Rob’s F1, Victoria BC

Introduction

I’m late in posting about my build, as the kayak is now complete.  However, I thought I’d take the time to document how things went in case it provides some value to others. I’ll start by saying that I really enjoyed the process of building the F1, and I found the quality of the courses and plans to be extremely high.  For anybody interested in sea kayaking and woodworking, I’d strongly recommend taking on this project.  You can do it, really.  Certainly, if I can produce a decent skin boat on my first try, then I think it’s possible for most people to achieve using the Cape Falcon system.

As background, I’m an experienced ocean paddler living in Victoria, British Columbia.  My wife and I own sea kayaks and have been paddling in the Salish Sea around Vancouver Island for many years. We normally do day trips in the area, but on occasion we’ve also done multi-night kayak camping trips.  Since the pandemic, I’ve developed a woodworking hobby and have been dreaming of building a skin-on-frame boat.  In 2020 I carved my first Greenland paddle using a 2×4 bought from Home Depot (mistake!).  I did this with hand planes and no power tools.  Since then, I’ve been keen to learn more about traditional boat building techniques and take on a bigger project.  My search naturally led me to Cape Falcon and the resources created by Brian and team.

I have practical reasons for wanting to build a skin-on-frame boat.  We live near the ocean, but access is a bit tricky.  The walk to the beach is about 200m and involves an awkward 75 stairs at the end.  It just isn’t practical to carry my Delta sea kayak (17’ long, 50 lbs empty) up and down those stairs to go for a quick paddle.  I wanted a smaller, lighter weight boat that would allow me to opportunistically go down and play in the bay for an hour or two.  I also didn’t want to sacrifice performance, and needed a boat that would allow me to progress my sea kayaking skills.  The F1 was really the ideal solution for this situation.

Build Specs

Model: Cape Falcon F1, 225 lb Classic plan set

Modifications and options:

• Stubby version (gunwales 3” shorter than normal) – saves a bit of weight and length which helps my use case
• Rear Catamaran bungee loop setup (no rear deck stringers, no rear leather deck lines) – I really like this arrangement to support paddle float self-rescues, and I have something similar on my Delta sea kayak
• Slightly wider and less tall forward deck stringer per Catamaran implementation (although I didn’t implement a forward Catamaran attachment)
• Bought the F1 kit from Cape Falcon including the medium sized coaming and black HDPE toggle and rub strip blanks – this is all super high value stuff and you will have a tough time sourcing these items individually for the same cost; also, buying the coaming saved a lot of work and took one major risk item off the table in terms of build quality
• Added rear drain hole + plug
• Added clips for mounting bilge pump under the front deck
• Added extra “liquid keel” coating
• Outfitting – Therma Rest Ridgeline mat for the seating material, perimeter deck lines (5mm reflective nylon rope), additional bungee strap made from kit leftover material, bow and stern leather loops, front leather deck lines with toggles, custom Reed spray-skirt purchased from Cape Falcon
• Flotation – bought the TRAK 60L flotation bags, one for bow and one for stern

Materials:

• Frame – Western Red Cedar, with a few pieces of Fir and Oak used for solid deck beam #4 and also the rear deck reinforcements in lieu of stringers
• Ribs – White Oak (green “bending” stock, not kiln dried)
• Skin – 840 Xtra Tough nylon from skinboats.org
• Coating – 2-part polyurethane system from skinboats.org: 1 full order, +1 half order, + 1 touch-up kit (note: I used almost all of the coating applying 4 full coats on the hull, plus an extra liquid keel coat, plus 3 full coats on the deck)
• Colour – No dye or pigment used, I went with bare fabric and coating

Time and Effort

I worked on my build on a part time basis starting on January 25^th 2024 and ending on July 27^th 2024, a full six months.  I used spare time on evenings and weekends to make progress, which tended to happen in fits and spurts.  In total I logged 136 hours of effort over this period.  This included any time I was working on the build or practicing techniques related to the build, as well as time spent making the jigs/forms and any required shop setup.  I didn’t include time spent running around buying materials and tools (e.g. trips to Home Depot).  I did include time watching the course videos, which was often done simultaneously with practicing and performing some of the steps.

Most of the effort was spent completing the frame. The total effort broke down as follows:

• Frame complete: @ 96 hours
• Skinned: @ 111 hours (+15)
• Coated: @ 125 hours (+11)
• Outfitted: @ 136 hours (+9)

I fully expect that if I do this again, the frame production will go significantly faster.  Many of the woodworking techniques were new to me, and I had to learn them on the fly.  I spent a lot of time doing things like drilling dozens of practice mortises before I cut into my actual gunwales.  I also spent a full morning practicing rib bending and producing the various required shapes.  Note: this also required cutting a bunch of extra rib stock.  I was perhaps more methodical than required, but I think this approach improved the quality of what I produced.  Part of my motivation for the project was developing my woodworking skills, so for me it was all time well spent.

