Sea Tour 17 EXP

I've been falling behind with my blog posts, so I'll start by catching you up with my progress on my folding kayak.  I would gauge my progress at about 90% complete.  The frame and skin are complete, and I have had the boat out paddling a couple of times.  But wait, I'm getting ahead of myself...

The cockpit coaming:
The coaming rim is made of two sections of 1/2" aluminum, the left and right halves.  The rim is set above the skin, which is trimmed to match the inside of the rim.  Next, multiple strips of PVC are glued to the skin and wrapped around the rim.  This continues all the way around the rim with the front and back left unglued.  Here is a pic of the progress part of the way through:

The openings at front and back are to enable the removal of the skin for folding.  

That brings me to the next stage of construction, the deck zippers.  I plan to install a full length zipper in the rear deck and a partial zipper on the front deck.  These will allow removal of the skin as well as access to gear that is stored beyond my reach.


My final addition will be a Feathercraft K1 rudder.  The rudder and foot controls will be installed after I put in the deck zippers so that I have access to the interior of the boat.

In the meantime... here are some pictures of the boat in use: