Building a Kayak with Common Lumber | Free Plans

In this video, I'm building a 10-ft sit-on top kayak using only common lumber, which is the way I build all my wooden boats. At this point, you

wooden boats. At this point, you regulars are probably beginning to suspect that I only know how to build flat bottom boats. Well, you're not

wrong. Flat bottom boats are a practical

wrong. Flat bottom boats are a practical everyman's utilitarian sort of craft and they're also very easy to build relative

to other designs. This kayak will be something like a very scaled down version of my sail and door skiffs.

Essentially the smallest possible Sharpie that will float a grown person.

If you're at all interested in building a boat like the ones in my fleet, you won't want to miss this video. I cover

each step of the build process in great detail. The process is generally the

detail. The process is generally the same for all the little flat bottom boats I build. Plans for this 10-ft sit- on top kayak are available for free as a

PDF download linked in the description.

There you'll also find a link to plans for my 12oot [Music]

pro and run one day with a tongue in his take a

fair was that this was around soon a weller come [Music]

The 10-ft kayak begins life as a pair of 1x8x 10 ft pine boards for the top sides. I select a 1x8 for the mold and

sides. I select a 1x8 for the mold and transom, a 1x10 for the forward bulkhead, and a 4x4 post for the stem.

Deck beams will be sewn from pine 1x3s and the bottom and decks will be plked with two sheets of 1/4in exterior plywood. It all goes together with

plywood. It all goes together with number eight deck screws and Loctite PL premium adhesive. As with all my

premium adhesive. As with all my designs, the general build process is to spring a pair of sideboards around a central trapezoid-shaped mold, fasten

the boards to the stem and stern, and plank the bottom. The hull is built upside down, and interior components in decks are installed. After turning it

upright, I begin work by sawing out the mold from a pine 1x8.

[Music] So now I've got my mold elevated up on posts, which is just a couple of 2 by sixes that are screwed to my strong

back. And the strong back is actually

back. And the strong back is actually fastened down to the concrete with masonry screws, which to me is the best way to do it. It really makes a huge

difference to have everything secured down when you're trying to bend your side planks in, especially so that you're not fighting a bunch of moving

parts. It's also a lot safer, too. So,

parts. It's also a lot safer, too. So,

now I'm ready to start thinking about cutting the rake to the bow and stern on my side planks that I have laying on the

floor here. I'm going to mark the center

floor here. I'm going to mark the center point on the inside of each plane. So,

these are 10 foot. I'm going to measure out five foot, make a little mark at 5 foot on each one. And then I'm

going to take a square and scribe a line all the way across.

And uh really it helps to do it on the inside and the outside of each board. And this is to help me align the

board. And this is to help me align the planks to the mold.

So what I will do when I'm fasting to the mold, take the board like this and using

that midpoint mark, line it up like that. And it does help to uh have it

that. And it does help to uh have it marked on both sides. I've marked out the stem and stern rake, which is just the angle of the balance stern when

viewed from the side of the boat. And

this is really what I'm talking about with designing on the fly. There's

really no rhyme or reason to how I've determined what this rake is. I'm just

trying to visualize in my mind what I want the boat to look like. And then I just take my square and position it

until it looks right. Or there may be just a practical reason. In this case, uh, one of the planks has a pretty bad

knot in the very butt end of the board.

So, I just angled the stern just enough to dodge that knot. I don't really want a uh very highly raaked stern on this

kayak. Uh, so I just gave it enough rake

kayak. Uh, so I just gave it enough rake um to give it give it a nice appearance and just to get around this knot.

