off the bottom. Now it's about perfect in height. I wish I had made the back slant aft just a slight bit more but otherwise it's really comfortable. The height should be just right for Laura however. I really can't recall how tall your wife is, but it's something to consider. Of course I built it to plan, tried it, then trimmed it. I also moved the after bulkhead an inch or inch and a half aft of plan, so I could fit a small icechest between the seat and the bulkhead. On my boat only- Laura's is to plan. Oh and a birdsmouth technique on the paddle shaft made a paddle that weighs 31 ozs ;D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Day Posted July 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2007 Charlie, The birdsmouth on the paddle shaft sounds really cool. I will have to look into that when I get to it. Graham hinted to me that the extra 2"+ on the metric sheets of plywood could be incorporated into the boat with little difficulty and I have chosen to do that. All of that extra length is between the 2nd and 3rd bulkhead, or the after cockpit. That should help me get my long legs into the boat a little easier and possibly allow for something like a little cooler. We'll have to see as we progress. I have the hull all wired together and she appears to be fair. I even had Gina come out and put her eye on the hull to see if she could spot anything out of place or un-fair. She put her blessing on the look of her, so I will start the "glue" portion of the "stitch & glue" tomorrow. Should be fun. : Here are a couple of shots of the boat as she sat this afternoon. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Jones Posted July 7, 2007 Report Share Posted July 7, 2007 ROFL- looks like it's raining there too Boat is looking good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Day Posted July 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2007 Charlie, Did you put any offset on the paddle blades for feathering? If so, how much? Man, I forgot how much "fun" applying epoxy fillets can be! ;D Yea, it's raining, but not as much as you guys are getting. We probably had 3" here at the house this week. What you saw in the picture was probably 0.2" that we got last night. Later, Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Jones Posted July 7, 2007 Report Share Posted July 7, 2007 Yeah Steve. I set them at 90 degrees, mainly because that's the way I'm used to having them. Some people use a 60 degree offset. Should work just fine , or even straight. But I like 'em offset. Later today I'll try to shoot a couple of pics of the finished paddle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Day Posted July 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2007 I made a lot of progress today! The inwales are on the inside and glued in, the initial glue is on all of the seams and the stitches are out of the boat (except for the stem and stern). She is beginning to look like a boat! Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Day Posted July 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2007 No pictures tonight, as the boat does not look much different. I got the fillets and tape on the inside of the bow compartment and the front cockpit today. I was not able to do any more because I had to go help with a youth play this afternoon and evening. I will be "on tour" with the youth group as we take their play to five different venues over the next week. I get to drive the bus and run the sound board for the productions. That should be an interesting week! ;D It is sad that the road trip is getting in the way of the kayak build, but that's the way things go. I should be able to continue the build by next Saturday or Sunday. Talk to all y'all then, Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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