In the wake of Soviet collapse,the US closed a number of military bases including Treasure Island in SF bay.  The following pictures are mostly of graffiti eradication efforts at Treasure Island, that is the painting out of graffiti on the sides of buildings in assorted mismatched colors.  The net effect  tends to look like a rather ambitious minimalist public arts project. My opinion is that this graffiti eradication effort has created a more interesting body of work than the stuff that tends to get funded by official public arts projects.

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After being held up by various delays, including a week of unusually harsh winter weather, Ive finally made a little progress. Ive added the first coat of epoxy to encapsulate the stem, as well as the undersides of the breasthook, sheer, and chine at the forward end of the boat.

These surfaces will need 2 additional coats before Im ready to resume planking.

It is possible that my epoxy mixture was not entirely accurate; or that the curing process was slowed by exposure to cold temperatures; or a combination of the two. Whatever the cause, it is taking a considerable amount of time to cure. It is, however, progressively curing. 

This happened to me once before, early-on in my Squirt build. Some epoxy that I applied during rather cold weather remained pliable for a couple of days. It did eventually harden, however. I will know in a couple more days if this batch is going to fully cure or not. I think it will.

The forward end of the boat, all taped up for encapsulation. This is so I wont get epoxy on the surfaces where the planking will attach later.

UPDATE: The epoxy did eventually cure, although it took 2 days. I had mixed and applied the epoxy in low temperatures on the borderline of the 50 degree F limit of the Silvertip slow hardener.

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I have two more major tasks to undertake.  The coaming and the rub rail.

The coaming on the plans shows it protruding all the way around the cockpit.  This would keep the drips from coming in,  but would hurt on long passages sitting on the rail.  With the auto bailer installed, I am not too concerned about the small amount of drips to come aboard.

Several other builders and users have opted to terminate the coaming at the center thwart, thus leaving the deck smooth for hiking.  Decisions to come...

May 23, 2015
I have enough scraps of 1/4" okoume to splice together enough 3.5" boards to get around the cockpit.  Scarphs were cut for the side pieces, and I will cut the scarph on the bow and stern pieces prior to bending.  Due to my wallet being stolen, it will be a week until I can build the steam box as I have no credit card or access to my bank account!

May 25,2015
Cut the pieces for the rub rail from 1"x1" mahogany.  I will need to scarph to make 18 lengths, but it should work ok.  I still need to round off the decking edge and sand the deck.  This weeks projects...

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Danish kayak builder and teacher Svend Ulstrup,  sent me some photos of the work he is doing in Denmark. Apparently, his students just finished building 48 baidarkas or iqyan.

One of Svends innovations is to put hatches like miniature cockpit coamings on his boats.  He also has his students add sea socks which keep sand out of the boats and can double as backpacks.
Unlike most builders in the US, Svend uses all plant derived products products for building his kayaks, lashings are hemp or jute, sewing twine is cotton, boat skins are linen and sealant is linseed oil.  Although he seems to be adding some synthetic colorings these days.
For more info on Svend, see his website

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