[Music]

Oh, you se bearers come listen to me. Wait. Hey, blow the man down. I'm a

me. Wait. Hey, blow the man down. I'm a

poor river sailor back from Tennessee. Give me some time to blow the

Tennessee. Give me some time to blow the man down. Second day of the build here and

down. Second day of the build here and clearly I've taken a couple steps in the wrong direction. I've got the mold off

wrong direction. I've got the mold off of the posts and the sideboards laying on the shop floor here. Not ideal, but

this is to be expected in boat building, which is really just a series of problems to solve. If you don't enjoy solving problems to some degree, boat

building may not be for you. So, here's

what happened. As I was bending the planks in, I ran into that familiar problem that I had with the 12T pro row,

which is one of the sideboards was a lot more flexible than the other. And this

is very prone to happen with solid boards rather than plywood. Um, there's

a lot of variation from board to board.

I have a solution. It's the same solution that I used in the Pro build video, and I will show you what that is.

Just as in my Solo Pro 12 build, I'm having an issue where this board is a lot more flexible than the left side board. And

um so what I need to do is stiffen this one up so that the sides will bend evenly. And the easiest way to do it is

evenly. And the easiest way to do it is just to take a second board. And this is temporary. Temporarily screw on a second

temporary. Temporarily screw on a second board to your side plank. And the trick is it's going to take a little figuring out. It may take some trial and error to

out. It may take some trial and error to discover what the correct width and thickness and length of your piggyback

board needs to be. I have worked out after trying a few different boards that I've got a this is just a cedar uh fence

board. I think it's it's supposed to be

board. I think it's it's supposed to be like a half inch thick, but actually the thickness is all over the place. And

it's 6 in wide and about 6 feet long.

And I just have it centered up. But um

you may have to experiment and play around. Uh, but I find that this ends up

around. Uh, but I find that this ends up being a pretty simple solution that does work. So now I've just got some short

work. So now I've just got some short screws and I'm just going to screw it securely. And I have them just kind

it securely. And I have them just kind of alternating in a zigzag pattern. You

don't need a ton of screws, but you need enough. And yeah, there's going to be

enough. And yeah, there's going to be some little holes to fill in on the sideboard later on in the finishing process.

Gotta love Philip's head. It's pretty amazing what that

head. It's pretty amazing what that little stiffener board can do. You can

see there how much more of an even bend has been achieved. So, if you're having a problem with one of your side planks bending unevenly, go for the stiffener

board. It just takes a little patience

board. It just takes a little patience to find the right one. And you just have to experiment with some different widths is probably the most important thing as well as thicknesses. All right. Now, I'm

kneeling down in a pretty safe place here in the center.

So, I just wanted to mention the more that you bend these planks, the greater potential for catastrophe. So, uh definitely need to

catastrophe. So, uh definitely need to keep those safety lines going and uh you may want to reposition or um get some

some ratchet straps involved. Ratchet

straps are great because you can just tighten them up as you go. You can also use ratchet straps to make the bend. But

I'm just using just that's an old main sheet for my safety line. But so now that I've I've bent the planks a lot.

That's pretty slack. And rather than untie this, I don't want to untie that.

That would not be ideal. That would not be very safe. I'm just going to come in with a second rope and uh tighten it up.

Just lay it alongside there. So that way you never lose your

there. So that way you never lose your safety net. Got the stern set to the

safety net. Got the stern set to the width that I want it. Everything's still

just held together with clamps. The

stern is going to be something like 8 9 10 in wide. Just a little transom. And

then I'm going to rip my stem out of this Douglas fur 4x4 post.

And what I have to figure out here is what angle to rip it at. So it's

essentially going to be a triangle. When

you look at the end of it, at the end grain, it's going to be this triangle of the bow. So a handy tool for boat builders

bow. So a handy tool for boat builders for this type of thing is a T bevel. And

so right there, that's going to be the angle that I rip on my table saw to make the stem.

[Music] That basically is the stem. Now I'm just going to finish the cut with a handsaw. That's looking like a good fit

handsaw. That's looking like a good fit on the stem. So going to go ahead and glue and screw that and move on to building the transom.

