Boatbuilding fever WTF is wrong with me?

[Griff]

Originally Posted by squirell nutkin

I don't know what to say. They're really nice forums, I think you'd actually like them.

You bastard, you know I've got issues.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by glatt

Here's the finished boat. I was supposed to varnish it to protect the epoxy from UV rays, but I never did. It's stored in the dark, so it's been fine for the past 9 years.

It's been 3 years since I wrote that, and the kayak hasn't been treated kindly. Its storage location went from being under a cottage to under a deck. And snow melt got past the cockpit cover and filled the entire kayak, including behind the bulkheads, with water that year.

It's seen too much UV exposure, and lost much of its epoxy finish on the deck.


A close up of the cockpit (with damaged cover in place) shows the real wear and tear on the deck. Lots of bare wood there.

[Clodfobble]

So, did you ever actually use it?

[glatt]

At least the hull still looks pretty good. A few scrapes, but nothing major.


I wound up bringing it home from the family lake up in Wayne County, PA, and am going to keep it in the back yard for now. At least for the next two years.

I've wrapped it up to protect it from the sun, and hopefully keep critters out of it. But I'm not so sure it's a good idea to inhibit ventilation like this.


I plan to someday sand the deck down to bare wood and reapply some epoxy. And maybe this time put some UV inhibiting spar varnish on top of that.

[glatt]

It got a fair amount of use. But only for a weekend or two a year over 12 years.

[glatt]

I wasn't able to keep it at the lake in PA for a variety of reasons, but I'm not too thrilled with it being in the back yard now. Kind of ugly. I wish I had a garage. I'd hang it from the rafters.

[Griff]

Put legs under it and call it your new kitchen table.

[glatt]

Maybe I could rig up a hay loft door in our attic with a pulley system and store it up there.

[Griff]

You'd get a much more useful attic space. Are you going to refinish the boat?

[glatt]

Well, the attic has blown in cellulose insulation and no floor, so it gets no use now. But I could, in theory, hang this from the rafters. Maybe put down a narrow walkway over the joists so I can get up there without the worry of stepping through the ceiling.

I'd have to turn the gable vent into a door, make some sort of telescoping or sliding boom and attach pulleys to it. It would probably be easier to build a shed.

[orthodoc]

A narrow walkway is a good idea in most attics - you can check for squirrel nests etc. and also store things like your kayak. I was thinking that I'd probably either suspend it or at least store it (padded) upside-down on a couple of sawhorses, with the cockpit covered so critters don't nest, but left open enough that air can get at it. It was beautiful when you made it - be nice to refinish it.

[Gravdigr]

Put a stamp on it, and send it to Kentucky! I'll take good care of it.

Promise.


ETA: What's it weigh, out of curiosity?

[glatt]

[Gravdigr]

I have one of those! And now I know what it is!

[glatt]

Cool! I've seen them before and didn't know what they were for.

I like that drawing table setup. I want one, but more importantly, I want an extra room where I can have it set up all the time. I had a little unit of drafting while doing industrial arts in Junior High School. I thought it was really cool. I know everything is computers these days. Sketch-Up and Auto-CAD and stuff, but there's something about thinking "I want a line here" and just drawing the damn thing there.