Just been a little busy lately and have not made the time for kayak building. I will be back at it before too long though. Perhaps after the holidays, but hopefully sooner.

Day 8, 18 hours

I had an hour to kill before work this morning and worked on getting the decking wired together tighter. It is a slow process. Other folks have said the plywood deck on the wood duck kayak was "easy for a change" I must not be going about it properly cuz' it aint exactly easy. Its hard to see the areas that still dont line up well in the pictures but here they are.

Day 6, 17 hours build time

I Spent 4.5 hours over the past couple days getting the decking wired together. Its rather frustrating getting the contour of the deck even around the form. Its also challenging to get the sheer pieces aligned with the top deck piece and wired in place. Hey, if it was easy everyone would build their own. I wonder if the optional "hybrid" strip deck might actually have been easier?I'm going to be taking the next 5 days off of the build due to work. Then I'll try to get the deck straightened out and temporarily fit to the hull.

Day 5, 12.5 hours build time

Today I spent 2.5 hours closing up the bow and transom sides. The bow went really easy. The ends were not perfectly the same length at the bow so tapped the ends with a mallet to line them up then simply twisted the wires to close the bow up. The mallet trick really works well even with the wires tight. I added twice the number of wire holes in the bow than the kit came with to help spread the stress and keep the wires from pulling through the holes.
The transom was a little more difficult, I beveled the edges which helps and also added double the wires/holes. I tacked some spots together with super glue to hold them as well.
The hull is basically in its complete shape at this point. Next up is to wire the decking together.

Day 4, 10 hours total

I never got around to working on the kayak over the weekend. We took our Glen-L Zip runaboat out for one last gasp then winterized and stored it in a insulated and heated hangar for winter, www.vupilot.blogspot.com. Sunday afternoon I flew r/c planes instead of work on the kayak.
Today I spent 3 hours beveling and loosely installing both sides by wiring the sides bottom edge to the bottom planks' outside edge. Some scrap wood is clamped to the formers to keep them from flexing, this is a nice tip that is included in the instructions. Tomorrow I hope I can get the ends closed up.

Day 3, 7 hours total build time

I only spent a couple hours today before work this afternoon. Man, it was WINDY today, yikes.
I wired in the last former which for some reason did not have holes pre-drilled like the rest. Not sure why, perhaps just an oversight at CLC? The hull had the holes drilled but the former did not. I drilled the holes in the former myself and installed it.Then I began wiring the bow and stern together. I wet the last 20 inches of the bow and stern with boiling water and let the towel steam the areas for about 15 min. I then pulled the ends together and taped them. Next, my buddy Scott that was over visiting at lunch today twisted the wires while I held the ends tightly together and aligned them. Worked great. A lot of folks voiced trouble with this step on the 10ft wood duck since the bend is a bit more severe than the 12 and 14 ft models and it went quite easily for me. "I'd rather be lucky than good anyday." I did drill extra holes and add extra wires on the ends to distribute the load better and keep any wires from pulling through the wood, I think that helps a lot. Next up is to bevel the edge of the side planks and wire them in. I wont work on the Kayak again until this weekend.

Day 2, 5 hours total build time

I spent 3 hours on the kayak today. The finger joints and the fiberglass strips over them finally cured last night. Today, I first beveled the edges of the bottom planks then stitched them together along the bottom edge and opened the two sides like a book. Then I began stitching the formers in loosely with the kit supplied copper wire. A little airplane mechanic trick here is to use safety wire pliers, they make quick, clean, tight twists in the stitching wire.
To tighten things and close the gaps requires two people. So I am waiting for an extra set of hands to arrive home from work. Then we can close the gaps and set the kayak aside for today and go find some pumpkins to carve.

Day 1, 2 hours

The first step in the construction of the Wood Duck 10 from www.clcboats.com is to glue and fiberglass the CNC panels which make up the boats 10' length. You simply lay the parts down so the side that will be the inside of the boat faces up, glue the joints, then, apply fiberglass cloth and wet it out with a brush. The joints are interlocking which makes things very easy.

I was curious why the epoxy had not set much after the first hour. Turns out the MAS epoxy which came with the kit takes much longer to cure than the Glen-L epoxy I used on my Glen-L "Zip" build. Had I known this I would have bought the kit without the epoxy and used the Glen-L epoxy or bought the MAS "fast" hardener. The effects of the slow curing MAS epoxy will be even worse since I am working in cool, autumn, temperatures. I'm going to look into getting the fast hardener.