[Music] [Music]

[Music] This is without a doubt the smallest

transom I've ever built. And I used to dread the process of building and installing the transom. Now it's just

kind of a minor nuisance to me. I' I've

done it quite a few times now. The

tricky part is always figuring out how to bevel the edges right there where the plank wraps around and intersects. And

uh that is one reason you may consider downloading my boat plans when they're available because I mean you can pretty

much build my boats from what I show you in the videos. But if you get the plans, you'll have the benefit of uh

learning the correct angle. You can just dial in the degrees on your saw and cut that without having to go through the difficulties that I

have to to figure that [Music]

out. The stern is looking pretty rough

out. The stern is looking pretty rough right now, but that's okay. That's all

going to get cleaned up and trimmed down as the build progresses. So,

this pine board I have under there, that's the brace that is holding the hole true and pretty dang

symmetrical. Kind of looks like a like a

symmetrical. Kind of looks like a like a dory, doesn't it? Looks a lot like a dory, actually, just in terms of its footprint. Now, I had read somewhere

footprint. Now, I had read somewhere that when you build a boat, you should dream and fantasize a little bit. And I

take that even further. I think it's okay to talk to your boat and uh even sing to it to help it along its path of

development to becoming a boat.

There once was a ship went to sea. Name

of that ship a te wind blew up and I dipped down

blow me. Bully boys will blow.

blow me. Bully boys will blow.

May the weather man come bring us coffee and rum and warm on the tongue

and tongue. Take a leave

and tongue. Take a leave and a fair sun on the town. Eyes were

green and her hair was brown. Soon too

late come around because the sides are flared out.

The mold here is a trapezoid shape. Uh

we have an edge here that needs to be removed and made flat so that we have a good joint to the plywood. And uh I use this as a

gauge. So I take my power

gauge. So I take my power planer and uh really you can just kind of do it by feel and then check yourself as you go. Just taking off a little bit

of material at a time until the whole surface is flat and checking yourself with this gauge. I'm not I'm not using the level feature of the

level. I'm just using this flat edge

level. I'm just using this flat edge laid across here to make sure that both sides are [Music]

flat. I cleaned up the stern a little

flat. I cleaned up the stern a little bit. There's still more to do on that.

bit. There's still more to do on that.

And the chines are planed flat and it's probably not necessary, but I go over them with a belt sander and some 80 grit, too. So, chines are ready to accept the

too. So, chines are ready to accept the bottom planking. And also cleaned up the bow.

planking. And also cleaned up the bow.

Got my 1/4 in plywood laid out and I'm about to trace and cut out the bottom.

You can see she's not much longer than a sheet of plywood. Eight foot on the bottom there. This is about 15 inches, I

bottom there. This is about 15 inches, I believe. Yeah. So, just a short little

believe. Yeah. So, just a short little 15-in piece for the bow there. And uh

this will have a little butt block on the interior. And that will be under the

the interior. And that will be under the uh bow deck.

It's always fun when you're tracing the bottom planking out cuz you get to look under the hole and say, "Hey, that looks like a

boat." An upside down boat, but a boat

boat." An upside down boat, but a boat [Music] [Music] [Music]

Got the big piece of the bottom on and I'm about to get the short piece on.

I'm using number eight by 1 and 5/8 [Music]

screws. It's now 8:00 in the evening and

screws. It's now 8:00 in the evening and I am dog tired. It's been a long day of boat building and that's the best kind

of long day that there is. got a lot done and you know videoing recording really slows me down quite a bit but that's just a part of it for me. I

cannot complain and uh you know I'm really fortunate that people enjoy watching me do this stuff. Thank you very much to

all of you viewers. I genuinely cannot do this without you. But, uh, I'm pretty pretty pleased with what I got done today on this little Dory kayak or

whatever it is. And I'm going to be back at it

is. And I'm going to be back at it tomorrow morning, bright and early. And,

uh, shouldn't be long before we get the hole turned over and turned right side up. I will see you in the morning.

up. I will see you in the morning.

