Kayak - Construction journal

Cockpit

	When mounting the last strips, it becomes necessary to improvise and adapt width and form to the space left.
	Finished stripping! The length of the strips near the cockpit was 'eyeballed'. Where the length was near enough, I left the rest.

	View from above. Using a pencil, I drew an approximate outline of the cockpit recess (do it better than I did - in one spot, I had only 1 mm left).
	After drawing the exact form, using a papel pattern. I cut the form using a jigsaw, then filed and sanded to the final form. What a difference - this is actually starting to look like a kayak!
	View from above. I slightly modified the back of the recess, to avoid an abnormally vertical first fill-in strip (the first filler strip for the rear is resting on the strongback).
	Side view of the recess. The port side stills need a slight adjustment (too angular).
	The cutout just made was then filled with strips to form the base for the coaming of the cockpit. I slightly changed the original design to have knee braces.
	Even with full width strips every 5 to maintain them horizontal, at some spots, thry still tried to go down. Some pressure from below was necessary, and then some duct tape to prevent them from lifting.
	After cutting out the approximate form of the cockpit opening. I'll finish the opening when I remove the deck from the strongback. If something feels wrong about this picture, it's because the kayak is upside down - cockpit under.

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