Search Results for: hatches

Adding hatches

HATCHES IN FUSELAGE FRAME BOATS

When I built Sling Shot I installed and documented the installation of the hatches. There are a lot of ways you could do this but this method is fairly simple and it provides a solid surface to mount the hatches. They are not attached to the skin only so you are not constantly stretching the skin when opening and closing.

I started by figuring out where I want the hatch on the boat. I did this by pretending the hatch was installed and I was reaching in to pull something out. My instinct was to locate the hatch centered between the bow and cockpit. I quickly discovered that I needed to locate it more to the front so I could reach ‘most’ everything in the boat.

With my location picked I settled on what size of plywood I would need to mount the hatch too. Then I cut some strips from stringer stock and planed the top edge of the strips to the proper angle so the plywood would set flat on them. I temporarily clamp them in place while I am fitting everything together.

I had a used piece of 3/8″ exterior plywood siding laying around the shop so I used that. I trimmed it to fit between the frames. The lashings were in the way at the back edges so I cut the corners at an angle.

I had decided to recess the hatch because I like the look and it was easier to do on this boat. The deck stringer had to be trimmed and needed a support on the end(s). I decided to make a block and while I was at at it I wanted to wrap it around the hatch. I left the end by the frame as it was rather than adding a block to it. After seeing these two finished, on the next boat I will not go to all that trouble to make a radius cut. I will just make a straight shape because the difference in the look of the two is not that different and sure not worth the effort.

Working on this I found that I needed to add a strip underneath the rear of the plywood where it butts against the frame or it flexed to much. I glued a strip of stringer stock underneath and that stiffened it up quite nicely. The block on the front, once glued in place stiffened the front edge enough so that nothing else was needed.

 

While fitting all this together I would stretch a piece of t-shirt cotton over it to see how it would look once skinned. This would show me anywhere that needed a little more work done to it.

 

I cut out the hole for the hatch ring and made sure everything was like I wanted it and then I glued the rails to the inside of the Gunwales. Then I glued the plywood in place and the block that supports the deck stringer. I couldn’t lash the end of the stringer so I just applied to a little glue to hold it in place. Once the skin is on it couldn’t move anyway.

 

When you skin the boat the simplest way to finish it off it staple the skin to the plywood. I used monel staples because they don’t rust. I trimmed the fabric around the opening after sewing on the skin. I placed the hatch in place as I sewed to make sure where to end my stitching so it didn’t interfere with the fit of the hatch.

I applied the finish to the skin before permanently installing the hatches. That way I knew my skin was waterproof and it kept me from having to mask off the hatches to keep the paint off them.

When I installed the hatch for the last time I put a bead of caulking under the ring to make sure it didn’t leak. Because the plywood is thin I cut a 1″ wide ring from 1/2″ plywood and placed it inside the boat under the hatch ring. I lightly clamped it and the hatch in place and then drove my screws into the two layers of plywood with stainless steel wood screws. I made sure that the screws were not so long that the pointed ends stuck out of the plywood into the boat.

I want to give credit where credit is due! I got this idea from ‘wysedav’ over on the Blue Heron kayak forum. He came up with the idea and I just borrowed it. It turned out very well and it is relatively simple to do. Plus I love the way it looks!

EDIT

Recently I have been changing the deck shapes on my designs and I tried a new way to install the hatch on the bow. It is pretty straight forward method, I cut a plywood ring that would set on the outer deck stingers.  I think you can see what I did in the photos. Keep in mind these were taken during the fitting and all sharp edges were rounded over.

round hatch2

Which boat should I build?

Probably the second most asked question I get is which boat? My answer is usually “I don’t know” because it is hard for me to tell you which boat you need since I know nothing about you. Picking a boat is very personal, what I love about one you might hate. About the best I can do is giving some general guideline to help you pick.

Be Realistic about your needs. What are you going to do with the boat? Many people have grand plans for multi-day trips, camping, living off the land. In reality they end up taking the boat out for 1 to 4 hours at a time. The last thing they really need is a boat designed for extended trips.

Almost every new paddler wants a super stable boat. Unless you have a physical issue that affects your balance, stability is way over thought! Its like learning to riding a bicycle, you wobbled at first but the more you rode the better you got. Paddling is no different and you shouldn’t expect to jump in and go without a few wobbles. That doesn’t mean you will go swimming either. I have yet to find a person that didn’t get comfortable in an hour or less of paddling my Curlew design, which has a lower stability level than most commercial entry-level boats. It will also run rings around most of those too.

Every design aspect of a boat is a compromise, to gain something you have to give up something. Giving up some stability will generally give you an easier paddling and therefore faster boat. This applies to every aspect of a boats design so the trick is to find that comprise that suits you and your skill level.

The boats length is a compromise too; the shorter the boat the more width it will need in order to maintain it’s stability. That means more boat in the water (wetted surface) which cause the boat to be slower, meaning it has higher resistance. The difference in a 10 foot long boat and a 15 foot boat can be dramatic! Think barge vs. speedboat. That is the main reason I am not a fan of short boats. They look cute, but I think they are a poor compromises.