[Music]

It is now the third day building this semi sit on top kayak and I'm about 20 minutes away from turning the hole

upright. height. Just have one task to

upright. height. Just have one task to complete first, which is planing the fat off of the overhanging edge of the bottom planking. So, you see this lip

bottom planking. So, you see this lip right here of the plywood where the edge just barely sticks out over the sideboard. That's something that I do

sideboard. That's something that I do deliberately. I've just found that I get

deliberately. I've just found that I get a much closer, nicer looking fit by cutting the plywood just a little bit fatter than the footprint of the hole

and then coming back with a power planer and a belt sander and sanding it down to be flush with the sideboard. And you can

get it almost perfect that way.

[Music] I've taken that edge down as much as I can without getting into the side planks and gouging the side planks like I did

right there. But not not too bad. I've

right there. But not not too bad. I've

done a lot worse than that before. And

uh you know, I'm not everyone knows I'm not really uh one to try and achieve a very high level of finish. You know, my boats are pretty rough and actually kind

of like that aesthetic in a way. Haven't

quite got to the point of purposefully antiquing them like you might a guitar, but you know, I'm not opposed to it.

This is an example of what can happen if you don't drill pilot holes. Plywood has split out right

holes. Plywood has split out right there. I was just being careless with

there. I was just being careless with that one screw.

[Music]

All right, it's definitely looking like a boat. Kind of looks like a sawed off

a boat. Kind of looks like a sawed off dory in a way, doesn't it? So, if I get down at ground level,

it? So, if I get down at ground level, you can see the profile of the bottom of the hull a little better. And that stern is swept up

better. And that stern is swept up pretty high. I'm wondering how that's

pretty high. I'm wondering how that's going to affect handling.

I'm thinking this is going to be a great little creek boat for the smallest creeks. And the plan

creeks. And the plan is to deck in the entire stern from that center bulkhead all the way back to the

transom will be decked in and watertight. Basically making this like a

watertight. Basically making this like a sit- on top kayak. So I'm sitting on my cooler to simulate deck height. I will

have the aderond deck style seat mounted up on top of the deck here, putting me at about this height right here. And it

feels pretty good. You know, I'm going to have to play with seat position for an aft. And I really don't have a ton of

an aft. And I really don't have a ton of room to be able to move it. It's going

to have to be balanced just right. Uh

because this is a a short short little kayak. I I would not want to paddle

kayak. I I would not want to paddle anything shorter. Uh, you could go a

anything shorter. Uh, you could go a little shorter, but it's not going to be a very enjoyable floating experience.

Maybe maybe for a river, just floating down a river. If you get down to uh like the 8ft overall range

for average to smaller sized adults, you can do all right, but uh 10 foot is a pretty good length for a recreational kayak. I have said before really I don't

kayak. I have said before really I don't like to go shorter than 12 for any kind of boat and I still stand by that. Just

wanted to try something different here. And uh the interesting thing will

here. And uh the interesting thing will be to see how the the 8 in width of the sideboards does. I think that's about

sideboards does. I think that's about the right depth for a decked out sit on top kayak like this.

Got the upper edge of the stern trimmed up right there. And also planed down the upper edge of the sideboards in order to

accept the big old stern deck. Got the

stem trimmed flush nicely. And I'm

definitely going to have some type of for deck. Don't know how long it's going

for deck. Don't know how long it's going to be, but you know, my feet end up being like right here. Uh, so I'll probably have some some little brace boards right around there. And then the

for deck. And I think I do want to make

for deck. And I think I do want to make the four deck crowned.

