Skinning

I dug out the skin I've been saving for over a year, 8.9 oz junior ballistic nylon from Spirit Line.  It was in a dusty cardboard box in the corner of the garage.  See the "18" on it?  That means it's for an 18 ft kayak -- a little short for my new frame.  So I had to cut a little piece off the side and stitch it on the end to make it work. 

I'm using a variation of Brian Schulz's skinning method.  He stitches a pocket on the bow, then takes the pocket off and moves it about 4 inches aft, stitches a pocket on the stern, then lies on the ground and putting both feet on the first deck beam pulls and stretches the skin so that the bow pops back into the pocket.  That gives the skin longitudinal tension.  He stitches a cord in a zig zag along the length of the deck to tension the skin before closing it with a "whip stitch" along the center of the deck.  It really works well!  The only thing different about my method is that my seam will be crooked. That way I don't have to worry about pinning the skin to the keelson and trying to keep everything even and straight.  The paradox with these replicas is that the messier the job you do on them, the more beautiful and authentic they look.  I call it "crude beauty". 

Comments

[derrick]

it's always amazing to stop by and see what you do. Amazing stuff.

[Andrew]

Thanks, Derrick. Glad to see you stop by.