Neytiri: Final Outfitting

Work from 11/24/2010 through 12/11/2010

We’re nearing the end!  In this installment I’ll take care of the final outfitting.  I’ll coat the hull bottom with our tough graphite mixture, add the footbrace foam, make the deck toggles and run the decklines.

With the deck and hull sides clear coated by Pete I could finish the stems and the bottom.   Based on the results of the abrasion test I did back in 20008 and how this kayak would be used, our toughest coating was applied to the bottom and the stems.  The graphite mixture is proprietary blend of UV-resistant epoxy, dry graphite and other admixtures.  The bottom was scuff sanded to P80 and then the clear coated sections were masked off.  A total of three coats were applied.  To further beef up the stems, I laminated a 1″ wide strip of woven polyethylene called Vectracloth into the first layer of graphite.   The Vectracloth has little strength but is very abrasion resistant.  I’ve used it on the stems of other kayak projects and for the entire outer layer of skin on two skin-on-frames.  Tough stuff but it swallows epoxy to no end. The layers of graphite were applied within hours of each other for the maximum chemical bond.  I let the final layer of graphite cure for almost a week then wetsanded it to S1000 and polished it to a nice semi-gloss sheen.  Man that stuff was tough to sand!

While the graphite was curing I tackled other items.

First was the installing the slider for the skeg.  Too easy: cut the cable and sheath to length, fish the cable into one end of the slider housing, add the ball and slide the cable into the other hole.  Done.

The bulkheads were previously glassed into the hull before I bonded the deck to the hull. I finished them by sealing them to the deck with some Marine GOOP.  That’s the name of the stuff: GOOP.  It’s a real tenacious caulk that is crystal clear.  I wanted to use some 3M 5200 but the tube I had was a  solid plug.  Amazingly my local hardware store stocks Marine GOOP.  I also applied some GOOP where the skeg’s sheath enters and exits the slider housing.  Just in case…

Virtually every commercial kayak has either metal or plastic adjustable footbraces that bolt to the sides of the hull.  I’ve found the simplest, lightest and most comfortable system is based on using pieces of minicell foam pressed against the front bulkhead.  Four pieces between 3/4″ to 3″ thick gave a total adjustment range of 6″.  One warning: before transporting the kayak either remove the pieces of minicell or install a cockpit cover.  The open cockpit creates a cell of low pressure at highway speed.  The minicell can get sucked out… Don’t ask how I know…

The last bit of outfitting in the cockpit was the application of  some labels.  That’s all of the cockpit outfitting I’ll be doing.  My customer has his own seat and wanted to install his own foam.  He has a neat idea for a knee block that incorporates a slot to store a hand pump.  Can’t wait to see how he does it!

Last up is the deck lines.  The deck lines have a a pretty traditional Greenland look with some modern nods for safety and usability. There are three lines up front with sliders and buttons, a double line behind the cockpit.  We did add some 3/16″ polyester perimeter lines for safety and to make the deck lines easier to use on the water we used black bungee cord instead of leather.  Each end gets a safety toggle.  To make sure they could not be used as carrying handles, they can not swing over the ends onto the deck.   To make the deck and safety toggles and I shaped some sapele and laminated a layer of carbon fiber braid to the outside.  They really look slick.  They’re finished with a couple of coats of UV-resistant epoxy.

As usual, more pictures from the build can be found in the Portfolio, specifically page 8.

That’s it… The “Neytiri” is done!  Full “beauty” shots in the Portfolio.

Total build time: 151 hours over 91 calendar days.