ricksite

You are the author of "The Strip-Built Sea Kayak"...right? Your work is inspiring. I have built a stitch and glue but I want to build a strip kayak someday. I am just now acquiring some tools.

johngoes, you were asking about how much heavier wood would be. My Wilderness Pungo 120 weight 50lbs. My 17ft stitch and glue kayak weights around 40lbs. It is 5ft longer and 10lbs lighter. It is very strong. While transporting my kayak last year, the front tie-down got caught under the wheel. It pulled the rope which pulled down on the front of the kayak hanging 5ft off the rack. As a result, the force of the pulling broke my Thule cradles, bent the Yakima bar about a 1/16 of an inch, bent the steel tie down hook and broke a nylon strap. When the tie-down broke loose, it snapped into my car doing $1400 worth of damage to the fender and bumper. They kayak had a less than a 4" stress fracture where it contacted the broken cradle. I haven't fixed it yet (been busy) but I'll just have to sand and re-epoxy the area. I was amazed at how strong it was.