Development of VARDO *SOF Kayak

[Kudzu]

Day 12

Maybe I should call it day 11 1/2 because I had to work on some other things and only got to spend about half a day on VARDO today.  I started out by sanding and rounding over the edges of the coaming getting it ready to go on the boat. Oh  yea, and drilling all those holes. Since I am using a Polyurethane for the finish I just oiled the coaming and will coat it with the skin.

Here is is in place just before I started sewing it on.

I clamp the coaming in place with a strap so that the coaming is pulled down out of shape. I like to pull the fabric up and clamp it in place to get an idea of where it goes. Then I trim it with a hot knife and pull it in place and put on some spring clamps.

Then it's just a matter of pulling the skin in place and working out wrinkles as I sew twice around the coaming. Once it is sewn in place and you release the strap the coaming will snap in place under tension.

Once the coaming was done it was time to finish up the sewing. I trimmed the excess skin and started doing a whip stitch down the deck.  I still need to do the front and then it will be ready for dying and  finishing. Oh yea, I also need to stitch a rope lip onto the coaming.

[Steve Day]

That boat is really starting to look good. Nice job!

I really like your shop. It must be nice to work in a purpose-built area.  :-D

I'll be watching to see the boat on the water.

Steve

[Kudzu]

Thanks Steve, when I agreed to sell our house on the lake there was one condition. I got a shop! That was non-negotiable point. I wanted to build furniture and another boat (look where I ended up!) and wife sort of snickered under her breath at the thought of me building furniture. Now she has a list of things for me to build. Now I am the one snickering. 

Anyway, when we found this land it had a perfect slope for a basement. From the front you have no idea there is a basement which is exactly what we both wanted. I ended what what I thought was going to be a huge shop. But I have been blessed with machines given to me I never thought i would own. Granted I had to restore most of them.  But the shop shrank some but it is so nice to have a space can work in. Beats working under a tree or a make shift tarp shed I restored one boat under.

As you can see in the photos I am about to post, even with this boat in there, i have space to pull in a car and work on it.  Blew out a tank on the radiator on this one.

[Kudzu]

DAY 12

When I left the shop last the boat was pretty much sewn up. All that was left was to finish the bow with a whip stitch. That only took an hour or so and it was done. I ended up with some pull holes even in the nylon. I guess that is just going to happen on any fabric. Maybe in a year of two I will be an expert and won't have them, (said very tongue in cheek). At least they are easy enough to repair.

With the stitching done I had to take it outside and shoot a few photos.  There are some wrinkles in the skin that should be shrink out no problem.

With the stitching done it was time to do the one job I always dread. Dyeing the skin! I have never had great luck with this so I always dread it. This time I tired a different method and I like it. It turned out better but I still have some work on my technique but I think I can get to where I don't dread this nearly as bad.

I stopped long enough to take a photo an I realize that was a mistake. This needs to be done as fast as possible and don't stop to take photos! :-)

Overall it came out pretty even. if you don't apply the dye perfectly evenly your will end up with blotchy finish. The thing is you can not put it on perfectly even. There is going to be some uneveness, that's just part of it. So the idea is to work fast and carefully and keep it to a minimum. This side looks good.

This is what happens when you stop to take a photo. If you let the dye puddle or stand in one area to long it dyes that area darker. So I ended up some dark spots. But I know what I did and I am sure I can do better next time. And, no you can not touch it up. I tried it one one and just ended up with a worse mess. The only thing you can do at this point is to tint the polyurethane, it will help even it out but it will never hide it. So I have learned to just live with it.

A few coats of sealer and a little rigging and she will be ready for the water.

[Kudzu]

DAY 14 *  Finishing up!

The last big project was to coat (waterproof) the skin. There are a few different things you can use but I like ZAR Exterior Polyurethane. It just works well and the price is lower than a lot of other options. Best of all, it's easy to apply. I chose to brush it on but it's hard to put on evenly. So I will go back to spraying it, it just looks better than brushing it on does.

Once coated, the only thing left was rigging it out. I decided to try something different on this one. I laminated up a my coaming without a lip on it. So I drilled a series of holes and stitched on a 5/8" dia. piece of rope for the lip.

I put in a Redfish seat and one of my backbands. Added some bungee's on the deck and a couple of paitners and she was ready for the water.

Here she is ready for her maiden voyage sitting next Randy's 21' Looksha II

[Guest amos]

ALL PICS SAVED FOR DREAM TIME

you make a beaut boat

hope you get my pm

rob