My Favorite Links

I am often asked where I get most of my stuff… Answer; EVERYWHERE.  So here is a list of some of my favorite links.  Let me know if you want to be added or have something to offer.  You can reach me at kev_th@yahoo.com

Local Outfitters & Shops

http://www.billjacksons.com/kayaking.htm

http://www.canoecountryfl.com/

http://www.ospreybay.com/

http://www.sweetwaterkayaks.com/

http://www.bigdskayaking.com:80/

Yak Building Webs

http://www.clcboats.com/

http://www.redfishkayak.com/

http://www.oneoceankayaks.com/

http://www.shearwater-boats.com/

http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/guillemot/landing_page/kayak_plans_0

http://www.bearmountainboats.com/

http://www.superiorkayaks.com/

http://www.laughingloon.com/canoe.kayak.html

http://newfound.com/

http://www.seekayak.com

http://www.pygmyboats.com/

 

Yak building Suppliers

http://www.uscomposites.com/  Great place for your epoxy and glass fabric needs

http://www.noahsboatbuilding.com/noahusa/index.asp?url=IND Best prices on strips

http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/06/howto/puzzle/index.htm

http://www.kayakcentre.com/

 http://topkayaker.net/TopKayakerShop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2&zenid=a16f5b86da605d6c87816f3c61256a51

 

Kayak Sites

 http://www.paddling.net/

http://www.sealsskirts.com/

http://www.coastal-kayaks.com/ Give Kelly a shout and check out the Titan

http://www.clubkayak.com/cfkt/trips/index.html

http://www.dep.state.fl.us/gwt/paddling/Segments/Segment%20Home.htm

 

Friends Blogs & Favorites

http://kayakpeg.wordpress.com/about/ read about kayak trips and kayaking

http://devon.irvacationtohell.com/  Russell Farrow’s Vacation to Hell

http://topahonu.wordpress.com/ Say Hi to Sean

http://liquidrhythmkayaking.wordpress.com/

http://www.blueheronkayaks.com/kayak/index.html

http://www.cedar-strip.com/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gatorbait/

 http://ianjohnsonz.wordpress.com/

http://www.roguepaddler.com/

http://twofootartist.com/shearwater-construction-notes/ Another fine builder of Wood Yaks

Upcoming Paddles… it is the time of year

First I would like to tell everyone that the boys (Sean & Jeff) are going to start up trips again.  So if you have missed the boys as I have, then pencil in June 20th for the Chaz river paddle.  You can get more info on thier web site http://liquidrhythmkayaking.wordpress.com/2009/05/17/chassahowitzka-river/ 

Also I have noticed that Darry and the gang have posted a new kayak schedual.  You can see it at http://www.billjacksons.com/Kayaking_trips/Kayaking_trips.htm  What he doesn’t have posted is the BIG kayak/dive sale on the last weekend of the month of May.

Don & Donna of Big D’s always has something going on, you need to sign up to his newsletters to see the schedual  Check them out at http://www.bigdskayaking.com/

And of course there is the outfitters I started with that always try to accommodate the paddler, check out what Tom, Kim, and Bryan are doing at http://www.ospreybay.com/

The nice thing about all of these guides, is that they will help you with your skills and they offer classes to improve or learn.  Plus you get to meet a lot of nice people that have the same interests.  I know I have made many friends paddling with all these guys.

Poker Run

5/17/09  Well, now it is over till next year.  It was the biggest turn out yet for the MC Aquaholics, and a bit disorganized.  I am sure that having over 200 paddlers desending on you could be very over whelming.  And of course every paddler had better ideas as to what should of been done, but gee, how many of those will offer to help next year???  It was a GREAT time had by all.  Even though the water level was down due to the drought we are having, it did rain a couple of days before and made the river clearer than I have ever seen it.  The Aquaholics worked hard on clearing the river from fallen trees so there would be a full pass down.  Kudoz to the club and all of the members to help put this on!!!! 

 Now not having any control over what entries do on the river, I have to tell you that there was a lot of STUPID paddlers on the river.  It was a very swift river, and 2 women stopped breach in front of a pass to talk, blocking the way for others to get by safely.   People, if you want to chat with friends, pull over to the bank, dont sit in the middle of the river.   Another instance I was performing a rescue for 2 ladies in which other paddlers gave no thought of our safety getting out and rammed through.  But if anyone reading this knows the young lady who rescued the canoers, I have a friend that wants her number.  We will just call her SHEENA the AMAZON WOMAN!!!  She was amazing!!! 

