Building And Outfitting the Chesapeake Light Craft Pax 18.

Updated April 28, 2006, kayak construction still in progress.

The Workspace

The Pax 18 kit arrived in these simple clumsy little boxes. How can something so sleek and strong and fast be built from this? Here's how I set up the work area...

I pushed the stuff in the room to one side and covered the floor in plastic. For table space I brought in saw horses and put sheets of plywood on them. Finally for venting I strapped two fans together and covered the top third of the outer door with a garbage bag. Now I can open an interior window and use the fans to suck air in through the window and out the door. The garbage bag across the door is great comic relief when someone forgets it is there and walks into it.

 

Scarfing the Hull Panels

Before anything gets stuck together it is worth spending a little time to decide which panels are going to be on the inside and wich are going to be on the outside. On both my Chesapeake kayak kits the okoume mahogany plywood grain flows much better from panel to panel when assembled in a particular combination. It is also a good idea to point the bow end of the side and bottom panels in the same direction so you don't have to rotate one of them later. Also see that the panels do not overlap too much (making the panel too thick) or too little (making a thin spot).

I used Scotch clear packaging tape to mask the joints, wax paper to keep the panels from sticking to the table or each other, a long weighted string to align the keel according to the blueprints, and more clear packaging tape to hold the panels on the table in alignment while applying the epoxy. If you use C-clamps or spring clamps be careful to protect the hull pieces from getting dented.

It is so very important to get the left and right panels to be the exact same shape so the boat goes straight when you're done. Take your time.

The epoxy. Mix, mix, mix that epoxy resin and hardener so it can bond molecule to molecule. Use the calibrated pumps (one pump of each, taking turns). I watch the clock and stir by hand for a minute for each pump of resin plus an extra minute. Mix in small batches unless the instructions say otherwise, and add thickeners (wood flour or cab-o-sil) slowly. I have used MAS epoxy and System Three epoxy as shipped from Chesapeake Light Craft with good results. Be sure to use the slow hardener so you can take your time and avoid blush, the waxy film that can form with fast hardeners.

Once everything is protected, wax papered, aligned, epoxied, joined and wax papered again I weighted the joints with the unlikely but effective combination of Biblical concordances and beer growlers.