Building the Raptor

My coworkers have a trite phrase "Go big or stay at home". Perhaps more magnets? People who have tried to remove my hatches have had quite a bit of difficulty.

To each his own.

 

Yes, I imagine removing a hatch after being shot might be difficult

Progress has been slower recently mostly because I've been having a lack of motivation to do anything but sleep. Depression sucks. That said, I am starting to get something done on the boat again.

I got the cockpit ring glued into place using copious amounts of 3M 5200 and though it took a week to dry, it's now completely solid. How solid? Let me put it this way... If Noah had built the arc using 5200 there wouldn't be any scholarly question about where it is today because it would still be hauling animals around the Mediterranean. This is a necessity since the boat will be lifted and moved using the ring as a handhold most of the time.

I also got the hole cut for the aft hatch. My friend Scott came up with the idea for how to do it and while it was a time consuming pain in the rear, the results are worth it. The finished hatch will sit flush with the deck and only a small knob will be visible. I got a dozen neodymium* magnets which will be set into the hatch and flange to keep it closed.

And here are the two clamps I accidentally sealed into the hull when I put the deck on a month ago...

This shot shows the flanges that the magnets will mount into. There will be a thin seal layer of something, probably foam, that will go between the two pieces.

* was there ever such a thing as paleodymium?

 

Cthippo,

I don't have enough friends to go around shooting them.

On the Rob Macks kayak I am building with the magnets, he specifies gluing the foam sealing so that only 1/2 of it overlaps the flange. I believe the reason is to not cover the magnets directly making it easier for them to pull the hatch closed.

Did you mean you only have a dozen magnets for one hatch? I assume that means 6 in the flange and 6 in the cover, which means 3 per side? I bought 1/2"dia magnets since they were much cheaper, but I put a total of 24 per cover - 12 in the flange and 12 in the cover. Therefore 6 per side. FYI.

Glad to see you getting back to it. As I said before I have my own problems with getting done, but, I hope to deliver the boat in the next 2 weeks. Putting on the clearcoat now.

 

Correct, 6 on the hatch and 6 on the flange. I'm going to look for some really thin foam material like they wrap things in for shipping to put between the two layers which should minimize the strength loss from the distance. I suppose if it's not strong enough I can always add more magnets.

I think when I did the Re-YAK-tion I only used 6 magnets per hatch, which in retrospect probably wasn't enough.

 

Most of the progress this weekend has been in relation to the aft hatch. The hatch itself is pretty much finished, but it will be another week for the 5200 holding the magnets in to cure. I got the last of the 5 layers of the flange laminated up today, but I need to get another package of magnets because a couple of the ones I had broke. I still need to find some suitable gasket material to go between the hatch and the flange.

I also got a couple of strips of wood places on the cockpit arch for the cockpit decking to attach to. Sometime next week I need to get some more veneer to build that up with.

With the end of this project in sight I'm working on plans for a 12 footer for my more normally sized friends.

 

Launch day!

It was a nice day yesterday, so I hauled the Raptor out of the shop and took her out for her first real paddle. The cockpit deck and aft hatch still aren't on, but those are only issues if I end up upside down, which I didn't.

So, bottom line is she paddles absolutely beautifully. She's the fastest boat I've ever paddled, and that counts the $5000 carbon fiber boat she's based on. Primary stability is a bit looser than I'm used to, but on the other hand this is an asset when it comes to turning. I'm still not sure how strong the secondary stability is, but so far she seems fine. I had a little leakage into the forward buoyancy compartment, but I think that's from the unfinished hull - deck joint.

All in all, I'm thrilled with how she's turning out and looking forward to building the next one!

 

With the builder's trials out of the way, I'm working on some of the last details.

I got the magnets glues into the hatch flange and tonight I will cut the flange and "thread" it into the hole in the deck, and then epoxy it in place. The inside of the flange will need to be sanded to fit the hatch lid itself, but that should go quickly. I also found some foam sealing tape the right thickness ($3 at the Re-Store) and used a template to cut it into arcs which were glues onto the bottom of the hatch lid. When completed, the hatch should be almost completely flush with the deck. Because the hatch was cut from the deck itself, the wood grain lines up pretty much perfectly. When finished, there will be a large tribal eagle decal that goes over the entire aft deck.