[Music]

Got my deck beams and lattice finished and looking pretty robust there near the middle of the hole. And as you move a

gets a little lazier with just one stringer and continue moving towards the stern. It's getting very lazy with the

stern. It's getting very lazy with the with one little stick of wood there. I

just added that in because I had it left over, so might as well. It's probably

not completely necessary, but why not? And moving up towards the

not? And moving up towards the bow, I have my butt block, which is probably oversized considering how short the bow

piece is. That piece of bow planking

piece is. That piece of bow planking right there, it's only about 10 or 11 in. And uh you do not have to cut these

in. And uh you do not have to cut these perfectly to fit the hole the hole, but just try to get them

close. I'll use some little 3/4 in sheet

close. I'll use some little 3/4 in sheet metal screws just because that's what I have on hand. And uh the the way to

install anything in the we'll say in the BGE of the boat inside on the bottom.

Uh, so I would mark the position with a pencil on both sides and then based on my pencil marks, drill pilot

holes and then go under the boat and counter sync those holes with the butt block back in place

and then uh screw it in from beneath. So

you're you're driving screws into the butt block from underneath the boat. Cuz if you try to drive them down

boat. Cuz if you try to drive them down this way through the butt block into the bottom planking, that's not going to work out so well because the bottom planking is way too thin to hold a

screw. Really plywood in general doesn't

screw. Really plywood in general doesn't hold a screw, but especially very thin quarter inch.

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

Ah. Good coffee. All right, day four of

Ah. Good coffee. All right, day four of working on this thing. This little 10-ft kayak. And the current task is putting

kayak. And the current task is putting the deck on. Got the deck cut out already. Got the plywood cut out. It's

already. Got the plywood cut out. It's

just quarterinch plywood just like the bottom. And I'm preparing to seal up

bottom. And I'm preparing to seal up half of the boat forever. going to seal it up with PL premium and deck screws.

And well, it it won't be impossible to remove, but it will not be very easy.

So, the idea is to have a watertight half of the boat um to really make it pretty safe and give it a lot of built-in

flotation. And in fact, depending on how

flotation. And in fact, depending on how I end up decking out the bow, it'll probably float almost as well

upside down as it will right side up.

So, this is kind of the fun part of the build for me, getting it decked out and fitted out and really creating a working boat here.

[Music] [Music] So before I seal this thing up forever, I'm just sitting on it one more time

with the deck to to make sure that it is supportive enough. And it really is.

supportive enough. And it really is.

This this deck is rigid. the uh the lattice work is doing its job. And not

only that, I think I can actually walk around on this thing. Not that I would actually do that because this boat is way too short for

that. All right, the back end of this

that. All right, the back end of this thing is permanently sealed up. Sealed

up forever. So, if you're building a boat like this, that could be a very bad place to set down your keys, your wallet, or even a beer. Set a beer down

in there and seal it up. Man, that

thing's going to rattle to no end when you're paddling. So, I think what I have here

paddling. So, I think what I have here in front of me now is half a surfboard and half a skiff.

It is the skiff board or the uh surf skiff or something. All right, the deck is glued

something. All right, the deck is glued and sealed up with PL premium and screwed down with little small headed

deck screws. Got this bulkhead in using

deck screws. Got this bulkhead in using the very last drop of PL premium. And if

you look right here, add a little bust through with this screw. That can be kind of tricky sometimes when you you

get several funky angles going on. Can

be kind of hard to drive that screw straight. Sometimes they just have a

straight. Sometimes they just have a tendency to want to deflect to one side.

So, you got to watch out for that. I'm

going to back that one out and do the best I can to patch up that hole and drive another one somewhere else. All right, day five. Working on

else. All right, day five. Working on

the unsinkable 10-ft kayak. Didn't get

much sleep last night. Kind of running on fumes here, but I've got a boat to build. So, that's what what coffee is

build. So, that's what what coffee is made for. Trying to push through and get

made for. Trying to push through and get this thing finished up. Current task

sealing up the bow with the for deck forever. That part of the hole will be

forever. That part of the hole will be sealed until the end of time. Hopefully

that does make it unsinkable. It It

ought to. I mean, we got a a lot of flotation here. Uh, pretty sure just the

flotation here. Uh, pretty sure just the stern deck, all this built-in flotation alone would be definitely be enough to

to uh keep the kayak floating if it were swamped or overturned. I don't know how stable it would be, but with this flotation in the bow, I'm thinking it

ought to be pretty stable, but that is yet to be seen until the day of testing,

the old uh swamp test.

