Long time ago, I read what sounded like a comprehensive account of a couple's
construction of a one-off composite kayak. Unfortunately, I didn't capture the
web pages and they seem to have been taken off the net.

(http://pluto.njcc.com/~fmec/ returns HTTP 404: File not found...)


My agenda is that I'm kind of large (6'5", 48" X-seam, broad hips) and I have a
semi-custom lifeguard spec surf ski that fits me....almost.... I've been
paddling it for about five seasons, but the seat well is a good inch too narrow
and higher that I want to begin with.

By the time I pad it up to where my hips don't hit the sides I've got stability
problems - i.e. I spend more time in the water than I want to - and it I'd
guess that my ability to learn better balance probably got tapped out after the
second or third season.

There are a number of surf ski builders that claim to do custom, but each time
I've tried to nail one down for a boat to fit me, the answer has been that my
particular case is too much custom work to be cost-effective.

I like the thing I'm paddling now except for the seat well.

So the thought crossed my mind that maybe the way to go is one-off construction
using this one as a mould/starting point, ripping off an imprint of a seat well
that fits from some other boat, and morphing them.

Anybody had experience in doing something like this themselves or successfully
contracting it out?

I don't plan on learning just to do it once - but am wondering if there's any
chance of finding somebody who knows what they're doing to do it for a cost
that's not too out-of-sight compared to an off-the-shelf ski.

--
PeteCresswell

I have seen a surf ski in Hawaii, the website below is like what I
recall. It was a very cool boat, very radical looking. I talked to the
owner, and he had just managed to crack the fiberglass cockpit by
putting too much weight on his feet. Apparently these boats are built
very light and thin.

http://www.surfskis.com

My general view is that custom and reasonable price are incompatible.
The fact that the "custom ski" folks will not do what you want should
tell you something. When they say custom, they mean installing your
choice of accessories. If you offered them $2000 over what a stock boat
is worth it might be worth their while, but maybe that is not enough.
They would have to take their existing boat or mold, make a new mold,
and then modify the new mold. A mold is a ton of work, a lot more than
you might think, much more work than building a boat when you have a mold.

The obvious alternative is to make your own boat, but that is a lot of
work. You might be able to use an existing boat as a pattern, which
would reduce the amount of work significantly. The fact that the
construction is so light and thin makes it quite a bit more difficult to
build than conventional fiberglass boats.

Not seeing the boat or knowing the construction details, someone might
be able to take some power tools to a boat, cut out the cockpit, use the
old cockpit or other boat cockpit as a guide, and then build a new
cockpit, and install it. Obviously a ton of work in the best case, and
perhaps totally unfeasible, depending on the construction.

Apparently you don't know anyone who builds boats, you might look for a
custom boat builder who works in fiberglass and ask what he thinks.

I am afraid that your choices are basically 1. Do it yourself. 2. Be
willing to pay thousands of dollars extra.

Personally, I would probably build a new cockpit, but figure that it
would take a couple of tries to get a usable cockpit. I would probably
take a mold off of your existing boat and another mold off of a boat
with a seat that you could live with, and then cut them up, splice them
together, and make them into a new mold. Trying to build that light a
boat from scratch is probably impractical, that takes a lot of skill and
experience. I would figure that my new cockpit would add a few pounds
to the boat, and it might not be hard to find where I spliced in the new
cockpit.

Richard




(PeteCresswell) wrote:
Long time ago, I read what sounded like a comprehensive account of a couple's
construction of a one-off composite kayak. Unfortunately, I didn't capture the
web pages and they seem to have been taken off the net.

(http://pluto.njcc.com/~fmec/ returns HTTP 404: File not found...)


My agenda is that I'm kind of large (6'5", 48" X-seam, broad hips) and I have a
semi-custom lifeguard spec surf ski that fits me....almost.... I've been
paddling it for about five seasons, but the seat well is a good inch too narrow
and higher that I want to begin with.

By the time I pad it up to where my hips don't hit the sides I've got stability
problems - i.e. I spend more time in the water than I want to - and it I'd
guess that my ability to learn better balance probably got tapped out after the
second or third season.

There are a number of surf ski builders that claim to do custom, but each time
I've tried to nail one down for a boat to fit me, the answer has been that my
particular case is too much custom work to be cost-effective.

I like the thing I'm paddling now except for the seat well.

So the thought crossed my mind that maybe the way to go is one-off construction
using this one as a mould/starting point, ripping off an imprint of a seat well
that fits from some other boat, and morphing them.

Anybody had experience in doing something like this themselves or successfully
contracting it out?

I don't plan on learning just to do it once - but am wondering if there's any
chance of finding somebody who knows what they're doing to do it for a cost
that's not too out-of-sight compared to an off-the-shelf ski.



--
http://www.fergusonsculpture.com
Sculptures in copper and other metals

Per Richard Ferguson:
I talked to the
owner, and he had just managed to crack the fiberglass cockpit by
putting too much weight on his feet. Apparently these boats are built
very light and thin.

Depends on the ski.

A lot of racing skis come in at about 25 pounds and are correspondingly fragile.

The ski I paddle is build to something called "Lifeguard Specification" which
mandates a weight of no less than 40 pounds, certain hull dimensions (19' long x
19" wide), and nothing (like an over-the-stern rudder) that can cut somebody
floundering around in the surf.

It's still something less than robust.... but I've clambered around on it quite
a bit so far without breaking anything. Now that I've gone and said that, I'll
probably cave in the deck or something next time I try to mount it in the water.
-)
--
PeteCresswell