Percy Blandfor Kayaks
Geoff
A Long time agoin England maybe 1964 I built several PBK Kayaks i seem to
remember the names PBK 15 , and PBK 26. They were very good wood and canvas
kayaks that were easy to handle. Does anyone know if plans for these boats are
still available and if so from where ?.
Also there were at the same time some good looking plywood kayak plans
available, also in England but the name escapes me. Does anyone have any idea
of the source of plans for these plywood canoes ?
I'm getting the urge to build and paddle again, so any help would be
appreciated.
Thanks Geoff Williams
bigroc...@webtv.net
In article <6msin7$538$1...@post.servtech.com>,
Percy Blandford Kayaks:
I met Percy Blandford here in Eugene in l974 and spent several hours
intensely discussing Kayak building and his hobby of collecting antique farm
equipment. He said that at that time, he had sold about 50,000 sets of kayak
plans, mostly in Europe. By now, the total must be much higher. Percy would
be about 85 now and you might be able to make contact with him. or an agent
on the Internet in England. I'm sure that his plans would still be
available, as he has likely sold more than any other boat designer. If you
use the Search functions on enough of the right WWW guide services, you
should find a source of his plans.
He and a colleague, Ken Littledike, a schoolteacher who
was the inventor of the Surform plane, built the two-place
Kayaks that were used to invade and sabotage German harbors
during the war. Later, they built identical boats that were
used in the movie "Cockleshell Heroes", that commemorated the
wartime event.
The plywood Kayaks you remember were likely Ottercraft boats, which are
still advertised in some magazines. They are usually sold in kit form, but
plans might be available. They use an incredibly high-quality 1/8" mahogany
plywood that has 5-plies. I had an Ottercraft 14' kayak for awhile and it
was very tough, fast and beautiful. I have some of the plywood scraps that I
use for very demanding little projects that need nothing but the strongest
material. I put some of the scraps in a pressure cooker for an hour once and
even with a sharp knife, could not get the plies to show a hint of
separating. If only such plywood was made in this country! If you can find
some wood and canvas Kayak plans, I suggest Sitka Spruce as a good frame
material. I'd put in a couple more pairs of longitudinals than the plans
show and make the crossframes with about 1/2" more material all around. Use
both stainless steel screws and marine glue on the joints (brass screws are
too likely to break). Use 10 or 12 0z. single-fill canvas. Double-fill weave
is stronger, but it won't stretch nearly as well to a uniform tightness.
Most advice says to use oil paint to seal the canvas, but this usually
produces slackness and wrinkles when the weather is warm. I recommend latex
paint for the first coat, put on in a very hot room and rubbed in with the
fingers, after brushing in a thick second coat before the first dries. Hang
the boat rightside up by at least 4 rubber straps from the top of the frame
to the ceiling for two days, then paint inside with latex and hang it back up
for two more days. Sand between coats and finish the outside with 3 or 4
more layers of oil paint. Be sure to lightly steel wool down the shiny paint
for the best running surface. Let me know if you have any luck locating
Percy.
Regards,
Steve McDonald
Eugene, Oregon
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