[Music]

The for deck is finished and sealed up, never to be opened again. Very ominous.

And I've also made this little cedar combing board. And that will work in conjunction

board. And that will work in conjunction with the deck just to help keep water out of the cockpit or out of the footwell uh in a

chop. And also, this is the same

chop. And also, this is the same material, same uh cedar fence board material that the seat will be made out of. So that'll kind of visually tie

of. So that'll kind of visually tie together having a uh a little bit of of uh oiled or stained cedar near the bow

and having some near the middle of the boat. This is the inner stem, the actual

boat. This is the inner stem, the actual structural stem of the boat that is in there that joins the two sideboards of the kayak at the bow.

So now what I do, and this is what I do on all my skiffs and Sharpies and and any of my boats that come to a point, I

just take some more 4x4 stock Douglas fur. It's the same stuff I make the true

fur. It's the same stuff I make the true stem out of. And I'm going to cut this so that it it uh comes to a point

almost. And uh usually I make it so that

almost. And uh usually I make it so that it overlaps the four deck a little bit.

So, I have my 4x4 material ripped to the same width as the bow right there.

Perfect match. And now I'm going to cut a little shelf to to allow the outer stem to hook over the deck. And uh all

you really have to do is take some sort of straight edge. It could be anything really, a a board, whatever you got. And

you just want to transfer that line. So, I'm just going to have my

that line. So, I'm just going to have my hook to come out about one inch. So, the

stem will overlap about one inch.

Thank you.

can be kind of tricky to get this notch just right, especially since your best option, kind of the only option is to use a handsaw. I'm not real particular

about getting it to fit perfect, but uh gonna have to make an improvement on this one. So, somehow I got way off on

this one. So, somehow I got way off on the angle. I'm just going to redraw that

the angle. I'm just going to redraw that and make that little shortcut again, which is why I leave myself plenty of extra board when I'm doing this for

mistakes like that. There's the top of the stem cut straight.

And I've got two final cuts to make. So

down here, we're just going to match it to the bottom. But actually, the angle is not matched. I find it's a good idea

to actually kind of rake that up a little bit. It just makes the bow less

little bit. It just makes the bow less prone to crashing into things when you're coming ashore and that type of thing. So, better to have a little bit

thing. So, better to have a little bit of an upward angle on the outer stem there. And then

the final cut is ripping the angle to bring the bow to a point or almost a point. I'll

probably leave about half inch to 3/4 of flat actually.

And I don't really worry about exactly matching the angle of the sideboards.

Um, it can kind of be just whatever angle works out and it really doesn't seem to make a big difference visually.

All right. So, other than a little bit of sanding, this basically is the stem. That can seem a little bit complicated if you haven't

made one before, but it's basically just following a series of steps. And I think I've got the order down. The order

really does matter. Um cuz just think if you were to rip the angle, if that was the first thing you did, well, now you're going to have you're not going to have a flat

surface for setup for making all the other cuts. So, that's why I've

other cuts. So, that's why I've determined it's best to rip the angle as the very last step. And there's a lot of different

step. And there's a lot of different ways uh you can make these. It'd be a lot simpler if you just left off the

sort of headstock piece and just made it a wedge. You could totally do that.

a wedge. You could totally do that.

Working on the seat right now. So, I've

got a pair of rails jigsawed out of a 3/4 inch cedar

board. And uh then I also have right

board. And uh then I also have right here, this is a very cheap half inch thick cedar fence board. And these are

like $3 a piece or something like that.

And what I'm going to do with this is rip this into several smaller slats. And I'm going to use those little

slats. And I'm going to use those little staves to plank out the bottom of the seat and the back rest.

