Shrike, a lightweight sea kayak for home construction.^

[rockhopper]

That's pretty!!

Rog.

[nickcrowhurst]

Yesterday we received details of a new Shrike in Denmark, built by a father and son, Claus and Theodor:





The photos were accompanied by a generous message from Claus and Theodor:

"She paddles like a dream and we had great fun building it. We’re really thankful for the drawings. I think you’ve created a wonderful kayak which is probably as easy as it gets to build.”

[nickcrowhurst]

Pascal in France has completed the hull of his Vember. The hull timber is 4.5 mm thick Douglas Fir, which is heavier than cedar, but much cheaper and easier to buy in France.

[Mowgli]

Hello Nick,
Thank you very much for making the plans available - I've just had the Shrike template printed (£12 at Hobs in Bristol) and picked up three sheets of the good stuff from Robbins. Looking forward to getting started over the Easter break. I have a trip to the west coast of Scotland booked in June, so the boat needs to be ready (and ideally tested) before then. I built a cedar kayak in 2009, and am looking forward to this one hopefully being a lot quicker and cheaper! I'll pop some photos up here when it starts to take shape.
Cheers,
M

[nickcrowhurst]

Mowgli, I'm very pleased with your news. You will see in the Gallery on our website that there are photos of about a hundred completed Shrikes from all over the world, but none from Scotland.
We've just updated the Build Manuals with the lessons we've learned over the past four years, so it would be good to make sure you have version 2.0 plans, which now incorporate the Build Manual with "Revised 1st March 2018" on the title page. You can download the plans again, if necessary.
I hope you enjoy the building process, and we look for forward to receiving progress reports and photos.
All the best, from Nick.

[Spikeedog]

Mowgli, I'm very pleased with your news. You will see in the Gallery on our website that there are photos of about a hundred completed Shrikes from all over the world, but none from Scotland.
We've just updated the Build Manuals with the lessons we've learned over the past four years, so it would be good to make sure you have version 2.0 plans, which now incorporate the Build Manual with "Revised 1st March 2018" on the title page. You can download the plans again, if necessary.
I hope you enjoy the building process, and we look for forward to receiving progress reports and photos.
All the best, from Nick.

I'm just finishing the Coaming on mine. Knowing that there are no Sottish examples in the gallery yet will give me a 'wee spurt' - if you'll pardon the expression....

[nickcrowhurst]

Photo of a new Shrike, just arrived from Dirk, in Belgium:



Details in the Gallery: http://cnckayaks.com/2018/03/27/dirk-from-belgium/
Nick.

[nickcrowhurst]

Mike from Pembrokeshire is making good progress on a Vember for his wife, Mary. He has used the scaling facility in the design to first print the plans at 95%, thereby reducing the beam, but he has then increased the overall length to 17 feet (5.18 metres) by changing the spacing of the transverse forms.

[nickcrowhurst]

[nickcrowhurst]

The hull is lengthened to 17 feet (5.18 m) by spacing the forms, and the beam is reduced by 5% by printing the transverse forms plans at 95% scale.

[nickcrowhurst]

[nickcrowhurst]

Erop is sitting on the ice in his new Shrike, near Murmansk, on the White Sea. (Yes, that's ice, not sand) There are now at least ten Shrikes in Russia. I find it difficult to comprehend the size of Russia. As a gift, I recently sent a spare set of foot pedals to Vladivostok for a Russian guy, Zeka, who couldn't source any pedals locally. I used a tracked Royal Mail system. After a week I pointed out to Zeka that the parcel was in Moscow, so the pedals should soon be with him. He politely pointed out that the journey from Moscow to Vladivostok where he lived was over 9,000 kilometers by rail, and that two weeks across Siberia would be good going for the mail train. Two months later I received a "postcard from Zeka", which brought to mind "letter from Brezhnev".

[nickcrowhurst]

Oleg Kireev has just completed his very pretty Shrike in Cambodia.

[nickcrowhurst]

Pascal has finished his Vember:

[Spikeedog]

Superb finish: lovely boat.

[Mowgli]

Just glassed inside the cockpit and day compartment on mine. I'm pondering how I can get a decent sized hatch into the forerdeck without causing problems in the highly curved area. I wondered if glassing the deck would allow me to cut out a square-ish/trapezoidal hatch from the curved section of the deck without it all distorting too much? Although the boats without fore hatches look elegant and clean, I think it would be a shame to limit the carrying capacity by only having access through the foot bulkhead. My Shrike is going to be built fairly robust (i.e. heavy) with glass inside and out on the hull, and glass on the deck, for 2- and 3-day camping trips.

