Ultralight precision precut plywood kayak and canoe kits. Est. 1955.

November 21, 2003

Hello: Don and Waters Dancing Crew

I have finished my Solace XL kit and very happy with the way it turned out, it looks great and paddles even better.

When applying the fillet and tape to the deck/hull joint, I set the kayak on its side (see picture) and this made this task much easier. You are then working on the horizontal instead of a vertical plane and this worked out fine.

The foam blocks were fitted and then installed after the fillet and tapes were in. I put a nail in the end of my “long” glue brush, I filed a point on the nail and stuck the epoxy covered foam block on the nail, and I then placed the block in the boat.

We live on Georgian Bay, and the sand beach is a little coarse, like stony, so I made a launcher. It is easy to build and works great. It makes getting in and out of the kayak easier, which I find is always a problem (see picture). This could be a help to others.

When making the seat back, instead of screwing the brace and back together to epoxy it, I placed the back in a pipe clamp (see picture) tightened it up until the back had the correct curve and then attached the epoxied brace to the back with two clamps.

I hope you enjoy the pictures of “WHISPER” we get a kick out of showing it to people and paddling it. Now Diane doesn’t like paddling our other plastic “log” and thinks I should build her one. What do you think?

Thanks for making such a fine kit and great paddling in the great out-doors.

Ken Christmas

Ken is now building the Solace 16LT for Diane. Jan 8, 2004

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