And so I have these rails extending almost as far back as they can go to the stern so that behind the seat I can

either drill some holes in the rails or add fair leads or cleats even uh just as a way to secure gear in the stern.

Doesn't look like much right now but it's coming along. Originally, I was just going to have the two outer frames, but I ended up adding one in the middle

because I realized these little slats are a bit squishier than I expected. I'm actually

going to assemble this thing on the hole. Um, but I kind of have have these

hole. Um, but I kind of have have these frames temporarily screwed down cuz I'm going to have to remove the seat before I paint the hole and then permanently

install it later cuz the seat's going to be either oiled or stained and the hole

is going to be painted.

[Music]

It definitely looks a lot smaller with the seed on there giving you that scale of the size of an actual person. It's a

small 10-ft kayak. And in fact, I actually haven't taken an overall length measurement as of yet, but it's it's probably 9 ft something would be my

guess after bending the planks. Day six of the 10-ft kayak

planks. Day six of the 10-ft kayak project. So, I've got the boat down on

project. So, I've got the boat down on the shop floor to test out my seat, and it's actually really comfortable. I'm

liking this seat design. The design for the seat was actually inspired by a random midcentury beach chair that I saw

uh listed for sale somewhere, an antique. I thought, "Wow, that looks

antique. I thought, "Wow, that looks really cool." I was like, "That would

really cool." I was like, "That would that would make a perfect kayak seat."

So, now task at hand. Uh remove the seat from the hole and uh got to do some finishing on the seat. Just a little sanding and stuff like that. Got to make

a trip to the hardware store for some nuts and bolts. Get a couple coats of Bullseye 123 on it. And then some type of finish on the seat. Don't know what

yet.

I like the fact that Bullseye 123 gives you plenty of color choices. You can get it in gray or even white.

It's the seventh and final day of the 10-ft kayak build. You can hear that pitter patter of rain falling on the

shop roof, and that's not ideal for finishing up painting the 10-ft kayak.

Got the bottom and the sideboards painted yesterday. Uh when the air was

painted yesterday. Uh when the air was still pretty dry, we're not building a showboat here. As long as the paint

showboat here. As long as the paint sticks reasonably well, it'll be okay.

[Music]

Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey.

Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey.

[Music] Bing.

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So, I'm just staging a little testing and filming out of the truck bed here along the tank and I've paddled this thing around a little bit. At first I

was leaning towards calling it a little bit tippy, but now I've settled on a different adjective, sporty. It It is kind of sporty. It's

sporty. It It is kind of sporty. It's

very maneuverable, which I guess is perhaps one of the few advantages of a shorter boat. And uh that actually makes

shorter boat. And uh that actually makes this little kayak perfect for getting back in the smallest creeks. And uh man, she turns on a

dime. Let me show you my little cargo

dime. Let me show you my little cargo stash situation here. So, these are just the seat rails, extended aft, and then I

have this one little beam there just to kind of keep things from sliding off.

And I've got a old main sheet rope tied off to a fair lead. You put your dry bag on there and then we've got a cleat over

here and you just cinch it down and cleat it off. And it can carry a small dry bag.

off. And it can carry a small dry bag.

Just kind of drifting with the wind right now. I'm floating in about two or

right now. I'm floating in about two or three foot of water. Nearing the back of the creek. It's starting to narrow out.

the creek. It's starting to narrow out.

And got a few geese back here that aren't too pleased about my presence.

I'm going to keep my distance, but they probably think I'm too close as it is.

But, uh, boat is doing great. I'm

enjoying it. Just a fun little

it. Just a fun little boat. And this is the perfect area for

boat. And this is the perfect area for it back here. Back in the flats, about to get into the narrower creek. And I

have noticed on my downwind paddle to get back here kind of paddling and just floating. Uh, as soon as you quit

floating. Uh, as soon as you quit applying steering strokes, it has a tendency just to want to spin around and round up into the wind. You can see that's kind of what's

wind. You can see that's kind of what's happening right now.

