Kayaks: Hybrids
2010 Neytiri Night Heron
Hybrid kayaks incorporates the best characteristics of two kinds of construction methods. A typical hybrid is to paint the hull and finish the deck clear. It combined both a bright (clear) finished kayaks and of a painted wooden core fiberglass boat. The most visible part of the kayak is the deck, why not make it wood and let the wood shine through.
The deck is built built like a bright (clear finished). he addition of two fiberglass skins to a wooden core create a structure similar to an I-beam. The wood provides light weight, stiffness and beauty, while the fiberglass absorbs virtually all of the loading. Primary woods used are western red and northern white cedar. Curly maple, white pine, ash, black cherry and black walnut are used for accents and inlays. The fiberglass encapsulates the wood preventing any rotting and also enhance the beauty of the wood by adding depth. The epoxy looks like 10 coats of a deep rich varnish. Four coats of a tough automotive urethane are then applied to the exterior. The DuPont ChromaPremier 72200s is a tough, crystal clear, three-component urethane coating. We do not use the older, inferior spar varnishes. The interior is finished with Resin Research’s CE epoxy package featuring excellent UV blockers.
The hull takes more abuse and such is built like a painted boat. rimary wood used is norther white cedar. The fiberglass encapsulates the wood preventing any rotting. Four coats of a tough automotive urethane are then applied to the exterior. The final three coats are DuPont ChromaPremier 72200s. A black graphite coating is often applied to the hull for the ultimate in durability.
The hull is often built using plywood for additional strength with some gain in weight.
2009 Elsie CT-18 - Deck framing
The “Elsie” CT-18 was another hybrid. It combined painted, wood-cored hull with a deck that was framed an skinned like a SOF. It is a very light (less than 30 pounds) and very quick to build.
An average 17 ft long kayak will weigh as little as 28 pounds (with a lightweight layup) to as much as 40 pounds (with an expedition layup). Even an expedition boat is much lighter than a comparable soild fiberglass or plastic canoe. These boats are designed and built to be used in virtually any lake, river or the ocean.
Building only custom boats allows us to build YOUR boat for the way YOU paddle. Every boat is fully outfitted to the customer’s tastes and preferences. We take pride in the fact we offer a large variety of options. Out list of options is unparalleled.
The to form such complex, compound curved the core of each boat is built of several hundred individually hand fitted hand pieces of wood. Because of the time involved there are three design and price levels. It takes 8-12 weeks to built a boat.
Standard Features
- 3/16? solid wood core of northern white cedar
- Stapleless construction method for the deck
- Solid hardwood stems
- Lightweight fiberglass schedule
- Solid carbon fiber coaming and rescue toggles
- Recessed fiberglass tube or turned wood deck fittings
- Full wooden bulkheads
- Hatches: plastic Beckson deck plates (either pry-out out screw-in) or flush wooden hatches held by internal bungee cords
