Flat Deck Rock Gardening F1 kayak build, day 1: Planning and prep work.
I’m doing something a little different this week and working on a commission for an avid coastal paddler. Normally Tom takes care of the custom boats and I focus on design work but I wanted to build this one personally to fine-tune the performance for a fellow coastal/surf paddler.
As a reference point, for myself as a coastal paddler I like the surf modified, stubby version of the F1, with the normal peaked bow, 9oz skin, and a keel strip. I want the lightest weight and the minimum possible length in tight quarters, the best resurfacing through foam piles, and the loosest possible performance on a wave. All that usually weighs about 31 pounds and is “rated” for anything but running pourovers.
As someone who recently broke a fiberglass boat, Tim decided to go with a 12oz skin instead, he chose a size down for a snugger fit, (The F1 comes in 7 sizes) and my new flat deck modification, which doesn’t necessarily have any useful performance features but has an aesthetic that appeals to some people. I’m expecting his build to land somewhere around the 35-36 pound mark.
I decided to pull out the old F1 ‘story stick’ and use an older layout that pushes the entire deck layout a half inch aft of the current plan, giving this a slightly surfier flavor without going quite as far as my surf specific model, which loses a bit of flat water paddling speed. I also have a superstition that the old story stick might have some kind of special mojo!
I’ve also moved a rib in the seating area forward to address some sciatic impingement, without raising the center of gravity with a bulky seat.
This is actually the fourth set of gunnels I’ve prepped for this kayak! The first set had an invisible wood defect that I didn’t realize until it was too late, the second set had a slightly weird flex to it, and the third set I screwed up by cutting 2 mortises wrong. Any of them would’ve been fine for a personal kayak but we are pretty insane about quality when it comes to commission boats.
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