The Redfish ' King ' is an asymmetrical hull. The cockpit is a bit further back and the boat is widest just behind the seat. The stern is shorter and tighter than most symmetrical hull kayaks. I can't tell you the significance of this, but I'm almost positive it has to do quick turning and maybe a little less weather cocking. Somewhere online is the breakdown about the basic hull shapes. Guillemot or Bjorn Thomasson . This will be a very important fact to remember.
So I built the strong back. It is an external version that Joe at Redfish uses and it seems to lend itself to multiple builds. I really like Joe's designs, but he doesn't get into a whole lot of details in his manual. This is too bad, because he seems to have some great ideas. But One Ocean has a really detailed site, and Bjorns is good, too. They go into construction details that Joe only touches on. Dick Schade at Guillemot sells you his book along with the plan, or you can pick it up at your favorite big box book store. Or not. In truth, they all have good manuals, but if you read them all, you will have a pretty good understanding. When it comes time to squeeze out the glue, some details are forgotten. You will pay for these little transgressions. Ha ha on you.
They all say to build your strong back perfectly straight and level . This is pretty good idea, but ultimately, level is the important one as far as I can see. When the stations are attached to the upright boards at their required distance from each other, it will be necessary to align all the stations plumb and square. And you should constantly measure the distance between the stations to make sure this doesn't get away from you. Even an eighth of an inch will screw things up, especially if you're close to the bow or stern. I know this one from experience, and the experience sucked.
Leveling the stations without a self leveling laser must be difficult. If the plan has any rocker at all, you can't sight down the center lines on the stations for the whole length of the boat. Pulling a line taught is really good idea for the center line, but the horizontal level is not nearly so easy. I use lasers because they work very well, they can self level if you spend the cash, and because I like to work in the dark with giant red glasses on. Seriously, I can't stress the laser enough. Although, people have been building straight boats for a long time, so it can be done. And when the batteries are out of reach, I'm hooped.
Securing your strong back to the floor is really good idea if you are a klutz like myself, and prone to bumping into things. You can hyphenate a string of curses when you kick a leg of the strong back after 2 hours of leveling. You also learn to tap the strong-back into line the same way. The ' King ' has rather up swept ends, and you need to take this into consideration when setting the stations. Make sure you leave enough overhang on the front or you might have to cut it off later. Like I did.
So now you have all your wood cut and numbered and quivering with anticipation at the prospect of becoming a thing of beauty instead of fence around a McDonald's dumpster. You have your stations leveled and all at attention. The fairing boards are made, the glue is in the bottle, you have staples in the gun and are ready to start. Do you have any idea what you are getting your self into? I think not.
First you attach the internal stems to the bow and stern forms. I use inch and a half number 6 screws for this and will remove them as I reach them with the strips. Draw you lines for center and leave at least 1/4 inch down the middle to remain flat. This imperative for the later attachment of the outer stem. Don't bevel the stem yet, as the angle will change as you strip up towards the keel. Don't you just love these nautical terms?
I was lucky to have picked a few winners in the board department. I had one board that was a deep chocolate brown it's whole length. Apparently the dark wood gets that way from being close to or right along the coast. I didn't know that either. I also found some clear spruce for a fraction of the cost of the cedar. I found it at Home Depot where I have dug through all sorts of lumber to find the odd single prize. I bet they love me. I decided for a stripe right right off the hop, so I stapled the first chocolate brown shear board with the cove pointing down and a flat edge on top. Next I glued a 1/4/ inch by 1/4 inch white spruce strip along the shear. Then another chocolate strip with one flat edge and the cove pointing up. I have the bevel started on each stem and I commenced in stripping the remaining dark brown boards until I ran out. This gave me a bout a six inch wide stripe of brown with a single white pin stripe. I then continued with much lighter cedar that had stray flames of dark brown at the stern. I should have wet each board before I laid them at this stage as I think I could lined up the flames a tad more pleasingly. But I did not, and therefore things are not as pleasing as they could have been. Ask me If that bothers me. I dare you.
I was feeling pretty cocky along about now. Dick Schade suggests cheater strips and gives a bunch of examples of how to do them. Joe also thought they might be a good idea. I tried to make one, thought better of the idea, and decided to forge ahead without them. How hard could it be, really?
Well, pretty hard as it turns out.
Making the transition from vertical to horizontal at the bow was not really a problem because of the long bow lines of this asymmetrical boat. Remember when I said to remember? Well the transition from vertical to horizontal at the stern happened over about 24 inches and the board was curving to follow the hull plus sweeping upward. This is a lot to ask of a cedar strip even after it has been steamed within an inch of it's life. The end result was a bulge in the hull on both sides that wasn't even close to symmetrical and the strips lifted off two stations in a few spots. This error was over the course of about 4 boards. When I realized what I had done, I was mortified. Truly.
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