BUILDING OF A PYGMY MURRELET KAYAK FROM A KIT TO PUT TOGETHER.

Over the next few weeks you will be able to follow Roger as he finishes his new kayak from the ground up with reports weekly and pictures of his progress as the building unfolds. If you are planning a project like this, you will gain insight about the process. So stay tuned.



I have put off, for every possible excuse, my desire to build my own kayak for years. I finally realized that if I continued putting it off, I will never do it. Seeing the review in Sea Kayaker Magazine on the Pygmy Murrelet convinced me that today was a great day to start. So I ordered it.

The biggest concern I had was Fiberglass and Epoxy. I have never worked with these. Second is where to build it. I decided my car was going to spend the summer in the driveway and Epoxy and I were going to learn to be good friends.

There are going be challenges. My garage is 80 years old with the typical 80 years old concrete floor. Dirt would be more level. I will need to add lighting. I need a work surface. I will also have get over my fear of Fiberglass and epoxy.

Over the summer, I will attempt to document my adventures. Hopefully I can point out the problems I have, so you don’t have to repeat them, and show my successes.

Day 1 - 2 Hours

This being my first project of this type, I had read the manuals multiple times. I thought I was ready to start, but since the "Epoxy Manual" had said to practice on some scrap material before starting, I followed those instructions. Wow, I didn’t have anything ready. What an eye opener that was.

Starting over with the real thing, I had my weights cleaned, 2x4's and Mylar cut, all the sets of boards grouped, fiberglass strips measured and cut and finally I thought I was ready to start. My next problem was about to begin.

I am limited as to how much space I had to build the project. To give myself the flattest and most level surface to work on, I took a ¾ inch sheet of plywood, split it down the middle and made a 2' x 16' work surface. Using shims and a good level I succeeded in getting it perfect. Problem is it is too small to join only but a couple of lengths at one time. Using 1 pump of each of the epoxy and hardener, I am left with epoxy that I have no place to use. I will have to mark the pumps in some way that I can reduce my waste.

None the less, I tacked my boards to the surface, aligned my edges and made my first glass joints. Tomorrow I find out how I did. To be continued……..

Day 3 - 2 Hours

Well I have learned that it is very difficult to reduce the amount of Epoxy. Without a full stroke, you don't get the proper mix. Doing the second side of the first panels turned into a mess. It never hardened. Back to full strokes.

Now working on the second set of boards. Photo below shows the width of my work surface. Would be nice to have a nice flat garage floor allow me to do all the boards a once, but don't have that.

Solved another problem. What to do with the panels when I have finished them. I removed one of my boats from the storage rack and put an extension ladder in its place. Works great. To be continued…..

Day 5 - 2.5 More Hours

Three Sections (6 pieces) are now joined. I did the first coat of glass on two more sections tonight; one to go. This portion of the build has taken more nights than I wish but I can't complain too much. Trying to complete them all at one time would be a lot of hustling and may have led to more errors.

A note on materials: The manuals state that epoxy will not adhere to plastics bags. They are used under the panels to keep them from being epoxied to the work surface. This is true, but epoxy does adhere to the ink on the bags. This is not good. I am using waxed paper now. It works very clean and is much easier to use than plastic.