Um, so she she would benefit from a Skeg in terms of straight line tracking, but I intentionally left out a Skeg on this because I actually want to maintain that

really tight turning radius because I intend to use this kayak mainly in very confined creeks in shallow water. So, I actually

consider it a benefit for this boat to be able to turn on a dime. as it does.

But if you wanted something like this that tracked better, you could just put a little SKG on it. And I would probably

not recommend that anyone much bigger than myself. Uh should paddle this 10-ft

than myself. Uh should paddle this 10-ft kayak sort of skiff board type thing

might actually be a a good name for it.

Um, I'm about uh around about 150 lbs right now. And people probably noticed

right now. And people probably noticed I've I've lost a few pounds over the winter. I'll just say it was a hard

winter. I'll just say it was a hard winter. But, uh, if you were much taller

winter. But, uh, if you were much taller or heavier than myself, this might not be the best boat for you. But, uh, for a

smaller, lighter person, this thing definitely has some utility.

Shady road, my little love. Shady road,

I say. Shady Grove, my little love, bound

say. Shady Grove, my little love, bound to go away.

cheeks as red as a bloom and rose. Eyes

burn as brown. She's the darling of my heart.

brown. She's the darling of my heart.

Sweetest little thing in town. Shady Grove, my love, Shady Grove,

town. Shady Grove, my love, Shady Grove, I say. Shady Grove, my love, you're bound

say. Shady Grove, my love, you're bound to go away.

Wish I had big finals corn to feed them on. Shady Grove stay at home. Feed him

on. Shady Grove stay at home. Feed him

when I'm gone. Shady Grove my little love. Shady

gone. Shady Grove my little love. Shady

Grove I say. Shady Grove my little love. Bound

say. Shady Grove my little love. Bound

to go our way.

Got two squirrels barking at me here. I

guess this is their creek. So, just some end of the day

creek. So, just some end of the day thoughts after a day of testing. The

10-ft kayak. I think probably its greatest

kayak. I think probably its greatest attribute is its ability to slide back into some really tight spots like this

creek I'm in. I'm back in a creek, basically surrounded by uh fallen timber and branches. None of

the other boats that I've built uh could get into here, but it's like it's just easy with this thing. You can go anywhere. Anywhere the water is wide

anywhere. Anywhere the water is wide enough for this thing to slip through, you can just put it there. And it's also

very shallow drafted, super portable. Um, not really heavy despite

portable. Um, not really heavy despite being all wood and being fully decked.

Uh, there's a lot of good things to say about this. Uh, probably its weakest

about this. Uh, probably its weakest point is it's a 10-ft kayak. It's really

small and, uh, maybe even on the narrow side. And some people would find it a

side. And some people would find it a little bit tippy, but you know, I'm just used to these flat bottom boats, even the narrower ones. The narrow ones can be a

narrower ones. The narrow ones can be a little bit tippy, and they do lack that reserve stability, but uh this is a pretty utilitarian craft overall, I

think. And I'm also really happy with

think. And I'm also really happy with just how it turned out as far as appearance. I think it's actually a

appearance. I think it's actually a pretty good-look boat.

You can download the free plans for this 10-ft sit- on top kayak linked in the description of this video. The plans

include three pages of detailed CAD drawings and all critical dimensions and angles. Also consider taking a look at

angles. Also consider taking a look at my growing library of small boat plans on cumberland rover.com, especially the

Solo Pro 12, a 12T flat bottom canoe that includes a sail plan and rigging diagram with the plans. I appreciate

your support and thank you very much for watching.

[Music] [Music] Next time on Cumberland Rover, we find out if I was speaking from my lazarette when I said this. It'll probably float

almost as well upside down. It's the

swamp and capsize test for the 10-ft sit on top kayak. At the very least, it should be entertaining. Turn it, turtle.

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