Three piece kayak construction

The idea is to make a kayak that separates into three pieces and is put back together easily.
This requires a double bulkhead at either end of the cockpit, 5 access points from the outer hull to
the bulkheads on the rear side of each bulkhead and 5 accurately placed nuts on the interior front
side of each bulkhead. It is easy but time consuming with the following method, best done before
any bulkheads have been put in.

Double the foot plate bulkhead and aft cockpit bulkhead

The first change is to make 2 bulkheads for the back of the cockpit and 2 for the footplate. These
do not need to be reinforced although we filleted and taped the sides all round that faced the
interior of the boat. These bulkheads need to be a hacksaw blade apart. The easiest way to do this
is to fix and fillet on one side one bulkhead and then cut most of the length of the side of the hull
adjacent to the non filleted side of the bulkhead, forming slits about 10cm long, leaving the chine
angles intact. Use hacksaw blades as spacers and glue and fillet in the other bulkhead to form a
double bulkhead separated by the hacksaw blades. It is safest to use the blades to recreate the cut
slits before the epoxy is fully dry and to make sure they can easily be removed.

The joints

Requirements

10 no 35mm m8 A4 bolts socket head button dome.

10 no m8 A4 long bolt connector
20 no m8 A4 penny washers diameter approx 18mm
Allen key screwdriver to fix above
Long shank 8mm drill bit
Approximately 3m of nominal 5cm x 2.5cm pine
2 no Fibreglass tape 200g x 50m
Glass twill

Making the fibreglass mountings to the outer deck

Aiming to make 10 x 9cm U shaped pieces of twill chutes.

Cut the 5x2.5cm pine into 3, 1 metre lengths. Take the edges off one length with a plane to
produce a U shape along the long edges.
Staple pvc over all 3 lengths. I used black dustbin bags.
Cut a 1 metre strip of glass twill approximately 7cms wide. Wet this out with epoxy.
Fold the twill over the round edged pvc covered pine and place one of the other pvc covered
lengths of pine along either side of this one using 2 clamps to create a sandwich with the glass
covered length in the centre.
Gently tap the central length with a hammer to pull the twill tight and then leave to dry.

Once fully dry take the clamps away and the outer pine lengths away. Cut the central cloth covered
length into 10 x 9cm lengths and then check that they will peel away easily from the pvc covered
wood former. You should now have 10 fibreglass cloth chutes for the bolts. Take the wood formers
and on each one make a line a penny washer diameter up from the centre of the hemicircle across
the width of one end and then cover this end with parcel tape, to prevent it sticking to epoxy.
Replace the former into the epoxied cloth chutes for support.

Cutting the deck

These cuts are made to the rear of the bulkheads. There is no cut in the hull in front of the
bulkheads.
Make a small template for marking the position for cutting the deck for the bolt chutes, out of a
spare piece of 3mm plywood. The aim is to create a hole in the deck 8 to 9cm long by the width of
the glassed formers just created. This will create approximately a 15 degree angle with the former
protruding up to the previously marked end line of the former inside the deck.
Take one of the blocks that has the glass twill over it and remove the glass twill with care. Staple
coarse grit sand paper tightly over this former.
Using this former mark the width on the template and then cut an oblong hole approximately 6cm
long and the width of the former out of the template.
Now use the former as a sanding block to enlarge the length of the hole aiming to drop below the
wood by approximately 2cm as marked by the end line and create an 8cm long hole in the
underside of the wood with a gentle slope on the outside.
When happy with this hole cut around it at about 5mm with a sharp knife. 3mm at the bulkhead end
to form the template.
Use this on the inside of the boat to pencil out the positions to cut, one close to the bulkhead and
where the two bottom chines meet, one either side on the chine where it meets the side panel and
either side just below the sheer clamp.
Cut these holes with care and check the fit of the glass coated formers, protruding into the deck by
the depth of the marked line at the bulkhead end. We used a multi tool to cut these. Take care and
try to get to within 3mm of the bulkhead, any mistakes can be sorted with epoxy but aim for tight
fitting of the formers at the bulkhead end.

Fixing the formers for the bolts into the deck

When happy with the holes make up some epoxy and wet out the edges to be covered by the
fibreglass formers with their epoxied cloth. Using a little thickened epoxy on the wood of the outer
hull where the fibreglass former will be received, place the formers in place with the wooden blocks
for support. Allow to dry before the next step. If you want you can omit this step and fix in position
with instant glue.

We preferred to fillet and epoxy the chutes into position in one go. It is very time consuming so
plan to do 2 or 3 in a sitting.
Cut 20, 20 cm lengths of 200g glass fibre tape per fitting, cut into the ends to stop fraying and wet
out with epoxy. We managed to do this with them packed one on top of the other but check wetted
throughout. These pieces of tape are to be placed over the end of the former and back along its
length splaying out to create a slight arc on the deck in order to spread the load. Thicken some of
the epoxy and fillet round the chutes and then place the tape, aiming to pack the gap to the bulk
head and stretch back to the deck smoothly, use a little thickened epoxy to help where the tape
struggles to lie flat.
Once happy with the tape, mix more epoxy and make as thickened as possible and with this, finish
packing the gap to the bulkhead and if wanted smooth over the surface of the tape on the chute.
Recheck that the former is tightly in place.
Once dry, sand to a smooth surface.

You can now work out where the bolt will come through the other side of the bulk head. Cutting
fibreglass tape as before and wetting it out. Cover the area where the bolt hole will appear and
pushing the tape down into the angle between the bulkhead and the hull, fan out the tape lengths
back along the hull, creating a heavily reinforced L shape. This will transmit the tension away from
the bulkhead onto the hull.

Fixing the nuts

Using a washer to find the correct position on the wooden former. Aim to drill a hole suitable for the
bolt the full length of the former. We did this by holding a washer an the end of the former using the
curve on the former for the washer edge. Mark the centre of the washer on either end of former.
Put finger over target at one end and carefully drilling from the other end aim for fingertip. Once
happy place drilled former into the bolt chute in the deck and using a long drill bit, drill through the
bulkheads to the other side.

Sand the nut reinforcement tape to roughen it slightly. Spray bolt with silicon release spray and put
in position and tighten to nut. Cover hole in end of nut with small piece of gaffer tape. Use
thickened epoxy to fill gaps, to secure the nut in position and cover the nut and the gaffs tape.
Once dry loosen bolt and make sure can fit, tighten and loosen with ease.
Finally

Finish off the rest of the boat and then just cut it into 3 parts.

That’s it.