[nickcrowhurst]

Mowgli, for a detailed description of how PlymouthDamo (Damian on this forum) constructed a watertight foredeck hatch you need to read the latest version of the Shrike Build Manual, dated 1st March 2018. ("The Builders' Tips", Appendix A, at pages 41 and 42) If you don't have this version just download the plans again. If this solution doesn't suit you, please PM me to discuss this further. I hope you're enjoying the construction, and I'm very glad you are building a Shrike.
Nick.

[Mowgli]

Thanks Nick. That method looks good, if a little fiddly. I am leaning towards the Shrike Too deck profile now, so I can have a larger flat area at the front. It's not too late to trim down the foot bulkhead to the lower profile, and I've not built the masik yet. I'm planning to use flush wooden hatches - I did something similar on my first kayak many years ago, but with that being glassed inside and out, the curvature wasn't an issue. I'm hoping on the flat parts of the decks it should be much easier this time around! Planning to mount some small magnets into the hatch rim and hatch, with neoprene seals. The ones I did last time had elastic inside which works fine, but is a pain to get the lids on and off.

[nickcrowhurst]

Mowgli, that is beautiful work! Is that a Nick Schade design? I'm always concerned that flush wooden hatches will leak, bearing in mind my predilection for being frequently upside down, usually, but not always, voluntarily. I'd be grateful for details of your eventual solution. One strength of the project is that is collaborative, and I incorporate ideas from all over the globe into the Build Manuals.
Nick.

[Mowgli]

Thank you Nick! It is a Spring Run by Redfish Kayaks. I tend to avoid going upside down at all costs. The hatches do let some dribbles of water in if there are waves breaking over the decks, but everything is in dry bags so it's not really a problem.

[nickcrowhurst]

Lat week Peter M. and his Shrike found this beautiful beach near Fowey, Cornwall, UK :

[Mowgli]

Almost there - it needs a few more coats of varnish before Friday and it's taking a bit too long to go off. First outing might have to be with just one coat :-s

[nickcrowhurst]

Mowgli, that's very fast work. I confess I don't apply any varnish, and rely on our lack of sunshine to preserve the two coats of epoxy resin. I look forward to seeing a photo of you afloat in her. Well done.
Nick.

[nickcrowhurst]

Mike from Pembrokeshire is building this Vember for his wife, Mer, who is seen deciding on the cockpit and fitting-out details. The kayak's beam is reduced from the standard size as Mer is accustomed to paddling narrow kayaks. This again shows the flexibility of the design, enabling personal preference to dictate many of the dimensions. Mike chose to create a wood-strip deck, rather than the standard simple plywood deck.

[Mowgli]

I got the Shrike out last week in Scotland - fantastic weather! It paddled pretty much as I'd expected - fast and easy! Stability is actually a little better than I'd expected; I've not paddled a chined hull before. It's back in the garage now for all the bits I didn't quite get finished in time - more varnish, skeg slider, outfitting...

[nickcrowhurst]

Mowgli, great job! Paddling a kayak that you have built is very special. You'll find that she rolls nicely, especially with a Greenland stick. The Standard Greenland Roll onto the back deck then becomes effortless.
With your permission I'll put that photo in the Gallery on our website, along with over one hundred Shrikes where the builders have been kind enough to send me photos. http://cnckayaks.com/shrike/build-gallery/
Many thanks for letting us know about your build.
Nick

[Mowgli]

Nick,
I'll send you a better photo by email once I've sorted it out a little more, and some info on the magnetic hatches I used.
Thanks again for your plans and guidance,

[nickcrowhurst]

[nickcrowhurst]

Paolo from Italy has nearly finished his Shrike, but couldn't resist putting her in the water and trying out a few strokes. His message this morning:

Overall it’s a wonderful kayak, I love it! Stable, easy to turn, easy to roll.. you have all my greetings and gratefulness.
I will use the Shrike when I will attend the BCU sea kayak leader course 🙂

[nickcrowhurst]

Paul F. from near Plymouth has just sent me details of the Shrike LV he has recently completed:

"This is a 90% scale LV Shrike. I've previously built a full size 100% Shrike. The LV is easy to roll, at the expense of some stability compared with the 100% Shrike because of the narrower beam and shorter length.I fitted a second masik near the foot bulk head for extra strength but this is probably not really needed.
The kayak has been sheathed in glass cloth both inside and out. This does provide extra strength, but with a slight weight increase to approximately 12kg. (26 pounds).
If I build another LV I would provide more room in the foot area, as it's a little cramped there."