This was my 4th Poker Run, and the clubs 10th.  I will continue to go as long as they continue to put them on.  To learn more or to volunteer to help contact the club at  http://www.mcaquaholics.com/ 

 

Well it is no longer early, it is coming up this weekend.

This posting is a little early, for it won’t even start until May.  But I want everyone to have time to join us.  It is soooo much fun!!!!

Marion County Aquaholics hold a “Poker Run” every May.  This will be our 4th year with many more to come.  It is well organised and the club members are so very nice and helpful.  The paddle is down the  Ocklawaha River.  This is one of Florida’s last natural rivers with lots of wildlife in and out of the water.  You can get a registration form here http://www.mcaquaholics.com/2009pokerrun.html  and what is really nice is that half of the money raised goes to some organaztion to support kids, and the other half is prize money.  Plus they have a raffle for a yak, and many, many other awards for winning hands.

There are also many places to camp if you wish to stay, maybe paddle Silver River while you are there.  We will be staying at Silver River State Park  ( http://www.floridastateparks.org/silverriver/default.cfm ) on site #52.  We are coming in on friday afternoon, and leaving Sunday morning

Redfish King (part 2 building the hull)

05/11/09 Finished shaping the hull today

And I put a sealer coat of epoxy on half of the hull sealing it and filling cracks, sadly most of all of it will be sanded off with a finer grit sandpaper.  But you get to see what the colors are going to look like once the glassing starts.

04/29/09  It is time to start fairing, sanding, and filling the hull while stripping the deck.  This is also when you can really see the difference of the white cedar below the water line, and the red above.

04/24/09  Today I worked on the 1st stage of planing out the hull  and shaving both stems to fit.  In doing this I keep all my cedar shavings in my one effort to recycle and be “green”.  What do I do with these shavings you ask?  I mix them in with the kitty litter.  It streches the litter farther, and REALLY helps with the smell! LOL  And yes, before you email me, I know my truck is not considered “Green”… forget it, I love my truck!

04/23/09 The last couple of days I have just been putzing around working on the hull.  Nothing really exciting to see, but keeping me busy.  Today with the help of my trusty shop dog… Matilda May (Tilly)

I was able to finish stripping the hull. 

 I glued up the last strip on the stern’s outer stem,

and started faring out the bow stem. 

 It is also time to pull staples.  This is probably the most boring part of making yaks.  I even wondered if I could hire some kid in the area to come pull them, but this idea passed as I continued to remove them.  Well, it is time to sharpen the edge of my block plane and clean up the shape of this yak.  I also discovered that the frame I have used to cradle my previous yaks is to big to fit this yak.  I will have to make new ends before I can start stripping the deck.

04/20/09  Well I was working away on the yak when my glue bottle ran out of glue, and my staple gun ran out of staples.  I figured it was the kayak gods telling me that was enough for the night.  I am almost done with one side of the hull, and have the outer strips started.  The bow went well, but the stern has such a radical bend in it, I can only do one strip at a time and then I had to use a heat gun to get the padauk to bend.  So that I can maintain center line when it comes time to trim the first half of the hull, as well as making sure the yak is still balanced when I pull a string, I am marking a center line as I go using the forms as my points of origin.  Both ends lined up, so I am sure my string will too.

04/17/09 I am up to where the outer stems connect on the bow, it is REALLY taking shape now.

But from the rear it doesn’t look like I am as far.  I have to clamp each piece at this point from the strips going from horizontal, to vertical.  Once I get as far as the bow, it should move quickly again

After a couple of emails with Kevin, we decided to run the outer stems in the same padauk as the center of the deck making it look continuous.  And being this close to starting to need the outer stems, it was time to rip the padauk

04/16/09 Today I am still working on the hull, but I have now switched to the white cedar along the water line.  These strips are only 6 foot long and require a little more time, plus it is where the ends come together in tight shapes requiring lots of clamping, so I only have 2 strips on each side.

04/15/09  I finished up the Red Cedar on the hull today, tomorrow I will start the White Cedar.  I had to take pics of the just finished build with the new build.  Something about seeing the roughness of the new compared to the beauty of the finished.

And now are some pics of the progress made today.  The good news for Kevin Russell (the owner) is that his yak is now on the builders stand and has 100 % of my building attention.  Late start, sorry.

04/10/09 Well I moved the forms where they are supposed to be, cut down the strong back, added the ends (complete with inner stems), and started laying up strips on the hull.  I managed to get 5 strips on each side before the originals started to give.

I am using a combination of methods of building, some from past experince and some are from Redfish.  One of the things I really like is the slotted wood holder that Nick Schade talks about in his book.  It takes a lot less clamps to hold the strips together.

You can really start to see the lines at this point