Shearwater Hybrid

Product Description

Greenland style sea kayaks combining a plywood hull with an attractive wood strip deck.

The Shearwater Hybrid hull is identical to the hull of the standard plywood Shearwater kayak but the deck is constructed using strip planking instead of the stitch-and-glue method. Moulds or temporary bulkheads are set into the hull at various stations and used to support the deck as it is assembled from strips of wood. Once the deck is assembled it is removed, the moulds discarded, and then replaced permanently. The top of the deck is then glassed and epoxy coated for protection.

The strip-planking method gives you plenty of opportunity to express your artistic side with the patterns.

The Shearwater 14 will carry paddlers who weigh up to 11 stone and still be poised and responsive. The Shearwater Sport and Shearwater 17 will carry more load.

A detailed Shearwater Sport Hybrid build log (with photos) can be read on our forum.

The kits include:

• Pre-cut wooden panels with pre-cut joints and pre-drilled tie holes
• Pre-cut temporary bulkheads
• A mixture of red cedar strips and paulownia strips with bead-and-cove joints
• Waterproof glue for the wooden strips
• Epoxy resin and activator
• Epoxy fillers
• Copper ties
• Woven glass fabric
• Woven glass tape
• Fabric covered foam seat and backband
• Adjustable footbraces
• Deck hold-down lines (bolt-on)
• Comprehensive building manual
• Free technical support from a competent builder

We supply roughly one-third red cedar strips and two-thirds Paulownia strips as standard but if you have a particular pattern in mind, we can provide a different ratio if you contact us before ordering. We can also supply yellow cedar strips.

What else do I need?

Study manual

This is intended for pre-build study or to help with the decision to purchase. This is the comprehensive manual that accompanies the kit; reading it will help you decide whether or not you can build the boat. It describes all of the techniques that will be used during the build and also a step by step guide to construction. It contains a photograph or diagram of every step.

If, later, you decide to purchase the kit the cost of this will be deducted from the kit price.

The manual does not contain the cutting instructions so it is not possible to build the boat from scratch using only this.

PDF study manual

The construction manual for the boat is also available as a PDF download. After credit card authorisation a download link will be sent to the email address put on the order form.

Plans and manual (not required by kit purchasers)

These plans and manual contain sufficient information on the cutting of the panels to make it possible to build the boat from scratch rather than a kit. The plans include full size drawings. 150 m of bead-and-cove wooden strips will be needed to deck the boat.

PDF study plans

These study plans are intended to give you an overview of the construction of the boat. They are in PDF format that can be viewed using Adobe Reader. There are two pages and they measure 279 × 216 mm (11″ × 8½″). They can be printed for carrying around.

After credit card authorisation the plans will be sent to the email address put on the order form.

When you have studied the plans, your next step might be to order the printed instruction manual, which will walk you through the project step-by-step.

Wood

This option contains only the building manual and pre-cut wooden parts including the temporary bulkheads and wooden strips, but does not include the other items listed above as being in the full kit. This option is for those wanting to obtain the other materials needed to build the boat from other sources.

Compare this kayak with others.