If fishing is your main goal, you will probably want higher stability since you need to concentrate on fishing and not the boat. For serious fishing I recommend Cast Away, the Crawfish Piroques or the Stonefly canoe. You give up some speed and that means it will take longer to cover the same distance but you gain a lot of comfort and space, which is more important if fishing is the main goal. If you’re a casual fisherman and you just want to take a rod along and your primarily interest is paddling, these would not be my first choice.

Castaway-15-v3
Castaway
Stonefly-2
Stonefly Canoe
Image4-nologo-2
Crawfish

For new paddlers there are several boats you might be interested in. If you are looking for something for a small body of water and will not be paddling any distance with a group of longer boats the Mess Abouts with their large open cockpit might be a good choice.

messabout-15

Messabout

If you’re looking for something with a little better performance and plan on paddling with a group then look at Curlew or Ravenswood, these would be a better choice, even for a first timer. These boats are what I like to call a fast cruiser. Top speed was never a consideration in this design; instead it was optimized for the 3 to 4.5 mph range. That is the speed range most recreational paddlers paddle 95% of the time. You can add hatches and camp out of these two but they are not large enough boats for extended trips. The stability is a little lower than most commercial designs but I find new paddler adapt quickly. Yes you will wobble at little at first but most everyone does. After 2-3 hours you won’t give it much thought and then your not stuck in a slow (but very stable) boat you wish you had not bought.

Trust me on this! We have several new paddlers show up on very short boats and struggle to keep up and even thought we have slowed to allow for them. It always ends up with everyone frustrated.

ravenswood
Ravenswood
Curlew2
Curlew

 

VARDO is a larger boat and a little more stable. It has been a very popular design and is suitable for day use, camping and casual fishing. It really is a good all around design that you will not outgrow quickly. It is also higher volume so it is very roomy inside with lots of space to move around. If you like camping, this is the boat I would suggest you look seriously at.

vardo-2Vardo

If you like to race or are just looking for the faster/easiest to paddle boats at faster speeds, then you want longer waterline lengths. Again, there is always compromise but the longer boats have more speed potential IF you have the horsepower to push them.

My faster designs are Short Shot, Long Shot and Firefly. These were not designed as racers but their owners do race them. These boats have more rounded shaped hulls with multiple chines and therefore lower resistance numbers. That doesn’t mean that they are not suitable for recreational paddling. My go-to boat wass a Long Shot, I used it more than any other boat I own.  But after redesigning the Short Shot I paddle it mostly now.

short-shot
Short Shot
long-shot-original
Long Shot
firefly-34
Firefly

Another faster design is Sling Shot. It is a hard chined boat that is narrower and has less stability but is similar in its speed potential to the previous mentioned boats. It is probably not a first timers boat due to the lower stability but that is not to say you can’t learn to paddle it either. I have seen first timers paddle less stable boats than it so it depends on the paddler.

slingshot-offsets
Sling Shot

I didn’t try to list all my boats but just give you some general idea’s. I will very rarely tell someone that they should build a particular boat because I don’t know enough about you. My hope is this will help you narrow down your choices to the boats best suited for you and the way you paddle.

VARDO

VARDO is one of those good all around boats. It has a higher volume than Curlew and more cockpit volume. It is roomy higher volume boat that you can spend extended periods of time in comfortably. It’s easy to move your legs into a new position so you don’t cramp up. With the addition of hatches it would be a great boat for camping.

When I created my design goals I made a list based on posting in several kayak forums. I kept seeing over and over basically the same want list for a boat. Around 17 foot long, stable and enough storage for some weekend camping.

At 17 foot long and 24″ wide with a Stability Factor of 98 you should feel very comfortable in this boat. This will be a good boat for a new paddler wanting something larger than Curlew and will not be a boat you will outgrow either. Even though it is a larger boat the resistance figures show VARDO is no slouch. Curlew has lower resistance at the normal paddling speeds VARDO does not feel slow on the water. It is actually performs very well and the roomy cockpit and stability make it a very comfortable boat to paddle.


 

HYDROSTATS
All figures based on a 250 lb total displacement
Length over all * 17 foot 0 inches  *  Beam overall * 24 inches
Design draft 4.5 inches at 250 lbs * Max displacement 350 lbs
STABILITY FACTOR = 98

RESISTANCE CHART

Kayaks

Kudzu Craft comfort frames

One of the drawbacks of fuselage frame kayaks has always been the frame hit you in the calf muscle. While I loved my first fuselage frame boat I hated the frame in the back of the calf muscle! It took some experimenting but I solved that issue some time ago and found a way to keep the frames strength and remove the frame from under the calf muscle. All of our boats (except the free plans) have incorporated this design for some time now.

The past year I have been working on another issue, knee room. To get adequate knee room under the coaming with plywood frames, the deck height has to be pretty tall, This raises the coaming up to high and would lead to banged knuckles on the coaming.

