Boatbuilding Classes
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Build Your Own Chesapeake 17 LT

Location: WoodenBoat School, Brooklin, ME
Dates: Sep 7, 2008 - Sep 13, 2008

Instructor: Geoff Kerr

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Tool List for Classes

In this six-day course, each student will build a Chesapeake LT sea kayak. This beautiful and capable design can carry enough gear for a week of camp cruising. Lightweight yet sturdy, the Chesapeake is easy to cartop, carry, and store. The Chesapeake kayak is stable, fast, and seaworthy. If you want to travel along rocky coasts and in exposed waters, this is the perfect boat. Even so, a kayak is ideal for coastal and inland waters. The kayaker travels in a low, quiet boat which floats in only a few inches of water. A kayak is a great choice for bird watching, simply exercising, or just watching the marsh grass bend in the wind while camping in remote places.

Chesapeake Light Craft has been manufacturing stitch-and-glue kayak kits since 1993. CLC's many designs emphasize easy construction combined with good looks and uncompromised performance. Using the stitch-and-glue method, the student will build a kayak without the complication of frames, molds, or a strongback. The resulting hard-chine Chesapeake kayak is very stable, maneuverable, and suited to both beginning paddlers and experienced kayakers.

First, the class will study the plans. Next, the precut panels are connected with copper wire stitches and the hull assembled with epoxy and fiberglass tape. Next comes a curved, laminated deckbeam, cambered plywood deck, and laminated cockpit coaming.

The instructor will discuss outfitting the kayak with seat, hatches, backrest, and footbraces. Participants will learn the proper way to sand and paint or varnish the kayak. If a student is interested in special features on his or her boat (typically a compass, a bilge pump, a rudder, or retractable skeg), the instructor will provide tips and techniques so the work can be completed at home.

At the end of the course each student will take home a kayak plus a cargo of self-confidence which comes from having completed his or her own wooden boat. In addition, they'll have gained experience with wood/epoxy construction, reading plans, and kayak design fundamentals.

The course is aimed at the first-time builder and students have ranged from teenagers to seniors. The building process is easy but fast-paced and you'll be spending plenty of time in the shop.