The Pygmy Coho Hi

So, about the kayak...

It's a Pygmy Coho Hi Volume model, which ships as a kit from Port Angeles, Washington State US. Here's what I've managed to learn about it before it actually arrives.

As far as materials go, it's made from 4mm Okoume marine grade plywood, sandwiched between fibreglass and epoxy for strength. According to Wikipedia, Okoume is an African hardwood similar to mahogany, epoxied, it has a honey-like colour and the grain really stands out when finished well. Apparently, with the fibreglass-epoxy construction, it's both stronger and lighter than most other glassed boats.

The seat is an inflatable pad on the floor of the boat, which while sounding primitive is actually really comfortable. It has a backband, and in the Hawkesbury last year the only discomfort I experienced after 15 hours of paddling was sore hamstrings after sitting with my legs flat because the footrests in my old man's boat were too close, and I took them out. One of the benefits of a build your own boat is that I can tailor the footpegs to my leg length so I'm not anticipating the same problem here.

It's 17 feet 6 inches long, and has a beam of 23 inches. It's got a nice long bow which looks like it'll slice through waves and chop well and be good in the ocean.

I mentioned the rudder before, which according to Jim @ Pygmy isn't really needed, but I'd still like it there anyway, if only to keep it going the direction I want it to.

The construction method is called Stitch & Glue, and entails strips of pre-cut wood which are wired together along the joins (the stitches) so that the hull takes shape, and then glued with epoxy (the glue, obviously) so that the wires can be removed. These joins are called 'chines' and there are two different types - hard chine and multi chine boats which have different characteristics, not that I could tell you what they are.

• Hard Chine are one join below the waterline, such as Pygmy's Arctic Tern and are apparently more traditionally Greenland shaped kayaks. They have that flat looking bottom and I just wasn't that into them, not for any real reason except I liked the Multi Chined boats better.
• Multi Chines are multiple lines below the waterline, like the Coho, and are a more rounded look.

NEWSFLASH: After typing the above and trying to find an academic explanation for the difference I tried to explain above, I've found Pygmy actually have a page with an explanation and hull comparisons. How about that? Amazing what you can find when you look for it...

I can say that the fibreglass fabric over the deck and hull is all but completely invisible when finished. All you see is the amazing grain in the wood, protected by a hard coat or epoxy. Dad's boat looks amazing and I can imagine how proud I will feel when it's finished, assuming I don't cock it up.

The boat is still in Hono-bloody-lulu according to FedEx.