I plan to build a SOT fishing kayak this spring/summer. I haven't decided on which particular design yet, but for fishing halibut in semi-protected Norwegian fjords, I guess they all would do well?
I have some prior experience with the S&G technique and have finished one small boat with the technique. However, living in Sweden, it's almost impossible to source a good quality plywood. One alternative is to use the strip technique since good quality, slowly grown spruce can be found in any lumberyard. Indeed, the strip technique this is the preferred method for building kayaks in Sweden. I like the strip building technique and have some experience of that technique as well (I've just finished the planking of a 23 ft Paul Gartside cutter
).Ideally, I would like a strip-built SOT but since no such plans are available, I'm considering a hybrid of Blue-fin, Wade fish or Sabalo. The idea is to build the main bottom panels, internal structure and cockpit in whatever plywood I can find and use strips for the remaining sections of the hull. To achieve this, I image two solutions,
1) Build the plywood core structure and use that structure as a mold for the remaining hull. The strips could then be laminated to the plywood core one by one, much as done in conventional strip-building. I suspect this would require the use of a strong back and maybe also some additional temporary molds.
2) Laminate panels of strips, add cloth on one side (the inside), plane the panel to correct thickness, cut the panel to correct dimensions and use the panel as you would use a plywood panel.
I guess option one is less work but the question is whatever the plywood core would be a sufficiently stable mold for all the strips? I done want a sagging hull
Option two should be rather strait-forward but will require more work.
I guess all this rambling boils down to a couple of questions,
1) Any plans for an all-strip SOT in the near future?
2) If not, is a strip/S&G hybrid feasible and what design is most appropriate for the hybrid approach and for ocean fishing in fjords?
3) Which building strategy is most likely to succeed, strip-panels, strips one-by-one or something else that I haven't thought about?
Appreciate any comments and input!
Best Regards
/Fredrik
.