Building a Shrike Greenland Kayak Stich & Glue
- Details
Photographic record of a self-build Shrike Greenland kayak from a kit.
It's a replica of a 1927 kayak from Disko Bay on the west coast of Greenland.
Kayak kit available from Sellkie Kayaks
Original plans available free from CNC Kayaks
October 1st, 2020. Take the precut plywood panels from the kayak kit and...
Spot glue panels together with superglue
Stitch plywood panels together with copper wire
Fibreglass the bulkhead panels
A world of clamps
Glue on the gunwhales with epoxy and a couple of clamps, ha ha...
First bodge, a screw got epoxied into a gunwhale with no way of removing it. Had to dig in with a drill to get it out.
Gunwhales on, clamps gone.
Copper stitches removed and replaced with superglue
Dry fitting the deck to have a look at optimum height for masik
The curve on the masik is not exact, it's only for height. The real masik will have a proper curve!
Homemade beam compass for drawing a circle to make the masik.
Took 5 mins to make the compass, beats a pencil on a string every single time!
Drawing the jig to make the masik. Beam compass had an upgrade with 2 clamps and a bit of wood. Stops the pivot from moving.
Masik glued and bent into shape in newly made jig
The cockpit bulkhead is laminated one side with fibreglass, the other with kevlar
Bow bulkhead and masik. Kayak is taped up ready for the epoxy fillets on the seams.
Fillets don't look too bad for a complete beginner but....wait for it...
Epoxy fillets starting to sag because I made the mix too fluid. It was all going so well till now!
This ghastly mess is wood filler over the fillets to level them out for the glass tape. The only answer now is a paint job.
And quickly moving on to kevlar in the cockpit. Can I screw this one up as well?
Not too bad in the end. I've hidden the scrag ends of the cloth with kevlar tape. Not easy stuff to work with but so far so good.
Onto a dry run of fitting the deck once again this time with the cockpit hoops in place.
Clamps added to turn kayak over for glassing
Ready to glass the hull
Total disaster, resin temperature too high, one sticky mess, had to pull it off before it got too late.
Mission completed with lower resin temperature.
Towing cleat resined into keel. Will allow tows via the day hatch.
The stern deck about to be glued onto the gunwhales. First the stern, then later the bow deck. Makes a difficult job very easy.
Bow deck about to be glued on.
Ratchet straps, a few screws and wooden battens to hold the deck in place whilst the resin sets. Worked really well.
Trimming the overhanging deck.
Trimmed, sanded and ready for glassing.
Shrouded in fibreglass
The Shroud
Adding some 30g fibreglass to smooth over the bumps from the diolen and kevlar. Worked well, useful stuff, light and smooth.
Diolen keel strip, kevlar on the bow and stern as the diolen would not adhere round the sharp curves
Diolen keel strip will take a 1000 years to wear down, literally.
Keel, bow and stern well protected
Ye Olde Black Pearl
