Cedar Strip Kayak

     Two Years ago I decided I wanted to build a kayak.  I had neve been in a kayak before, but I thought they looked awsome. How hard can it be to build one?  I had built a number of cedar strip canoes for people, a kayak shouldn't be too much harder.  Well I wouldn't say it was easy, but I will say that I learned to be patient and the next canoe I build will be a piece of cake.  In my experience, I have found that for every minute I spend in preparation, I save an hour of work.  That may be a bit of an exageration but it is not far off.   The more time I spend making the strips precice, the less time spend sanding, planing, and filling.  The more time I spend making the forms accurate, the less time I spend alligning them and the better the hull will look.
     The forms need to be perfectly alligned and centered.  It seems even more important in kayak building.  An old boat builder gave me the best advice.  Make sure that you start out with a level work surface, then throw your level and square away.  Learn to trust your eye.  If something doesn't look right, there is a good chance that it isn't right.  I used string and laser levels to allign my forms.  My garage looked like a scene from Mission Impossible with all of the red lines criss crossing every wich way. 
     Kayak building is addictive.  once you start your build it will be the only thing on your mind.  You will lay in bed at night going over the next steps in your head.  You will be at work counting down the minutes until you can get home, or you will call in sick.  Your wife will accuse you of having an affair.  You won't shave.
      Before you attemp to build, do your research.  There are a number of books on building kayaks but I found most of my information on-line.  There are a couple forums that cover every question a person can think of and lots of people to help solve problems that come up.  Such as  The Kayak Building Forum  Occasionally you will come accross the know it all "I invented kayak building" cocky jerk that will try to make you feel like you are the dumbest thing god slammed guts into, but 99.99% of the people in the kayak building circle are awsome people.
     I wish I would have known that i was going to create a blogg when I built my kayak because I would have taken more pctures and documented it.  Currently I am completing a 17' Rangely double ender.  I am doing the final sanding and will be applying the varnish in the next couple of weeks.  I will post on this boat in the future.  My next boat is a 17' rowing shell.  I will document this one and post it.