I have been experimenting with a simple laminated beam to replace the plywood frame at the front of the coaming. The idea worked better than expected and it also allowed me to redesign the deck shape and improved the looks of the boat. It works so well that we are slowly incorporating it into all of our kayaks plans and kits.

Kudzu Craft is the leading innovator in Fuselage Frame kayaks. We are always looking to improve and innovate.

comfort frame

KIDS KAYAK

Tadpole
12 feet x 19 inches wide

tadpole

Tadpole is our Kids kayak design. It was designed to look just like Dad and Moms boat but it is scaled down for the smaller sizes. Tadpole is 12 feet long and has a beam of approx. 19″. Her maximum displacement is 150 lbs. This is a good way to get them started young and in a proper boat. Plans are available in the store.

FReeB
12 feet x 36″ wide

FreeB


FreeB is a 12′ recreational kayak. It has a 36″ long coaming making it easier to get in and out of. It is designed to be very stable and should be comfortable for first timer paddlers. I can imagine this boat being used for fishing or photography from in flat water. I would not recommend it for open water.

Mess About/Cast Away
15′ x 28″  and  12 x 27″

Castaway-15-v3

Mess Abouts & Cast Away You have asked for it and it is finally here, a smaller, open cockpit, recreational style boat. There are a lot of people interested in a short boat to just “Mess About” in. It is larger more stable receational boat with an open cockpit styly.

Cast Away the fishing version of the Mess About is available. It has a flat rear deck for rod mounts and a opening for the fisherman’s milk crate that are so popular.

Curlew
15 foot by 23 inches wide

Curlew2

Curlew is what I like to call a fast cruiser. However, top speed was never a consideration in this design, instead it was optimized for the 3 to 4.5 mph range. The speed range most recreational paddlers paddle 95% of the time. This way you get the most speed for your effort. This Is one of our most popular designs and and excellent all around boat.

RAVENSWOOD
15 foot 6 inches by 24″ wide

ravenswood

Ravenswood is another fast cruising hull. It is based on the Curlew hull but has a little better performance in the 3-4.5 mph range. The resistance is a little lower than the Curlew, making it a good choice for most paddlers. If you are into fast paddling this is not the boat for you. At 5 mph the resistance starts to increase dramatically. But this is into sprinting speeds for the average recreational paddler.

Like Curlew is  very popular and a very god paddling boat.

RAVENSWOOD LOW VOLUME
15 foot 6 inches by 21″ wide

ravenswood

Ravenswood Low Volume
Designed for the smaller paddler, it is basically just a smaller Ravenswood. We have found that the lightweight paddler doesn’t sink the Ravenswood enough and boat has very little tracking with so little of the hull in the water. We we modified the design so that it will sit lower in the water with the smaller paddler.

Short Shot
16 foot 6 inches by 23″ wide

short-shot

Short Shot as the name implies is just a shorter version of the Long Shot. It has a multi chined (round) hull shape. By going with a rounder shape the boat has less wetted surface area which lowers the resistance.  It is a couple of pounds heavier because of the extra wood and takes more time to build, but it is probably my favorite design.

VARDO
17 feet by 24″

vardo-2

Vardo The design goals were for a boat a new paddler would be comfortable in and not outgrow. Large enough for weekend camping and a larger cockpit with lots of knee room.

Vardo has meet those goals. It’s performance has been better than expected and I find it to be a good all around boat. I often use mine when I am going fishing on one of the creeks. I have not camped from it but it has the space. A couple of hatches for access to the ends of the boat and it would be a good touring boat.

SHAD
17 feet 6 inches by 23 inches

shad-linesplan3

Shad can trace its lineage to Greenland hunting boats. Of course it is long removed from it’s distant relative but it inspired this design. I have long been a fan of traditional Greenland boats with the long pointed bows. Many people say the long bows were a waste but they actually served a purpose where they were paddled. I just think they look cool!

Long Shot
18 foot  by 22″ wide

long-shot-original

Long Shot has a multi chined (round) hull shape. By going with a rounder shape the boat has less wetted surface area which lowers the resistance. It is noticeably faster and it has quickly become my go to boat. The low seating position makes it more stable the numbers imply. If you are a stronger paddler this is a boat you want to consider!

Firefly
18 foot by 22″ wide

firefly-34

Firefly is what I like to call a “Modern Baidarka”. It is not true to the ‘traditional’ Baidarka design but is very much inspired by them. Most single hole Baidarkas were very small boats with low stability and a small ocean cockpit. Not something most paddlers today want. I have always loved the Baidarkas but was always afraid I would never be happy with one so I decide to design my own.

Sling Shot
18 foot 9 inches by 23 inches

slingshot-offsets

Sling Shot is a performance boat with a single hard chine instead of the multiple chines like Firefly and Long Shot. In order to increase the performance potential the hull is longer and has a narrower water line. It also has a more pronounced V shape. The trade off is it’s lower stability.