JEM Watercraft

Thank you Matt,

As is, is fine by me but if you can squeeze another foot into it would be probably better.

Again, my choice would be to leave the bow height as is, but that is just me. I hate wind signature. I would much rather have a little wetter ride than have to work any harder than necessary punching a strong wind.

I would leave the hatches etc, as options for the builder to play with if desired.

The only other option I would recommend would be a couple of choices re cockpit size. ie conventional and an option for a larger one (Laker Style.) These are pretty easy to modify from the plans if desired anyway

From a personal perspective, A dedicated expedition sea kayak would be nice, but I think this boat will fit most peoples needs nearly all of the time.
Where I couldn't take this boat - I wouldn't want to go.

Nice working, Matt. Lemme add a comment?

When folks start talking foredeck of a kayak, they often think off angle. The critical shape of a foredeck is NOT the way it looks when sliced across transversely. Slice it down the centerline of the boat - THAT'S the important section you want to see.

A fore deck will shed water much better if it starts a bit high, sags low in the middle, and then rises in front of the cockpit. When water comes over the front of the deck and starts to slide back towards the cockpit, the deck slopes down in all directions. If a wave progresses along the length of the deck and towards the cockpit, it starts to head downwards in the sag mid-deck, and cannot recover as the deck rises in front of the cockpit. A peaked deck will split the wave especially well so it slides off before reaching the cockpit.

This little trick keeps the paddler dryer than any other deck design.

Geez Matt you are not making this any easier for me. Like Mick said if you could sqeeze a bit more length out of it to at least 15'6 then I think this design would suit many applications down my way.

What would be involved to stretch it out to 17'?

I would certainly be interested in building this as a general purpose sea kayak which would seem to have the ability to handle some rougher conditions by the look of it adn judging mby Micks comments on your other designs.

Whilst I would love to eventually build a full blown expedition style sea kayak for a trip I have planned this current design would certainly find a place in my shed and get a lot of use I would imagine.

I really need to start work on my Pirogue soon

Earvin wrote:
What would be involved to stretch it out to 17'?

It's not hard to draw. And it's not terribly difficult to build. But it is one additional splice per seam. On a 10-panel kayak, that's 10 additional sets of splices.

However, if that's the length needed, than it is what it is.

Personally Matt I think there would be room for both the shorter and longer version of this kayak.

Can you get 10foot long plywood in Australia? That would make it easier.

Earvin wrote:Personally Matt I think there would be room for both the shorter and longer version of this kayak.

oh definitely. Just gotta pick which comes first!

G'day Earvin,

If you don't mind my asking, what trip, specifically, are you planning on doing?

Unless you are planning on a Bass Straight crossing or something similarly extreme, I think this boat, at 15'6" will do all you could want from a sea kayak.

I have built two superb boats now with 2 panel plices per panel. - and they are both superb paddle craft in their own right. The question I find myself asking myself time and again is was the extra foot or so worth all the extra work in the build? "

Truth is, that with the wisdom of hind sight and for my purposes, I don't think it was. Either boat at 15'6" would have done all that I wanted. I would see this kayak as being no different. unless you will be requiring a huge payload capacity.

Again, We don't know the specifics of your planned trip so are only guessing.

Mick,

I am planning a paddle up the East Coast from Newcastle up towards Taree area nothing too extreme but still challenging for a beginner to this type of paddling. Probably a paddle of a couple hundred km's or so.

If you think that a shorter kayak would handle this trip then I would take your word on that. I guess I was just going by what others seem to use for similar trips. We want to be totally self sufficient for the trip even though we could easily get suppiles along the way if we so chose.

The Bass Strait paddle would be one I would love to do when my experience is greater.

Jack - Can we get 10 foot ply in Australia? No idea but I will find out.

Mate,

Each to his own re the most suitable craft for a trip like this but thank you for your confidence in me.

I am not exactly familiar with that area of our coastline but have surfed it in places many years ago. If memory serves me correcty, there are plenty of headlands that provide relatively shelterd places to get in and out through the surf.

I would be counting on at at least some times when you will have to come in and go out through the heavy surf that breaks on the open beaches there. Regardless of which boat you take, you will need to develop serious surf knowledge and skills in a kayak to do this safely.

I don't think a longer boat is necessarilly, a better boat in surf conditions. A shorter boat will be less likely to pearl or broach when coming in through surf and provide better maneuverability. It will also provide better accelleration for the power bursts required when punching out between the sets.

These conditions are only a small part of the overall trip however (but I would argue the most critical and fraught with danger.)

A longer boat should provide better overall load capacity, glide and distance capability in a day. Everything in kayaking is a trade off or compromise of some sort.

As a new sea kayaker, I would be inclined towards the shorter, 15'6" version and get to know it very well in surf and ocean. It will do this trip well enough I think anyway and I believe you would probably be less likely go get into trouble in the surf.

As Jack has said, you will also need to aquire skills in self rescue and become competent in them

I am no boat designer but have some pretty definate ideas on what I think will work.

I think this boat will be a winner for several reasons.

1. It is a thing of beauty to behold. it just looks "right" to me.

2. The generous beam, combined with the soft chined multi panelled hull should provide very good initial and secondary stability. This will make for a very forgiving boat for intermediate paddlers

3. It should track very well with minimal wind signature or weather-cocking. This would mean that a rudder is not necessary but if fitted would mean minimal usage. Deploying a ruddr really does slow you down.

4. I think I have said it before, but I would call this boat, as drawn at the moment as being a recreational Sea kayak. What I mean by this is that its primary function would be day paddles off shore or one or two days. but still very capable of doing a multi day trip if desired. This is exactly what the Contour is and is, I believe, why it is so popular here. It is just soooo versatile.

I am dead keen to build this boat - in either the 14'6" or 15'6" version. Either one will do all I want from such a boat. And, I think will leave many of the big name, longer, so called sea kayaks in her wake.

Regardless of what kayak you finally settle on, you will probably want to re-supply at some point during the trip. There are plenty of little towns along the way where you can do this. This is what I would want to do.

Jack probably makes a good point re the dip in the foredeck but from my point of view, it would probably be harder to to build into a deck than would be justified by any benefiet gained from it. That is why we have spray skirts. I am very happy with the hull and decks combination as drawn. (but again, that is just me)