Night Heron

An 18" model of the Night Heron carved from Mahogany and Ash with a Maple cockpit, mounted on a piece of Manzanita root.

Cedar Hull, Deck is clear pine and walnut.

cedar hull, clear pine and walnut on deck. My first paddle was an eight day tour of apostle islands. the first scratch in the shiny varnish wan'nt as traumatic as imagined. Now I am proud of each and every scratch in this heavily paddled kayak.

Paddling the first Night Heron past Ironbound Island in Maine.

Book matched western red cedar with pine accents

I built the deck of this Night Heron with sequential strips cut from two flitch western red cedar sawn boards.

In this kayak I built a wooden seat of western red cedar and Alaskan yellow cedar

I won't bore you with any more for the time being, though I do want to send you some close-ups of the hatches and deck fittings. I tried to incorporate what I considered the best of the factory stuff (VCP hatches & nylon 'mushroom' recessed deck fittings). I am especially pleased with the deck fittings - I came up with a design, that was quick, easy, and repeatable. I ended up plunging a series of 'cups' into mahogony stock to receive the nylon fittings using a plunge router with an appropriately sized round nose bit. I then used a circular cutter with an appropriately sized pilot bit to both cut out the plunged plug and to drill a pilot hole for insertion of a threaded brass insert.

The hull is primarily P.O.White Cedar, which is about 35% denser and stronger (and heavier) than Atlantic White Cedar, but since I went with strips of 3/16" thickness instead of 1/4", the weight and strength come out to the same as 1/4" thick Atlantic cedar, on the bottom of the hull where I fugure I need it most. The "darts" in the bottom are a light-colored WRC (I was running out of the POWC). Tiger maple front stem. Note the Great Blue Heron carved into the shingles in the side of the house. The house is called "Heron's Rest", which I am sure must have influenced my decision to build the Night Heron as my first stripper.