Merganser 18 from Shearwater Boats.

Built and reviewed by Don Welsby

The Choice.

I don’t need a reason to build a boat. I have a NEED to build. The need to build a boat came upon me in early 1999 as it does from time to time. I was looking around for a kayak that could be built by myself and my (then) twelve year old daughter, Rebecca. An advertisement in a copy of Wooden Boats magazine took my attention, placed by Eric Schade of Shearwater Boats in the USA. On impulse, I telephoned him and discussed the boats that he had to offer.

His designs, to my eye looked good and seemed to be better than I had seen up until then. After much mulling over various designs on offer and considering Eric’s recommendation, we ordered the full size plans of a Merganser 18’. I found Eric to be a man of considerable patience and always willing to assist via e-mail or when I telephoned him. He lives on the eastern side of the USA and might prefer to receive calls when he is up and awake. E-mail is wonderful. He comes from a family of people that have been designing and building these types of craft for many years. The Merganser 18 is one of several varieties of the type on offer. For detail here look at www.shearwater-boats.com This version is a medium volume kayak of hard chine design, with what is described as a multipanel deck. The boat is sleek and when on the water offers a low profile.

Building

The plans duly arrived in a large card board tube, and building commenced. The building instructions supplied were very detailed and easy to follow. This was not the first plywood Kayak that I’ve built, but there had been a considerable number of years elapsed since I had undertaken this kind of woodwork. Steelmaking and part time house building had been my life up until then. Rebecca had lots of enthusiasm, a grounding in intermediate school fret saw, and a working knowledge of PVA. It is a testament to the quality of the instructions and the plans that the builders never ever had an argument during the construction.

We set up a building table made from two second hand Formica covered wardrobe doors found at a demolition yard. There is not enough space here to describe the building in detail. The paper plans are taped end to end and pinned to the marine plywood. We used an Indonesian Mahogany 4mm made to BSS1088, sourced from a place in East Tamaki.

The outlines of the hull panels are punched through the paper into the plywood. The ‘dots’ are joined up and the wood is cut out and planed to a smooth curve. The technique is known as stitch and glue. The panels are stitched together with copper wire (later removed) and when the joints are smooth they are glued and fiberglass taped together. As the work progressed we gained more confidence and our abilities improved with practice. There is no mistake that cannot be rectified with Epoxy, Glassfibre and Bog. Its only a boat not a piece of high quality furniture. Assembling the hull first, gave us the skills to do the deck. The decks need a better standard of finish as this is the part that is looked at. For epoxy resin and Glassfibre we went to Adhesive Technology in Henderson. Lots of help from these folk too. The entire boat is sheathed in glass cloth wetted out with epoxy. There is plenty of information about this technique and it is not hard to do so long as the do’s and don’ts are followed. I would guess that the whole project took us 70 to 100 hours in total, we didn’t count the hours as I think that hours spent in boat building are not deducted from ones allotted time.

Sea Trials.

A weeks holiday had been organised in the Bay of Islands for this family. We hooked the caravan onto the trusty Land Rover and put the new Kayak onto the roof rack. Loading the Kayak is easy owing to the lightweight glass on ply construction. I can do the job myself if I have to, even though the Land Rover is a relatively tall vehicle. We tend to use two people in case a gust of wind catches the boat and it finds it’s way through the windscreen of another car, and the boat gets scratched!. When we arrived the boat got carried down to the water.

Rebecca was the first to try it out in very flat water. Her comment after paddling around the bay was a laconic "cool". In the fullness of time I was allowed a turn too. Rebecca looked very small in the boat but managed very well. She has now grown into the boat, getting stronger and more confident. The boat has a low profile in the water which I believe assists in it’s resistance to wind. I was a little concerned that the upswept bow might cause weathercocking, but this has not seemed to be the case even when it has now been used in rougher conditions. The stern has a small upsweep that might tend to balance out the bow.

One of the questions that are asked of me by people who stop and pass the time, concerns stability. We are talking about a kayak that needs to be able to handle conditions found off the coast. A wide, flat bottomed craft is good for raft duty, moored just off a beach. But if the boat is to be safe at sea then it needs to be to be responsive so that they don’t get rolled over by waves. A novice will need to take a little bit of time (approximately 30 minutes) in this boat to get the feel of it. Riding a two-wheel bicycle for the first time is "tippy" but very small children get the idea quickly. Stability is relative and a skill that needs to be learned than designed into a Kayak. This boat has good stablity characteristics for a variety of different people sizes.

The Merganser has excellent tracking ability too. I was expecting this to be the case and I was not disappointed. The boat has been designed without a rudder and we have not seen the need to add one. It is possible that a rudder will help this boat to turn and maintain a straight course in a cross wind, and I have been urged to build a rudder onto this boat by other kayakers who learned to kayak at sea with boats that have rudders. Most recommend the rudder before trying out the boat. I do not intend to place a rudder on this boat. My experience so far is that it is possible to make slight course adjustments by changing weight distribution. I can alter course to starboard by lowering my left hip and to port by moving my right. It is possible to mount a rudder, and some might. I’m not against them, and my next boat now under construction will have one, as it is over six meters long.

The Merganser is one of the fastest sea kayaks I’ve paddled. Others who have had their turn in it support this. The multi paneled fore deck is an attractive feature and keeps the captain dry. Due to the low profile of the boat overall, the boat would be considered medium volume. There is storage under the hatches for enough equipment for an overnight camping trip but the gear would have to be kept to necessities only. I’m a 6’2" and 115kg man and I can get in and out of it without trouble. There is sufficient room under the fore deck for large feet too. The hatches are held down with black bungie cord laced across, this arrangement works well. The designer has provided for a comfortable footrest that can be built using the ply off cuts.

Conclusions

I have to admit to being very proud of this boat, as my daughter and I have invested some good quality time together in it. It has been a success in more ways than one. The boat is not going to be sold in the near future, as it is doing every thing that we required of the design. When I first looked at the shapes that needed to be wired together I was a little bit worried that it would work out. These fears were unfounded. The boat went together very easily and I would recommend that the instructions are read several times before attempting each stage. For further information, have a look at the www.shearwater-boats.com web site the building instructions are there, there is plenty of other material too. A great and invaluable source of advice regarding building can be found at the builders bulletin board at www.kayakforum.com

If anyone wishes to get in contact with me, please feel free to e-mail me I can be contacted at motel@bluegum.co.nz

Don Weslby September 2002