More kayak building acquisitions

No real progress on the Paige's kayak. My order from Enviro Safety Products shipped yesterday and is expected in about a week. We stopped by Lowes and I took advantage of a year-old gift card that we had lying around. I picked up a 12" square and a yard stick.

A fair amount of Tom's measurements are metric. I was surprised to see that this yard stick has both - imperial (inches) and metric (millimeters) gradations. We're finally catching up.

I've decided that for a couple of the other tools that I need, I'm going to go ahead and try to borrow from family. They are the chalk line (for marking the center-line on the strongback) and 5/8", 1 1/4" & 1 3/8" Forstner bits (for making forms & strongback stations). I don't know that I'll have much of a need for the chalk line after building the strongback and the Forstner bits (that were available at the store) were more expensive than I expected... though, I found an inexpensive set at the Sears site. I need a few other small things and I still need to get various supplies - sandpaper, zip ties, glue, epoxy, saw blades, etc. Oh... and WOOD.

My next step plan is to draw and cut out the sections on foam board. I figure doing this on foam board will be a little easier to recover from mistakes than wood would be. Once I get them "perfected", I'll trace them onto plywood and go from there.

The following items have been added to my project total:

Category	Item	Price
(See entire list.)
Tools	12" Speedlite Square	$7.47
Tools	36" Metal Yard Stick	$2.98
Misc. Fees	Tax (from Lowes)	$0.63
Lowes Total:		$11.08
Project Total:		$101.01

A Kayak for Paige - Officially/Unofficially "Started"

My daughter, Paige, and I have been talking about her getting a kayak for quite a while. She's 5 years old now. For a bit, I kicked around the usual kid's kayak list:

• Raven by Current Designs
• Piccolo by Wilderness Systems
• Tsunami SP by Wilderness Systems
• Kea by Ocean Kayak
• Acadia Scout by Perception
• Umiak by Perception

I had seen a Raven in person at Annapolis Canoe and Kayak. It was a beautiful boat, but just too pricey for me to buy for Paige. I just don't know how interested she'll be in kayaking and paddling her own boat. Plus, I've wanted to try my hand at building...

I have been pretty enthralled with the Tom Yost boats. I think he's pretty amazing for the level of information on his sites and his participation on a couple of online message boards. He helped me (in idiot-level details to build my flotation bags early this year). In his designs, he has a Sea Flea that's just about perfect sizing for Paige. For stability, I'll add some sort of sponsons.

In my searches, I've come across the following sites that have built a Sea Flea (or another Yost-boat called the Sea Pup):

• Bryan's Sea Flea for his daughter Amelie
• Donald's Sea Flea
• Frank's Sea Pup

I reviewed each site and swapped e-mails with Bryan. In the end, I feel like I'm ready to try this.

Yesterday was the official "start"- I placed a few orders for tools and supplies to get started on the kayak. First off- I ordered a pair of saws! (Yes, my "shop" is lacking in almost all departments.) I picked up a japanese saw and a bonsai saw, both from Chesapeake Light Craft (CLC). They had the best price and they're local- I'm headed out at lunch to pick them up. From Enviro Safety Products, I ordered safety glasses for Paige (pair 1 and pair 2) and myself; and, she got a pair of leather work gloves. In the evening, we stopped by a Staples and picked up a 3-pack of white foam board. My plan is to first build the frames using the foam board; I figure it'll be much easier to change, fix and revise the shape of the frames in foam board than real wood. Then once I'm happy with the frames, I'll trace them onto plywood and start the real cutting.

Through-out the project, I hope to keep a running total of what costs I incur. I've started it here:

Category	Item	Price
Tools	Japanese Saw	$34.50
Tools	Bonsai Saw	$18.50
Misc. Fees	Tax (from CLC Boats)	$3.18
Safety Tools	Safety Glasses - Doug	$3.55
Safety Tools	Safety Glasses - Paige	$4.30
Safety Tools	Safety Glasses - Paige	$2.95
Safety Tools	Leather Work Gloves - Paige	$2.75
Misc. Fees	Shipping (from Enviro Safety Products)	$6.96
Tools	White Foam Boards, 20" x 30" (3 pack)	$12.49
Misc. Fees	Tax (from Staples)	$0.75
Total:		$89.93

This is just the start of the itemized list for the project. Refer to this page for the latest updates.

Cold Water Kills (but not always from hypothermia)

The National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) has created a Cold Water Boot Camp video. I haven't seen the DVD, but they posted a short video for it that is riveting. It's posted on their site and on YouTube.

This is a MUST WATCH for anyone who ventures out when the water is cold. In fact, I'm going to go ahead and order the full DVD.

The interesting part of the video to me is that I had the same misconception of what kills when you're immersed in cold water. I expected it to be hypothermia, when the reality is that swimming failure gets you first. This reaffirms my views on always wearing my PFD and knowing that you must always be properly dressed for immersion. I've officially put my boat away for the winter, I just don't feel like I have enough protection with just my wet suit in the 40-degree water that's commonly found in my area.