Pedal powered wood kayak build and sea trial

[@thomasmchugh1989]

REALLY impressive! Absolutely gorgeous work and you've definitely got the best-looking mirage-driven kayak out there. Thank you for sharing!

[@leemelbourne3297]

Very interesting hull shape

[@BrinToo]

Super job, looks fantastic! Happy I could help.

[@tjhiggins12]

Thanks again!

[@pa_maj.MARTINI-van-MAN]

Well done, it looks awesome!

[@robertinman2264]

Beautiful work

[@oldyeller9849]

Interesting and very nice work but curious about COG and stability. Mechanism well also looks somewhat overbuilt IMO. Have considered doing something along the same line using electric motor. Thanks for sharing.

[@senorperazzi8990]

Felicitaciones un muy buen proyecto. Saludos desde Chile

[@tjhiggins12]

Gracias!

[@Rumplestiltskin777]

Seems like it is perfect

[@stevekhongkhoune3179]

This just absolutely beautiful kayak. Would love to build one in my woid shop at home.

[@tjhiggins12]

Thanks!

[@expomm]

Wow, that is beautiful!,!

[@tjhiggins12]

Thanks!

[@UrbanFisherman]

Awesome build 😎😎😎

[@tjhiggins12]

Thanks 😁

[@abhainnbeag]

Beautiful boat and well done, The addition of the mirage drive really tops it off , I have been designing something like this in my head for quite some time now , nice to see it in the flesh , I want to build a tandem and add a sail and outriggers (Hoby Tandem island sort of thing) I'm wondering if the CLC "Sea island sport" is a suitable craft if I stretch the plans by adding 3' to the centre section, any comments would be greatly appreciated

[@tjhiggins12]

Thanks, interesting idea. If you use the Sea Island Sport plans, I’d make sure you include a drain scupper or two in the cockpit floor, which isn’t very far above the waterline.

[@abhainnbeag]

@@tjhiggins12 thanks Tim

[@garrywright4393]

Well done! That drive is amazing and yeah your boat looks better!

[@tjhiggins12]

Thanks!

[@FlatlandMando]

And whose plan is this...if lines are committed to a packaged plan? Never seen this impressive type

[@tjhiggins12]

My plan

[@dustinnochta2504]

Beautiful build! I am living abroad and considering building myself one of these with the idea of putting a pedal drive of some sort on it. How stable is the kayak in rough conditions if I might ask?

[@tjhiggins12]

Not sure what you consider rough conditions, I don’t use it in the surf. I’ve used it on open water with 1.5 foot chop and fairly windy conditions and haven’t flipped it. I find it feels a bit less stable than a Hobie pedal kayak.

[@therespectedlex9794]

Perty swift and looks a nice boat. What is the name of the lake?

[@tjhiggins12]

Thanks, it’s the Merrimack River

[@mercuryengineseller8638]

What an excellent job you've done, congratulations. It's just the kind of craft I was thinking of building myself, do you have any idea of the weight of it? I had to sell my two/three seater sit on top because it was just too heavy, and I'd hate to go to the effort of making this if I couldn't lift it.

[@tjhiggins12]

Thanks, I haven’t actually weighed it, the base plan from CLC was advertised as 48 lbs. I added weight with the rudder, structure for the Hobie Drive and my seat. I’d estimate it weights 70 lbs plus the mirage drive. I pick it up one end at a time. I transport it sticking out the back of my SUV.

[@mercuryengineseller8638]

@@tjhiggins12 Thanks for that, I shall give it some serious thought and perhaps adapt my canoe trailer. Inspirational. Cheers, J.

[@tjhiggins12]

I just weighed it. 68 lbs for the boat with fish finder transducer and wiring, 8 lbs for the Hobie drive, 2 lbs each for the fish finder and paddle. So 68lbs for the hull/ 80lbs rigged in the water.

[@mercuryengineseller8638]

@@tjhiggins12 You're a star, that's pretty impressively light for all that kit. I'm still ruminating on my design. I'll keep you posted. Cheers,J.

[@MikeAG333]

The ventre of gravity looks a little high to me. How has this boat worked out on choppy water?

[@tjhiggins12]

The hull shape keeps the boat pretty stable. I’ve been out in some whitecaps and chop with out ever flipping it.

[@fredriknorman5404]

Very nice build👌👍👍, How stable is this kayak? I have built a seakayak, but want to build a sitontop for fishing with pedaldrive, so this was a true inspiration to watch😀 Thank you for sharing

[@tjhiggins12]

Thanks. It’s pretty stable as long as you don’t lean out too far. I got in a lot of fishing in wind and chop on the river and landed some big striped bass up to 39” without ever finding myself in the water. Keeping the seat low to the deck helps stability.

[@gonzaloguini8041]

Hello, show More videos please!

[@tjhiggins12]

Sorry I don’t really have more videos. Do you have a specific question?

[@gonzaloguini8041]

@@tjhiggins12 I congratulate you, that kayak is really beautiful. Are you going to install a sail? I also have a pedal kayak, here is a video made by a friend kzbin.info/www/bejne/a2GboqiJjamhbaM I think it's a great idea since in the market, and even less in the local market, there are pedal kayaks that are long, very long. Benefits of the homemade kayak: More than 4 meters in length, Polished surfaces in contact with the water, No "scupper" or drain holes. My specific doubt is how you solved this, without "scupper" or drain holes, how the kayak does not flood with water, how the kayak cabin does not flood Finally, do you have a link to the plans? Thank you.

[@tjhiggins12]

@@gonzaloguini8041 thanks for the nice words, I made this by starting with a set of plans from Chesapeake Light Craft. I don’t have plans drawn up for all the modifications I made to adapt the Hobie drive. It was based on mocking up a section of the hull and positioning the drive so it would clear the hull over the full sweep of the fins. All I can say is that the photos show the key elements to how the mods were done. The locking mechanism was made by studying how Hobie does it and fabricating some 304SS brackets. I have no plans to add a sail, it would get in the way of fishing. The original Sea Island Sport plans did have a scupper which I deleted as I was already putting the hole through the floor of the cockpit for the drive. I found I needed to build a dam around that opening to keep the cockpit dry. If there’s a lot of wave action I do get some splash over into the cockpit, I just carry a big sponge and a 1 qt cup to get the water out. The most water I could get is up to the height of the dam, but that’s never happened. I thought about putting a drain plug into the dam, but haven’t seen the need for it.

[@justosalvadormontenegro1694]

👏👏👏👏

[@expomm]

Can you do a tutorial!?

[@tjhiggins12]

There’s some good generic tutorial videos and other material on www.clcboats.com/shoptips/

[@mohamedaminehouij6968]

Hello really nice job i have some questions would you mind give me your mail contact ? Thx