BUILD YOUR OWN CHESAPEAKE 17LT SEA KAYAK
Constructing a 17’ stitch-and-glue touring sea kayak.
- GEOFF KERR — SEPTEMBER 7–13
This is a six-day course in which each student will build their own Chesapeake 17LT sea kayak. This beautiful, rugged, and capable kayak has the capacity for extended camping and cruising, yet is light enough and well-proportioned for day tripping and sunset paddles.
Chesapeake Light Craft has been manufacturing stitch-and-glue kayaks since 1993. Their designers and production crew are reliable and innovative leaders in the industry. Their many models emphasize ease of construction combined with good looks and exceptional performance. Materials are first quality, and construction techniques are state-of-the-art.
Students will first study a finished boat, then the plans that accompany each kit, learning to relate scale drawings to a real boat, and to understand the structural components and construction sequence and methods. Next, the pre-cut panels will be assembled and temporarily stitched together with much attention being paid to tuning the correct shape for each boat. The hulls will then be permanently glued up, shaped and smoothed, and then sheathed inside and out with fiberglass cloth. As the week progresses, students will be busy installing deckbeams, decks, hatch openings and covers, deck sheathing with fiberglass, and the laminated cockpit coaming. On Saturday afternoon these great boats go home with you, ready for you to paint and/or varnish and fit out to your own desires.
At the end of the week you’ll take home a beautiful kayak plus a cargo of self-confidence that comes from having built your own boat. In addition, students will have gained considerable knowledge regarding wood-epoxy construction, reading plans, and kayak design fundamentals. This project is easy in terms of skills and fast paced, with full days. Remember to bring your humor and your best sacrificial work clothes.
Tuition: $700 (partner: $350)
Materials: $900
Note: This is a six-day course ending Saturday afternoon.