Kayak Build, Day 20, the afternoon shift

After my earlier blog entry I thought I'd take it easy, fix the kitchen tap that's been leaking for ages, maybe do some more work on the aviary that's half built next to the house, feed the birds, more importantly, read another chapter of "Insect Plant Biology" by Schoonhoven, et al, for uni. I only have one subject left to go to finish off my science degree.

But no, there's a heap of wood in the shed with nylon draped over it, alluringly, just waiting to be turned into a boat. Its siren call was irresistible, so I spent a couple of hours sewing.

I should mention here that I've heard a lot of SOF kayak builders mention to their wives that traditionally it was the wives that did the sewing on Inuit kayaks. Traditionally, modern day SOF kayak builders wives, when told this, say naughty words. Donna is very traditional, she said a naughty word. She did however sit and watch me sew, which is heaps better than standing there by yourself on your lonesome. I did mention the other day that she's going to be doing some of the work on her kayak when I build it. I'm not sure if that's sunk in yet.

Anyway, below are a few pictures of the front part of the skin sewn. After I'd done this part of the job, taken a few pictures, locked up the shed, had a drinks and a cigar and started cooking dinner because it was my turn tonight, I mentioned to Donna that some people have a problem with getting a straight line when they sew the skin on their kayaks. I really think it depends on the method you use. I know my stitching wasn't straight, and it didn't need to be, since this row of stitching was mainly to pull the skin tight, but it looks pretty good to me. I'm really hoping that the next stage, after sewing, will pull the wrinkles out. I read in a forum recently that the best way to build a Greenland kayak is to follow Chris Cunningham's instructions in his book, but when you get to the skinning stage, follow Corey's instructions on his website. The link is on my sidebar under skinboats.org and I recommend you read the whole website.

The instructions I was using to build the frame tell you to sew from the pointy bits toward the cockpit, Corey's instructions say the opposite and I've seen advice elsewhere that says the same thing, start at the cockpit. I don't know which is best, but since I bought the material from Corey and I was following his sewing videos, I figured that sewing in the direction he suggested was a good idea.

One thing that intrigued me once I'd done this part of the sewing was that I've seen examples of people sewing their skin on where the seam was all over the place. I know my sewing wasn't that straight, but the result at the end looked pretty good. Keeping in mind that this row of stitching is just to tension the skin and the next lot is to tidy up the excess cloth, I'm surprised at how good it looks. I suspect that people that have trouble getting a straight seam on their boats are using a different technique. Not that their way is wrong, I think a crooked seam on this type of boat will look just as good as a straight one. In fact, I think a straight seam would look out of place on a Greenlander.

Anyway, here's a few pictures of my effort at skinning the front end of the boat. As you can see there's plenty of wrinkles. I'm hoping they'll disappear when I get to the dyeing and shrinking stage. There's also an obligatory, inside-the-boat picture that all SOF builders show. I'll also be posting similar pictures once the skin has been dyed.







I think the picture below needs a bow-tie. I recall being best man at a friend's wedding in a shirt that looked like this.



Considering my stitching seemed to be all over the place, this looks pretty straight. At least the skin sounds like a drum when you tap it, and that's the main thing.

The excess will be trimmed and another row of stitching done before it's all dyed, then coated with poly-urethane, in this case, known as Corey's Goop.



Two more hours on the job this afternoon, that's 71 hours total. I should mention that my times on the job are getting very guesstimated, if that's a word. I'm really putting times on here because people ask the question, how long does it take to build one of these? And because I'm curious myself how much It's taken me. Another question I get asked is, how much would it cost to buy one? So working out how long it takes me to build the boat and multiplying that by a labour cost of $20 an hour (less than what I get for filling shelves in a supermarket) gives me an idea of what my boat is going to be worth.

Sewing, or day 20

There's lots of information available online about sewing the skin on a kayak, but not a lot on sewing leather seats into them. The best information I was able to find was this video, and it's similar to the method I used.

I used two needles and a piece of artificial sinew about four times the length that I need to sew. In the picture below, you can see half of the thread hanging down below the seat. To do a stitch, I push the needle through just like you would a normal running stitch.



Below is the view from... well... below.



Pull the needle through and make sure both ends are tight. The good thing with the artificial sinew is you can let the needles dangle like this and they don't usually fall off.



Take the second needle and push it up through the hole that the first needle came through.



Once you've pulled it through and made sure again that both ends are tight, just repeat until you get to the end.



With the smell of leather and wood, and the sound of Don Burrows playing jazz on the stereo in the shed, I couldn't resist lighting up my pipe.

A pipe and a comfy chair, what more could a man want?



And the frame is officially finished.



This is what six yards of ballistic nylon looks like. I remember having to roll my bedding up like this when I was in the air cadets as a teenager.



After finding the midpoint of the cloth, it's layed out along the hull and a pocket, about four inches long, is sewn at one end to hold it in place. You then you slip it off, go to the other end of the boat and you have two choices. You can either a) pull the cloth to take out the slack, then make a mark about four inches in from the end and sew there, or b) pull the cloth as thight as you possibly can, make a mark at the point where the end of the boat is and sew there.

I got a little confused at this point and ended up combining both methods. After lying on the ground with one foot against a deck-beam, much to Donna's amusement, I made a mark in the right place and sewed the second pocket from that point in about four inches. Then I rolled up some of the cloth for a better grip, put my foot against the deck beam and pulled with all my might. The boat was creaking and occasionally lifting off the sawing horse at the other end, I was grunting and straining, and I still couldn't get the pocket over the end of the boat. I decided I was going to have to remove a few stitches, that's when I realised what I done wrong. It's not really a pocket you need to sew the second time, just a few stitches to hold the cloth in place. Once it's there you can let go and sew in a pocket.



Below is the first pocket on the bow of the boat, once I'd got the cloth pulled tight and sewn on at each end, and the boat was turned up the right way.



I then got out my soldering iron and cut off the excess material. In this last picture I've only removed the excess from one side. It was getting way past my lunch time, so I though I'd take a break. Incidentally, the soldering iron is only a cheap 45w one, but it did the job okay once it'd heated up properly.



Once I've trimmed both sides it'll be time to start the first line of stitches down the centre of the deck. I think I'll refresh my memory on the technique by reviewing Corey's instructions a few times first though.

Another 3 hours today, that's a total of 69 hours. I should do up a spreadsheet listing how long it takes for each part of the job, although I have seen one online already. I'll see if I can find it again and post a link to it.