I would regretfully like to announce

The Kayak Project came to an unexpected end.
A very good friend of mine provided me with a generous link to an eBay listing of a sevylore sit-on-top that went for 100AU$.

This summer break was spent on renovating a set of recliner chairs also known as "lazy boy" chairs.

The result, having completed the project, despite not having  a professional sewing machine, despite making a gazillion mistakes along the way, surprised us all! Especially since the project came to a fruitful successful end roughly 3 hours prior to my flight to visit London and Israel.

:)

 3:30pm

7:30pm (flight leaves at 9:00pm!!!)

If you are not sick of all of these photos.. You can check this link for more :)

Forget Aluminum Warehouse, Here we go Capral!

So,

After speaking with Melody from Capral, we are going with a different supplier for Aluminium. Only couple suburbs down the road, Capral offered a better deal on Aluminium. Bringing the price down to 55$ All very exciting.

Purchased "floaties" from eBay today for 7$. Now all we need is to dig and find 100$ to pay for the glue and the tubes and we are well on our way to building this thing!



We need some timber and some cheap ply wood to build the frame. Lastly on the list - borrowing things from mates- a drill press, a rivet gun and some bolts.. A metal tube bender. Disk saw press, heat gun. Maybe some carpenter friends have an idea where to get cheap timber from? So far it is still looking like a fairly more affordable way to build a see Kayak that would otherwise cost a small fortune for a fraction of the price. It's almost like buying a Kayak by instalments, 20$ here, 40$ there. I am hoping not to get disillusioned..  Keep fingers crossed. Come on, I have put pretty pictures again!

Sticky sticky stick!

Adhesive anyone?

Contacted Griprite. They carry Bostik 1669. Price: 45$. Bargain!!!!

All Pack Australia Pty Ltd (Trading as Griprite) (NSW)
	Address:    Phone:       Fax:           Contact :	10 Maxim Place, St Marys, NSW, 2221 (02) 9833-1442 (02) 9833-1443 Jim Vafakos

They have a store and deal directly with the public. Take cash. Great I will be seeing you in 4 weeks when exam finish. 


http://bostik.com.au/_upload/ressources/industry/tds/bostik_bostik1669_110502.pdf

Houston, We might have Aluminium!

It's been a very long time since the last post. I have been churning and contemplating which kayak model to go through with building. The Tom Yost inflatable Sonnet is the final choice. I think it will be most convertible and most cost effective to build. The last few months have mainly been spent on various uni course studying. School waits for no kayak project. A big chunk was spent preparing for the upcoming summer vacation project.

So many morning as I walked my dog, Pedro, along the cooks river I would tell my partner with longing eyes how the river looks so great today and how wonderful it would be to kayak in it's stinky waters.. Stinky waters just waiting for my pedal! She doesn't always get it but each to their obsession. Right? Partner M is being most patient with me, I must add.

So exciting news today, I have received this quote from the Aluminium Warehouse in Sydney, somewhere middle of no-where up north but who cares when you have a car, right? This quote bring the aluminium pricing to around 100AUD, including GST and everything.

Warehouse to me

show details 8:30 AM (2 hours ago)

Hi,

We have Tube15.88 @ $2.70 per metre +gst ( in stock)

                   Tube19.05 @ $4.76 per metre +gst  No stock, order in

   Tube 22.23 @ $4.90 per metre +gst ( in stock)

We have a cutting service that works out $1.40 per cut

Regards

Russell jones

  Exciting right?

I have had some obsessive net scrolling. The sponsons Tom Yost suggested here work out just too expensive for yours truly, tight-ass galore, as they work out to be around 100US$ including delivery.

Tom has also DIY sponsons instructions on his website and further exploring showed this idea here using "flowties" or arm bands, or swim sleeves to have ready set valves that you can fuse into the PVC. I was toying with getting Boston valves for all 4 sponsons but decided it was stupid expensive not to mention it will be harder to fuse with the PVC unless I got 4 old boats which doesn't seem reasonable at the moment. Better to save the money for other things, like aluminium. Flowties by the way are 8AUD on ebay. Bargain.

PVC choice was also cost influenced: A heavy duty white banner material that I picked up at reverse garbage in Marrickville for 20AUD for the whole role!
(What, just 20 bucks for the whole role???? Here you go, 20 dollars for you, 50 meter role 80GSM roll for me, no, no, don't need a receipt thanks, all good, see ya!! Car wheels screech on the way out and so forth)
That's enough for 7 kayaks. Or one kayak with multiple failed skinning attempts. I think at least one will work, right? :)

Lastly the problem of the notorious HH-66 or Bostik 1669, heat activated PVC adhesive. Had a quote for 75AUD for a 4lt tub but I know I can do better than that. So sitting tight, waiting to hear back on quotes and not doing my school work like I should be, but that too will come.

Speaking of school. Have applied to several summer vacation positions but I am not holding my breath. Don't they want me to start my work already and eventually cure cancer??? More updates to follow, planning to borrow most of the required tools from mates, hopefully getting timber scrapings from friends that work as carpenters as the frame timber won't be needed once the kayak has been skinned and once the skin has set and removed. See how we go, right? Still need to find work space for all this shinanegens. I am seriously thinking of using my 5meter room and just lay a ton of newspaper on the floor.

