OK

Mornin';
Sorry. It's been slow. It's fishin' season. So I'm fishin'. For the "New Guys" here's a pix of "Skana" She's a CLC Chesepaeake 18. My first. She's a good boat. Just doesn't get out much. Here she is on "Mosquito Lagoon".
We were RedFishin'.
This is my SIL, paddlin'.

"...414". That's "414" stinkin' holes I had to re-drill, 414 dowel plugs to cut, 414 plugs to glue in, 414 plugs to sand off. Well, I got it all done. Filled all gaps in the panels. I sanded the hull, and rounded all the edges. This mornin, I started the staining. The Hull has 3 coats of Water Based MinWax. The first coat was a "Dark Walnut", then I started applying a custom "Ebony" stain. After 2 coats, I think I got what I was looking for. The hull looks alot like the inside of a Whiskey Barrel. The problem with black, every little ding shows up. I guess that adds the character. I then proceeded to the first layer of "Glass"
Of course that wasn't fun. Could have been worse I guess. It's just has be easier with another set of hands.

.....made progress. I scrapped the starboard side of the hull. Then I started the "painful" task of fillin' holes. Normally durin' the "stitching" process, the panels are brought together and held in place with wires. Holes are drilled in uniformed locations, wired are inserted and twisted (first loosely then tighter) bringing the panels to their correct postition. Some boats are then glued (with an epoxy and wood "flour" ...fine saw dust)mixture from the inside of the hull and fiberglass tape is layed into the glue to set. Then the wires are cut from the outside. This leaves the wires in the glue joint. This kayak is "glued" (minus the fiberglass tape) from the outside. The wires are then removed. This leaves small holes that have to be filled. ...Around probably 200 holes. In addition, I didn't use wire, I used plastic "Zip ties" instead. I drilled 3/32" holes and installed the "ties". I'm sure must people just use epoxy and dab a small amount over the hole, let it dry, then sand it smooth. Well I didn't. I enlarged the hole to 1/8" and for some reason I decided to cut small pieces of 1/8" wood dowel and individually glue the dowels into each hole. ....I wish I had the "Keebler Elves" in my shed helpin' out each night. Instead I think my shed is possessed with lil' demonic sprites. I think they came durin' the night and drilled twice as many holes, as there was initially. Oh well, it's the price you pay I guess. Sorry no pics, just a "Lesson" in Wood boat buildin'.Alright, to keep everything in order. March 31, the evening ..late evening. I set up till midnight. "Burnin' Wood". I still have a lil' wood burning to do. But, the majority of it is done now. Here's some more of the details. Hard to make it out in the photo, but that's a nickel on the left. Here's some more....

....damn lil' demonic pixies at it again. The hull has been stitched, taped & tacked. This pix, is after the removal of the "300" zip ties...OK it wasn't 300, just seemed like 300. Anyway, lookin' better then it did. The hull, especially the stern had me worried.
This is the "port" side after 3 hrs of scrapping. Not fun. Here's another.... ..with any luck the hull will be done with the "scrapping" and "sanding", stained and ready for "glass" this week end. "Jack Black" BABY!.....

...startin' to get somewhere. At least now it's not just a pile of wood. I've got everything cut now. Been up since 4am. I would still be workin' on it, but, I ran out of zip-ties. So I'm off to Lowes.
Yet, again. Unfortunately we have family plans this evening, and a 9 mi paddle tommorrow. The weather is georgeous but I'd rather be workin' on the yak. I'm runnin' outta time. But at least now I think I can finish in time. I want to be done for either the Cobia tournament on 5 May, or if I'm quicker,...there's a tournament for the East Coast Canoe and Kayak Festival in Charleston, SC the end of April. It would be real cool to debut the yak at the kayak festival. Just have to wait and see......

....thank godness the weather has let up. Got some work last night. Finally shared this link with "...me brother from a different mother, down under". Hairmick is an awesome craftsman. Hopefully, someday I can meet up with him over a beer or a tea. Well to give you some perspective to the detail on the "pyrography", here's an example
I had last night to correct some breakage. I was also going to glass my cockpit, but the time involved problem solving the breakage stopped that. I think everything is under control. I'll be doing some more work tonight. Hopefully panels start going together, and all these piles of wood start looking like a boat. ...got some work done. Everything is fitting great. I love days like this I got the first 02 panels stitched together. They fit like a glove. Here's a pic of the cockpit, prior to starting the stitching process. ...and a pic of the backrest. I recessed the upright support channels through the cockpit.The channels form two ribs on the back of the cockpitwall. These ribs will secure the waterproof pelican battery box. My theory with recessing the uprights, was to distribute the forces on the backrest across the whole area of the back wall, while not taking away any cockpit space. The backrest also folds down and sits on the seat to ease transport.

...OK. This crap offically is startin' to suck. I broke 02 more panels. That's like 05 or 06, but who's counting? I think, I have that under control. The cockpit is ready for "glass". The deck only has another 40-60 hrs to go.......What Fun.....