There is a Guy called Rod Tait in Port Moody who builds the most beautiful
strip cedar Kayaks - they are really works of art. He has a small workshop and
runs courses in the craft of strip cedar building and even lets cusotmers build
their own kayaks in his workshop. We went through the list of materials and
concluded that Bram's estimate was not far from the mark (maybe slightly less
in Canada!). Sadly, that is too much for my fortunes - but I pass on this
information in case there is some-one else interested. You can visit his
website on www.orcaboats.ca
When looking through the list of materials, there were a couple of thinkgs he
menntioned which may also be of interest:
He would not buy glass tape as this gives a "hard" edge, instead he cuts his
own tape from the glass cloth
He would use 2 x 4.5 oz glass instead of the 9 oz, which is easier to apply and
produces a stronger result
Having already seen the article in "Wooden Boat", he was really excited by the
prospect of building a Swift Solo when I first aproached him. So he would be
very interested in building one for some-one else - the allure of the wood is
really appealing. I can pretty much guarantee the result would be the most
attractive Swift Solo in the fleet.
Jim
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