my highschool requires a culminating project to graduate, only problem is it can't have to do with anything related to water or outside, (donkey basketball is on the list of restricted things) I thought that designing and then building a fiberglass surf boat would be a sweet cp, but I'm not sure how to go about it. does anyone have experence with building something like this? how much would it cost? do you use foam to mold a blank or something?

Yeah, I know gary, I think my best option is to go up to PA and check out his boats and talk to him. I've seen a couple of them. just looking around the internet I found the fluid element, maybe redesign that in fiberglass? idk.

That sounds like a sick little project . You shoul build a wooden paddle while your at it. I remember my high school had a boat shop. The fiber glass boat's that I saw being built had wooden skeletins ?? I'm sure boat building has advanced by now.  I sure would like to see how it's done though. Remind me to tell ya the joke about the wooden eye !!! Anyway take lot's of pics. Good luck !!

I've been looking for help on this too. I found a pretty good write up on "The Gecko Boat" which seems really cool. The maker didn't take out all the foam, just enough form a cockpit:
http://www.ptone.com/Kayak/surfboat/building/

I'm interested in laying one up. Anyone else in the Seattle area interested? We could likely save some money (and frustration) helping each other out.

I couldn't find a Gary Korb book about boat building:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Gary%20Korb

Chuck e, let's hear the wooden eye story.

In any case, let us know how it works out for you and what spend on it. I found this on the cost of a cedar strip kayak and am trying to figure out how much epoxy and glass (or kevlar) I would need for a Gecko:
http://www.nessmuking.com/mykayak12b.htm

Good luck,

D

no one?
come on...

I just saw this explanation of shapes:

I'm gonna weigh in here for this one: You want to build fiberglass/ kevlar kayaks?

First realize that it is unlikely that anything you produce on your first try will actually be something you want to paddle. I know I know, you're gonna say that you just want to build one boat, satisfy your criteria for school, ect,

I think that if you truly love to kayak, you should consider a slightly longer arc than the one you may be currently imagining. You should consider the possibility that it may take 3 boats before you come up with something really sweet. Check this out...

While there's talent here in the northwest (Gary Korb knows what's up), It is undeniable that the EAST is the MECCA for fiberglass whitewater boat building. From the earliest river runners, up through the 1980's, the art and science of glass boats became quite sophisticated and beautiful. The U.S. Slalom team was based out of Washington D.C., and people in nearby West Virginia, Friendsville Maryland, ect. experienced a BIG BANG of sorts. People Like John Sweet, Davey Hearn, The Snyder Brothers, Jesse Whittemore, to name but a few, refined and perfected the production process of lightweight, STRONG, high performance boats. The community was fertile and lots of ideas flourished. Few people know this, but some of those guys (Snyder & co.)were making proto types of really short, planing hull surf boats (very similar to modern playboat). I saw some of them when I was a kid. It's just that the slicy designs were what they were interested at the time (squirtboats), so that's what caught on.

I understand that you may not be able to make a full blown pilgrimage back there to learn the craft, but fiberglass boat building is a serious craft. You certainly do not want to try to reinvent the wheel, or remain isolated and spend your time and effort on something such as this without the right work shop, materials, and information.

The Very First place I would recommend is...
http://www.sweetcomposites.com

Davey Hearn has taken over John Sweet's company distributing material for boat builders. They'll be able to provide you with lots of valuable info too. I think it's awesome that you are interested in building boats. You may discover something really incredible. You can totally build a nice boat in a garage.

Do it! And once you get good at building them, build me one! I'll buy it from you.


Edited by wetmouse - 23 Sep 2008 at 10:00pm

I think I'll try and make a trek up to PA too look at gary's workshop. thanks for all the info, I also have to come up with the funds. but I'll post pic's whenever I start building.

Actually, Franz, there's more private rafting than you think, it's just that the Shredder happens to be the local raftcraft of choice. The YOUGH is, after all where it was invented. The Cheat is a blast.

Yeah, there's predjudice against IK's pretty much everywhere. Boat Bigots can be found in all corners of the paddling world, saddly. The Snyders and lots of others pioneered lots of crazy steep creeks back there in Thrilseekers, as you all know. Some of those creeks were later run in hardshells, and some to this day have not been. I've seen video of those guys running drops in those things, slamming into boulders that were entirely unavoidable, and catapulting quite high into the air. Still some of the craziest shit I've seen on video.

And then there's "Striding" of course. Fish brought back a photo of one of Jeff's disciples running Pillow Rock in one. An "elevated" form of IK-ing, one might say.

I like your Fiberglass floor idea though! just make sure it's solid enough not to flex and splinter on ya. Nice concept.

I uploaded two pictures a the boat I shaped last month
Cheers

Wow, Shape-changer. Beautiful design. I'm still trying to decide whether to commit to this type of project. Can you tell me about how much you spend on materials for each boat and about how long it takes to shape one? I know it would take me much longer as a novice, but I'd like to know your time as a minimum for me.  Also, are your molds left in the boat, or are they reusable?

Thx,

D

Gary has a  video that he sells for $10.00. Basically the cost of the cassette.

WOW! that's great to see those photos. nice looking design. It reminds me of a boat I saw back in PA when I was a kid. --a "surf shoe" Greg Green called it.

chuckj: you mentioned that the pink foam was hard to get out. what if you wrapped it in plastic wrap before laying up your glass layers? would that provide an adequate separation between fiberglass/resin and foam? I remember watching guys lay plastic film (like Ceran Wrap) over patches, ect, and later after the resin is hard the Ceran Wrap just peels right off.

Anyway, I'm stoked on this thread!!! This is what this site should be for: actual knowledge and info sharing. In fact, It's got me excited about glass boats. I may take my old fiberglass boat out to the Sky tommorow. Maybe soon I'll undertake the project of restoring it. (got some sh*tty patches that need grinding and re-doing).

I'd like to make a boat, too at some point.