Maybe that will engage me into finishing the project sooner before my mom, aka new flatmate comes back to Oz from her planned vacation. :) Summer never seemed this exciting and now I truly must go back to my school work before I want to kill myself.

No pretty pictures, such a boring post. Oh well.

Who is this Mike Gal anyway?

I am an inquisitive, creative, logical, brave technical gal. I believe this is due to all that touched and touch my life, to be sure. I guess it all started with playing Lego and making space ships and space laser guns from Lego.

I was very young when my dad taught me how to hold a screw driver. I could have been 5 years old or maybe 6. I remember how I used to play in his workshop with a tiny black ratchet, shooting at imaginary Aliens. Dad had a business to construct garage doors and he would get big industrial projects for huge doors that he would weld himself. He was and still is a master craftsman. Dad taught me how to use many different tools and we started off straight away. We touched briefly on how to use a drill hammer and a hand saw (age 9), how to weld and how to use a disk saw (age 10?), jigsaw (age 12?).. The list goes on. When I wanted something done out of wood (like a cross bow!) dad would just go to the next door wood workshop and quickly make something up for me. It was not all without fail, when I was 13 I was carving drum sticks for a friend from school using a Japanese knife.


Don't ask me why, silly, yes. Needless to say it ended badly. At the time I was volunteering at a veterinary hospital so I was not too frightened by the sight of blood or the massively deep cut.. we needed to go to hospital... Five stitches later, good to go. I remember talking to big brother and him nodding his head and later on telling me I should have just used a sanding paper make it into strips and off I go. I went back to finish the sticks, did a couple of clear varnish layers on it to finish it off. The drumming sticks turned out beautiful.

So, the project was a success, the kid never managed to break my drum sticks, but, he ended up losing them in a hotel two years later. Shame on you Minkovsky.

Later that year, I wanted to install a firemen pole to slide off my tree house. Dad got a 5 meter long aluminium pole that we put right beside the tree house. We used to call it the Monkey House because it was so hight up, embedded in the tree. Roughly 4 meters off the ground. I was 13 and digging a 50cm hole in the ground beside the tree to base the firemen pole into. The pole had two latches at the top that dad welded and drilled in for me. The ground was hard and 13 year old me was unsuccessful in digging much deepen than 10cm. Dad ended up getting me a mini cordless jack hammer, "Here you are Mikey, this button makes it stop and start". There I was, tiny girl, big jack-hammer, 40 knots wind blowing all around  and the tree branches moving wildly but I am determined to get my Monkey House firemen pole ready for action, no matter what! If I had to wait another day I would surely die. It had to be done right then and there! The hole was finely dug, the pole went in, the latches at the top were attached to one of the thick branches of the tree. Ready to go!  I think I spent a lot of time up sitting in my Monkey House, reading stories and taking off on wild imaginary adventures into wild imaginary places whilst feeling very sheltered and at peace. I would go there today if I could even though I am all "grown up". Alas, the house has been sold off 10 years ago. I will make my own Monkey House one day, maybe I will call big brother and dad to come to the rescue before I cut off my whole arm... Just kidding.

Even though it was never serious tool training like he did with my brother who was meant to take over the business, dad taught me everything I know and whenever we got to spent time together he would riddle my brain with engineering challenges. We were not close dad and I but the quality time we spent together was most productive and most character building. There is nothing more loving than building or making something for someone or even more so, making something with someone.

I have never ever feared holding any tool in my hand and I never thought a job was too big on me. I like electronic boards, I like industrial designs, I like quirky projects. I love love love spending time at hardware stores and looking at tools.  I suppose my most vivid memory from childhood is looking over the sink as my dad washes his hands from a hard day of labour and the sink is rough and off-white in colour and the water are black from grease washing off my dad's weary hands. First Turpentine to get rid of the grease, then the poor soap, more black than white.

My dad moved out when I was 13 which was unfortunate because, who knows what other exciting projects dad and I might have built together. He is a Peter Pan and since his retirement he spends most of his days painting and doing various handy-man projects. Now days, as I live in Australia and he resides as always in Israel, I wish I lived close by and not so far far away. Dad has recently turned 62 and I look forward to presenting a finalized project to him with proud. Thanks dad for sharing your skills with me with so little effort. I look forward to improving my handy-woman skills.

חדרי הלב שלי

חדרי הלב שלי

סודיים 

עובדים יום יום 

לסדר אספקת חמצן

ואני, למרות שיכולתי 

להכירם ולדעת אותם

היטב

נותרתי ב

בורותי 

Going to build a Folding Kayak right here in Australia based on Tom Yost Designs

I'm baffling between the Sea Tour 15
Sea Tour 15 Offsets

And the Sea Otter
Sea Otter Offsets

I will probably go for the sea otter as this guy has a motorbike and he seems to be able to transport his Kayak quit nicely on it!!!
Also it only has 6 inlays which is what I am after.

Who knows, it might work!
So far have found this website for plastic all star plastic
They are located in Queensland. I wonder if there are any in NSW.