Yak I am building getting closer

[Andy is OptiMystic]

Not really all that close yet, but I splashed the bottom half of the hull as a test:

It will be a sit on top. The drains are in:

And I stacked styrofoam up to the tops and attached my seat to a piece of ply so I could check how far up the drains the water comes. In the picture up top, you may see jugs of water. I put 3 gallons in the back and 2 in the front to simulate have the additional weight of the deck, hatches, gear and bounty. The drains are adequate. I used lousy batten wood and cracked and broke them during building, which is why it has slight corners instead of curves at a couple of points at the rail. It doesn't lower down and the designer clued me in to how I may be able to smooth them out some when I put the deck on. As they didn't splinter wood or anything and it is sheathed in fiberglass, it is purely aesthetic, but I hope I can make them disappear.

By summer it should be complete. I will still use my KMart tupperware boat in Piedmont rivers and this one down at the coast and in big lakes.

[Slip Sinker]

wow ! nice project you got going there

[carl hendrix]

hey Andy;; i think i have the perfect name for your boat!!    the honorable;; H.M.S. LEAKING LEANA!! LOL!!

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

CARL HE'S A NEW GUY SO TAKE IT EASY ON HIM........HHHHHHHHHA HHHHHHHHHA

[Steve Wilson]

      Carl....you're telling your age if you remember "Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent"...lol

[carl hendrix]

and  your telling your age to steve!!  LOL!!

[Nathan]

Very cool!! Not many people can say they fish out of a yak/canoe that they made themselves!

[Andy is OptiMystic]

I am going to mix and our the two part urethane form next to make the cockpit/seat. It will transform to something more like this:

[Andy is OptiMystic]

"mix and pour" not our.

[Steve Wilson]

    Good looking project Andy.  And you can do it the way you want instead of finding work arounds

[Andy is OptiMystic]

or at least you can find out how difficult or expensive it would be to do exactly what you want. ;^>

But you're right, I can and will add features that are specific to what I want to do and that can be hard to find on various boats. I want the do some BTB (Beyond the Breakers) fishing. For much of the summer, mackerel and blues are just past the breakers along the NC coast. Every now and then they chase bait into the waves and you can catch a few surf fishing. But paddling out just a short distance will increase the average catch substantially. Anyway, the covered channel you can see in the floor of my boat will connect to a hatched console between my knees. I will feed a couple of rods in, tip first with no hooks, under the seat and in the channel; all the way to the stern. then I can paddle through the breakers and even if I get knocked over (it happens; this is a warm weather beach thing) my gear will be fine.

I have larger drains than most SOTs so if waves break into the boat I can just keep on paddling and will get full maneuverability back in short order. Lots of the guys who go BTB using recreational SOT kayaks have a tough time getting out and damage a lot of gear. Being able to handle 3-4' breakers instead of just 2' will mean a lot more possible outings. The swells aren't that bad once you get past the breakers, but you have to get out there.