Tools and Shop Setup

I had a bunch of pre-existing tools from previous woodworking projects, and I added to this collection in order to complete the kayak.  Some of these tools will obviously be beneficial for future projects, so it’s not fair to consider these a one-off investment strictly for the kayak.  However, it’s worth planning for the associated cost of buying or renting tools that are essential for completing the process. Here’s a summary of what I had in my shop before, and the things I decided to buy (note that I’m focusing on major cost items, this is not an exhaustive list):

Pre-existing tools in my shop (all were extensively used in the build):

• Table saw, 10” blade
• Compound mitre saw (“chop” saw), 10” blade
• Battery powered hand drill and separate driver, including extensive bit set
• Drill press – not used a lot, but useful for a few key high-precision tasks
• Jig saw
• Power planer
• Hand planes (block plane, bench plane, Japanese rasp) plus sharpening stones
• Japanese hand saw – get a high quality one for cutting the tenons!
• Saw horses – buy or build some high quality ones
• Adjustable work bench/table – I had an existing one, and built an additional 8’ long table for this project
• Shop vac or other vacuum system
• Digital calipers
• Various adjustable clamps

New tools I bought to complete the build:

• 12” Bench-top Thickness planer – I bought a relatively cheap unit from Home Depot and it worked very well, this was an extremely good investment and I will use it for future projects; I can’t emphasize enough how much I depended on this, it was essential for milling down my lumber to the right dimensions
• Plunge router and special bits (1/4” and 3/8” extra-long spiral upcut bits); necessary for cutting the mortises
• Countersink drill bit set – useful for many woodworking projects
• Radius planes – I bought a set of these from Lee Valley in lieu of a “Slickplane” which I could not source online; these worked well as a substitute
• Wallpaper steamer – great solution for the rib bending steam rig
• Fabric cutter (hot knife) – great solution for cutting the skin fabric

Tools I borrowed but didn’t buy:

• Band saw – I used my friend’s band saw to cut the cedar strips for the laminated deck beams as well as the rib stock and a few other tasks like cutting the stem shapes

I decided that it wasn’t safe to use my table saw for cutting thin strips of wood and found that the band saw worked extremely well for producing the ribs and laminated deck beam pieces.  In the future, I plan to buy a band saw but was fortunately able to borrow my friend’s high end saw for these tasks.

I was a little surprised at the cost of clear, knot-free wood.  I spent roughly $1000 (Canadian dollars) on wood, including a 23-foot-long plank of knot-free Western Red Cedar “canoe stock” that cost over $400 for a single board. One additional 8-foot 4×4 knot free cedar beam was about $200.  I compared prices at several local shops and either couldn’t source sufficient lengths of wood of the right quality or couldn’t find better prices.  I was pleased with my rib stock – I was able to locally source some wet White Oak (from a company called West Wind Hardwoods). The plank cost about $200 and had excellent grain.  I should note that while I used nearly all the cedar I purchased, there is enough left over from the 4×4 to make a full-sized Greenland paddle.  So I’m going to do that using the Cape Falcon plans.  Wood prices seem to have gone a bit crazy since the pandemic, I’m not sure if this is universal or particularly a Canadian problem.

I have no regrets buying the F1 kit items from Cape Falcon – they were high-quality and I would not have been able to source these easily on my own.  I’m especially happy with the cockpit coaming which would have been intimidating to attempt on my first build.  Now that I’ve done some steam bending, I think I could have a go at that but I’m glad that I simplified my life for this project and bought the coaming.

Things that Went Well

• Working outdoors – I set up my shop outside under the carport, protected from the rain and somewhat from the wind. We are lucky to have mild winters in the Pacific northwest, and conditions were generally fine for completing the project.  Even as summer approached, it never got too hot.  I would work outside again except for the coating process (see more below).
• Mortises – I did not have prior experience using a plunge router and was nervous about cutting the mortises.  However, I was diligent in making my jigs (especially the angled mortise jig) and spent hours practicing on simulated gunwales before making my actual cuts.  I was very pleased how the mortise cuts turned out.  One thing to mention is that I ended up buying an extra-long 3/8” router bit (4” total length) which is the longest I could source online.  This was necessary to get sufficient plunge depth for the angled mortises – I wasn’t going to get enough depth with a standard length bit.  This is something to be aware of as you are building your angled jig setup.
• Rib stock and bending – This was another step I was nervous about, but in the end it turned out just fine.  The White Oak plank I bought was excellent, and I was able to cut the grain to obtain a large number of very high quality ribs.  I practiced the bending process with spare ribs for several hours, and this gave me the confidence to achieve the right shapes with the right timing.  In the end I had fun with the rib bending, obtained good shapes, and only split one production rib in the process which was easily replaced with a spare.  If you’re organized and make enough ribs to practice, this process will go well.

