Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Grand Diva Progress

While I was away this past weekend working hard paddling around Goose Creek Island, Paul worked on my B&B Grand Diva kayak. Her little sister Diva is on the B&B website . The Grand Diva is 17’ 6” long, 21” wide, and Swede form. The Swede form is characterized with the wider part of the kayak behind the true middle. Supposed to be fast, certainly will be lighter. I’m hoping we’ll have it done in time for the WaterTribe North Carolina Challenge (NCC) next month.

Paul had epoxied in the hatch covers. The expedition style kayaking that I do demands completely waterproof hatches. My preference is for the round VCP (Valley Canoe Products) rubber hatches that cover and snap over a plastic flange, creating a watertight - even airtight - seal. I’ve got the 10” size, and a smaller 8” day hatch. All are slightly recessed into the deck, more for aesthetics, and to keep any added spray from coming off the front.


The glass was also layed on the front deck and with a couple epoxy coats (the hull is already done). The rich dark red color of the African mahogany that Graham Byrnes gave me for the deck is really looking beautiful. We’ve only a couple more thin coats of epoxy and then we’ll start the sanding, sanding, and more sanding.


Next is to finish and attach the cockpit (keyhole for me), paint the hull (I’m not a big fan of the look of a plywood hull), and then varnish the mahogany.

Rudder and deck fittings will finish the task. I’ll have to work out the deck fittings such that they hold the deck lines and are placed to correspond to the sail fittings. But I need to wait until my new sail arrives to work on placement. Here’s hoping the new sail arrives soon.

What new sail you ask? It’s a surprise, and it’ll eventually need its own blog posting.

1 comment:

Steve said...

What? You're not even going to give us a hint as to what you're last paddling trip was like??

steve