I finished the Outer Island, my first boat-building project, on the first day of spring 2006. At Jay Babina's suggestion (to accommodate my size 12 feet) I modified the deck over the cockpit. increasing the depth from 1/4 inch by my feet to 1" at the coaming. I'm not sure in retrospect that I needed the additional room, but it will make sliding in and out of the ocean cockpit a little easier.
 
This is my first woodworking project apart from a couple of cedar paddles. I ripped my own strips from cedar, ash, and sapele boards, then just let the wood reveal its wishes. Coaming, external stems, hatch knobs and toggles are all made up from laminates of ash and sapele to accent the deck pattern. Thanks to Jay, TwoPaddles and all the good folks on Nick's Kayak Building Bulletin Board for getting me through it.

My second strip project was a Bjorn Thomasson Isfjord, an 18’ X 21” hard-chined kayak. I had the opportunity to use some roughhewn boards of northern white pine, milled by my cousin Ray from trees he cut over a quarter century ago. A pop artist who was an early recycler of everything from enameled bathroom fixtures to old barn siding, Ray would have appreciated seeing his wood ripped into strips and put to a purpose at once functional and beautiful. I fabricated a number of parts: carbon fiber hatch lips to accommodate Valley ovals, fiberglass skeg box and bulkheads, scrap plastic for the skeg and stainless steel tubing for the control rod.

Finished the Petrel over the summer of 2010. Stained the hull with blue TransTint dye which, after the ambering of epoxy and varnish, came out a nice deep phlatho blue, at least that’s what my artist friend calls it. Makes sense, as it’s the same color as that deep bluish-green of phlatho mold, which consumes down wood on the forest floors around here. Very organic....I like it.
 
Deck and hull are of western red cedar, some very light, some very dark. The strip at the seam is Alaskan white cedar, the coaming and stems poplar. The boat follows Nick Schade’s plans, 17’x20”, with a recessed coaming, Maroske fittings and a control-rod actuated cable skeg patterned after the ones on Valley boats.
 
Handles great in rough water and surf...this will be my go-to day/play boat!