Kayak Build, Day 13

The ribs are finished. I'm finally past the hardest and most time consuming part of the whole project. Am I happy? Ooh yeah!

As soon as I finished lashing the ribs I took the whole thing out of the shed and took a heap of pictures. I also took a couple of pictures on my mobile so I could show my workmates how it's going.



As you can see, there's not a lot left to do to finish the frame. The forward hull stringers need to be fitted. They're already cut to size, so it'll probably be a ten minute job there. The breast hooks will take longer, since they need to be shaped just right. Then there's the coaming. I still need to bend the outer ring and fit it to the part of the coaming I've already bent.







Before finishing the deck though, I need to fit the chines. They've been cut to size and I've lashed the forward end. They're clamped into place, so now all I need to do is lash them to the ribs and that'll be the hull finished.





Another three and a half hours spent today, taking the total to 50 1/2. If the nylon for the skin arrives early next week, it could be launched next weekend. Fingers crossed.