The progress of the Play

As I was sanding the Petrel Play plug for what seems the hundredth time, something occurred to me. I have been accurately called obsessive and a perfectionist. These are descriptions that I wear proudly. After all, it landed me in my own dust filled shop with my name attached to it, building boats for a living. The thought seemed so profound, at the moment, that I immediately snapped a photo and crafted a post on facebook, "The madness of seeking perfection is that it is not found in the final product. It is a culmination of perfecting each step along the way".

The plug is a unique creature. Since the mold will be created from it, any imperfection or wobbly line, will be repeated over and over. Every step in it's construction has been an adventure in striving for my best. As I was pushing and pulling the fairing board across the surface, I quickly rewound all that has gone into its creation. From Nick's brain, to design, followed by an email with the drawings. This boat has risen from a thumb drive to an actual 3D object that looks like a kayak. How did all this happen?

It started with a conversation on the drive back from Stonington to Nick's house. We had just spent a day in the tide races of the Fishers Island Sound. I asked the question, "have you ever thought about building your boats out of fiberglass or carbon"? The rest is history. Turning Point Kayaks was in its infancy, just an idea with a new found purpose.


Fast forward to April, The shop is up and running and the day arrives that Nick has finalized the form patterns. I download them to a thumb drive and headed to Office Max to have them printed. Finally, I was actually working on THE boat that I had anticipated for almost a year. Forms were cut, strongback built. Piece by piece, the dream was becoming a reality. Every piece of wood stapled to the forms was a step closer. There were no set rules for building the plug. I made mistakes and came up with creative solutions. The requirements were; the shape be absolutely correct, it had to be light weight for easy maneuvering and storage, the surface had to be as perfect as possible and it had to be dimensionally stable as not to change during the molding process.

The beginning

First real look at the shape of the Play

Stripping the hull

The Completed hull

The Deck and hull undergoing a trial fit

Forming the Cockpit recess

Forward hatch recess

The recesses trimmed

Every step in the process of building was an exercise in obsession with perfection. My build philosophy has always been to always be proactive in a build. Address issues immediately and never hope the are hidden in the next step. The build up of the plug was no exception. Sure, I could have taken short cuts here and there. There is a price to pay at some point when a short cut was taken. I decided at the beginning to take each step to completion the best way I kew how. I obsessed over strip fit, making sure the shape was as designed and making sure the surface was fair. Once both halves were stripped, I spent more time than I would like to admit, fairing with my air file and hand fairing board. Then came fiberglass and another round of fairing after the entire surface was skimmed with body filler. Once the surface primer was sprayed on the boat, I could start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Hand fairing the primer has been a joy, because all of the care taken in the previous steps.

Glassed and skim coat of filler applied to perfect the shape

Ready for Surfacing Primer

Top is primed

The polishing process is a lengthy endeavor. The surface was sanded five more times to get ti prepared for buffing. Since the primer had been sanded with 220 to ensure it was flat, the next step was 320 grit. Then came wet sanding with 400, 600, 800 and finally 1000 grit sandpaper. After the first pass with the buffer I was elated with the results. The surface is perfectly "flat". no waves or distortions. My approach to fit and finish will rival the standard that most luxury car manufacturers utilize. My frustration at this point is that I am buffing out primer. It will never have the reflectivity of a gel coat or paint. The object of this exercise is to perfect the surface, the mold and every boat produced from it, will only be as good as this plug. No pressure...

The before shot during the hand fairing process

After fairing with the long board. using an x-pattern ensures a flat surface

The lines are starting to emerge. They are crisp and even.

The bottom getting the treatment

Got a little goofy during one of the five rounds of sanding

After the first cut with rubbing compound

Half of the bottom polished. Six coats of wax are the next step.

So there it is. A touch up in a few small places and then it gets six coats of wax. Mold construction starts next week. Once completed, hull #1 can be built. Lots of little details to work out, but we are getting ever closer to being able to build truly custom kayaks.