Filling in the cockpit deck is proceeding nicely. I first cut and placed strips of maple veneer vertically, then coated them inside and out with epoxy and placed a second layer which is a solid piece with horizontal grain. I need to sand down the cockpit ring supports, and then a third layer will go on which will cover the entire surface with a single, smooth skin. You can see in the pictures where I'm using leftover magnets as clamps to hold pieces of the skin in alignment while the epoxy dries. These are really handy in places where regular clamps can't reach.

Once the aft hatch and cockpit deck are finished, the boat will be basically done. Thew last remaining major project is to run a strip of fiberglass tape along the length of the deck-hull joint to seal it. There will still be some sanding to be done in various places, and the whole boat is going to get a coat of spar urethane for UV protection.

 

What a thread to follow. The experimental brings a smile

 

What type glue are you using? There is no need to use polyurethane type glue since you will be encapsulting the whole thing in epoxy. I typically use Titebond to glue the strips together. The butt joints can be done right in place with a single spring clamp.

There is a great kayak forum for people who strip build boats, you might want to check that out:

http://www.kayakforum.com/

 

I used Gorilla Glue throughout. Overkill perhaps, but I'm comfortable with it and I like it's properties. I did use Titebond for laminating the cockpit ring due to concerns over expansion.

There has been much discussion over Gorilla Glue on the forum recently, some people (such as me) love it, some hate it, most agree it has a place, though what that place may be is up for debate.

 

Construction is very nearly complete!

I just need to put the fiberglass tape on the deck-hull joint and fix a few little details and I'll be ready to call her done (and start on the next one).

Being now quite finished didn't stop me from taking her to Tacoma last Friday for a trip to see the Kalakala and explore the Hylebos waterway with some friends. If this has worked right, you should be seeing a video below of the launch.

In the progress department, I got the aft hatch finished, the last big decal put on, and slapped a coat of polyurethane on it the night before. Literally 5 minutes before we loaded it on the truck to go south I was screwing on the padeyes at the bow and stern. Nothing like waiting for the last minute.

There were a few design lessons learned from this trip which I will incorporate into future boats. The biggest one is stability. The reduced primary stability I mentioned before is no problem when paddling, but when sitting still trying to take pictures it's a challenge. I don't think I was ever in serious danger of going over, but it felt that way sometimes. Another issue is the cockpit ring. I made this one much smaller than the one I used for the Re-YAK-tion and while it was fine width wise, it's really nice having one long enough to be able to bring my knees up once in a while. At one point my circulation was getting so bad in my right leg that I had to pull over to the shore and stand up, but when I did I couldn't walk for a couple of minutes.

 

This link is more direct http://www.kayakforum.com/cgi-bin/Building/index.cgi/

 

I figured I should post at least one picture of the finished product!

Here she is on a 10 mile paddle out of Deception Pass State park last week. I'm finally getting used to the reduced primary stability and her quirks. Coming back on this trip I made a beeline across Kikkit bay which resulted in a 3 mile open water traverse, which has gone a long ways towards building my confidence for doings things like paddling out to the islands. I think next time I get ambitions I may take her out to Anacortes and explore the islands off of Guemas from Cap Sante.

Now that the Raptor is finished, I think I'm going to start on a 12 footer called the Sephideh for my next project. The goal for this boat will be to build a more "all-purpose" boat which is short enough to poke around in small places like my tupperware boats, but still has some speed for longer crossings. I'm designing her for increased primary stability and a large cockpit for beginners, but also something that will fit me.

 

Well done! It's a great feeling, isn't it?

 

Very inspiring. I have just started my two kayaks - I am thinking of some mods to the standard design.

One of these is a way to have a cockpit lip that doesnt prevent my big *** from sliding quickly from the stern deck into the cockpit.

I am envisaging the need when launching in beach waves and after falling out.