• Skin tightness – I ended up with really tight skin, like a drum, after wetting and ironing.  Very few wrinkles.  This was good, although the downside was that there were tiny tear holes at every single lashing location on the deck.  These took extra effort to patch during the coating process.
• Coating in general – the product from skinboats.org worked exactly as described in the course, and I had no issues mixing and applying the coating.
• Liquid keel – this turned out to be easy to set up and execute, and the coating was the right consistency after sitting for 20 minutes post mix (at approx. 68 F ambient temperature).  Definitely worth doing to provide extra keel protection.  Note that I did not mount an additional rub strip on the bow.
• Support from Brian – he is not kidding, if you contact him with a problem or question, he will absolutely respond and help you resolve the issue.  I had several minor crises, and he promptly helped me find solutions.  His support and encouragement during the process were much appreciated, thank-you Brian!

Challenges Overcome

• Deck beam tenon adjustments – With the deck beams installed (but not yet pegged) I ended up with some small gaps in some of the mortise/tenon joints; I attempted to fix these in situ with my Japanese saw, but I botched this and just made things worse as I ended up cutting into the gunwales.  In the future I would not try to fix the gaps in situ, I would instead remove the deck beam and re-work the joint on the bench, then re-install and check.
• Lashing – I ended up re-doing most of the keel lashings and sections of the stringer lashings; I found that after initial lashing things eventually became slack/loose and I wanted to tighten up the connections.  Also, to straighten the keel and adjust the stringer positions at the stern I finally had to cut parts of the lashing to adjust the position, then re-lash.  In the future I wouldn’t use one continuous lashing along the length of the kayak, I’d probably lash and tie off in sections knowing I was likely to re-do some portions.
• Lashing knot – Somehow, in the process of all my re-lashings, I ended up with a knot in the sinew that was on the outside of one of the stringers; I didn’t notice this until after the skin was on and there was a small lump protruding out.  I couldn’t resolve the problem so just coated over it.  In the future, I would double check every single lashing to verify there are no knots that could poke into the skin.

• Streaks on the fabric – After wetting down the fabric and ironing, I was left with vertical streaks in the hull; these are subtle but visible up close.  Brian warns about this in the videos, but even following the course instructions closely I couldn’t prevent these streaks.  It has something to do with “starch” in the fabric that bleeds out when you apply water. This is potentially an argument for coloring the boat as opposed to leaving the fabric bare.  The streaks are fairly uniform though, and cosmetically it is not terrible to look at.  Almost like tiger striping.
• Coating outdoors – I coated the hull outside under my carport and it turned into a giant flypaper; I tried to remove bugs from the sticky hull with tweezers, only partially successfully. Ended up moving the kayak inside the house to coat the deck.  I would not recommend coating outdoors, I’m sure Brian covered this in the course and I just missed it.

• Deck coating coverage – The coating did not end up penetrating parts of the rear deck seam, and there were also a few slightly bare spots around the rim of the coaming (not at the coaming edge where it meets the fabric, but further out around the perimeter); I did not notice these issues until after the coating was dry and I leak tested the kayak.  In the future, I would use a brush to really soak the rear seam (especially the little creases and folds) and make sure the sloped areas around the coaming were thoroughly saturated. The foam roller on its own did not adequately penetrate these parts, even though I deliberately worked at it while coating.  I ended up spending a lot of time chasing leaks after the fact and applied a significant amount of Aquaseal on top of the seam.

Closing Thoughts

I’m very pleased with my F1 kayak, and thoroughly enjoyed the build process.  I learned a tremendous amount about skin-on-frame construction and woodworking in general, and would definitely recommend the experience.  I went into the project with some woodworking skills, but greatly improved my abilities as a result of building the kayak.  I have to say that the Cape Falcon system is incredible, and faithfully following the course instructions will lead to a successful build, full stop.  Truly amazing!  I’m happy to answer any questions about my experience.  Have fun and good luck with your own project!

Epilogue

Maiden voyage of the kayak occurred on July 31, 2024.  I love this boat!  Tracks extremely well – all that effort to get the keel straight has paid off.  Turns on a dime, very easy to edge.  I had a smile on my face the whole time.  I don’t want to be overly dramatic, but this is game-changing for me – I can now walk/carry my kayak from home to the beach.  I’m paddling every second day as opposed to every second week, which was one of my major motivations.  Thank-you Cape Falcon!