Opus 3, Calista
(means 'Most Beautiful')
  Started 7/04, launched 10/24/04 Total cost ~$70

This is a sea kayak, based on this free design. I did not want to make a 17' foot piece for the frames, so I cheated a bit. I converted all the dimensions into metric and then scaled them by 0.934. The MS Excel files for the panels are here, and the forms are here. This made the longest piece 16' long so I could make it from 2 sheets of 4x8 plywood. With that dimension change, I managed to cut all of the pieces using only 2.5 pieces of 4'x8' plywood.

    This kayak will be done on the cheap. The plywood cost me only $15 since it was scrap 'cover wood' I got from a local flooring company. When pallets of wood come in, a thinner (but high quality) piece of plywood is put on top to protect it in transport. Sometimes you get lucky and that cover sheet (5-ply 1/4", high grade) makes the trip with little damage. My pieces fit this bill.

   The panels were cut in my basement, even though they are really long. I wanted to do part of the construction in my basement.

The panels cutout and ready for construction	The panels starting to come together on the forms with the ol' 2x2 block-of-wood method. I detest the stitch and glue technique. When pulling together the two end of the kayak, I ended up resorting to put a wire strap through neighboring panels.
The few people (who I have found) who built this craft seem to have attached all the panels at once. I am being different in that I put together all the pieces except the top two decks slices. Once those pieces are all together, the bottom of the partial hull will be glassed (it is only 1/4" wood remember) And then custom trim the deck pieces to what remains.
In the end, I did not put in two of the frames, mostly because I did not trust myself getting them in the correct location. As it happened, the ones I put in where not quite in the recommended locations.

Glass over the hull, ready for epoxy: Another weird paddle design: A close-up of the cockpit:	Decks Installed:
As you can see, there was a small change to the design. I decided to make the top decks flat instead of peaked. I sort of took the idea from a different boat, the qivitoq.

LAUNCH DAY Oct 23. 2004 There was finally a nice day to put the newest craft in the water. About 55 degrees and a light wind. The boat handled famously, with little tracking problems (like the dug) and no water entering the cockpit even with very vigorous paddling. I only wish the season was a bit longer. I will not put her in storage until I absolutely have to!
Proud Owner:	She floats low and a little to the rear:
Salacia just wanted to give me a stick to throw in the water:	She flies pretty fast, but not as fast as Swijin

On Halloween weekend, my sister and her family came to visit and they wanted to try out the kayak. All enjoyed!

An aerial photo of my Guillemot and my Dug:	It might not look it, but you can get pretty comfy in this kayak. I almost fell asleep once on a lake in this position.

Commentary on a trip 7Nov04: I took her for a trip down a long stretch (~5 miles?) of the Grand River. It was nice, but a few snags came up. I spilled her once, which was awful considering how cold it was (November in MI) . But in that regard we learned lesson #1: Put everything you want dry in a bag, which is like EVERYTHING. Later that same trip I spend 45 minutes (no joke) finding my paddle. It got caught in two separate under-towed log-jams on the river. Lesson #2: Get a darn leash for your kayak paddle and/or get a spare paddle for long trips. duh...

Retrofitted rear hatch:

Retrofitted coaming:

Updated 23 Apr 2005 17:19 Back to Doc Ott's Boatyard