Hi all, had some time to devote to the 'Drifter' kayak project this week, got the deck on at long last and the coaming went on today. This is a very stable compact (12' 6") single with good secondary stability as well due to the chine arrangement, ideal for a beginner paddler on flat water, its not going to be the fastest thing on the water for the above reasons but it will definitely be the best looking, when its finished of course...... There should be a assisted build course of this kayak in early summer at my place barring disaster, anyone interested in taking this model home with them at COST price please register your interest on here, Facebook or on email at floatingart.net websites contact page....cheers

Retro Simmons Scarf nose

Hi all, finally got some clear coat on the retro Simmons. I am happy with the way it came out, tried to create the look of the scarfed nose boards that Bob Simmons had so much fun with, surfboard evolution really took off from this point!! Its dimensions are 7' 3 3/4" x 23, got 3" rocker up front the 2" on the back, made from Paulonia and Cedar with a 4mm marine ply internal frame, classic 'S' deck with a vee rail all the way through, FCS plugs right on the tail block and rail, weighs in at about 13Lbs, bottom is as flat as a skimstone so should pin the ears back!!!! I tried to get it finished and sold for an auction event that Abergavenny Road cycling club organised but ran out of time, good to see the old guard there and great to see and catch up with the home grown cycling pro's Julian Winn and Richard Wooles. The monies raised raised went to the Welsh Air Ambulance which came to the aid of another great rider Graham Edwards after being mowed down outside Raglan. If you like keep an eye on my facebook for details of the sale and highest bidder wins I guess......cheers

The Salad Dodger is done, an EPS core with glass under and over veneer, 16 oz over the rails with 3 stringer core, the tail block is made up of strips of Western Red Cedar and Paulonia, the deck pad is a 6mm D cell foam that has been laminated to the deck under vacuum pressure, it should provide some degree of strength to the board in the high traffic areas, the whole thing weighs in at 23lbs. The acrylic black paint works OK with the UV protection clear layer which is a high grade yacht varnish. Its been a great build using Welsh recyclable EPS and Welsh Birch veneer, the resin used is Resin Research Epoxy a really good clear resin and a good performer in my book! Fins boxes are FCS and the huge 'D' fins in the photo are made by laminating 2 x 4mm marine ply and 1 x 3mm marine ply, a simple 4oz cloth layer and a hot coat followed by clear coat and they are done. Sorry for the watering can on its side!!!!

EPS egg project..

An EPS replica of Huw's spendid Egg, with Huw's kind permission I have used his template to cut and shape two boards, a single stringer EPS and a peripheral stringer EPS, these will be super light clones and tested along side the hollow woodie. The stringer model will hopefully weigh in just under 6lbs with the peripheral rail stringer board with Balsa rails deck and bottom about 5lbs. Lets get mowing!!!!!

Got the Salad Dodger in paint, experimenting with acrylic over glass, not great but gets the job done, it will be colour in the resin next time.... Clear coat going on tomorrow followed soon after with the deck pad ...happy days.

The Salad Dodger

The first in the line of EPS cored Stand up paddle boards, outline and aspect ratio is very Simmons, just an enlargement of what I have been working on the last year. The development of this board has been geared towards a home kit build or assisted build at my workshop. It has 3 stringers and a wood veneer deck and bottom if preferred, with painted, etched, airbrushed or clear rails. The veneer is providing a problem especially without the vacuum bag which lends it more to an assisted build but I'm working on that, so here are the pics, volume approx 170 lts and 8 ft long, its huge, comes in at 22lbs so not a huge drag to the water!!!

Stitch and glue Sea kayak, sleek and fast

After a long spell of busy, which is always good I thought I would post up about some of the stitch and glue Kayaks that we have been working on, just finished the design and half way through the first build of a new 12 foot single kayak, its an old school hull shape with a wide and easy cockpit coaming, designed to be really stable in the water, ideal for a first time paddler or fisherman, pics coming soon so here are some a Sea kayak finished last year with the same build technique.Sleek and fast....cheers all