The Kids' SOF Project
Version 1.0

So here it is. The first whack at a kid-sized, rolling machine. It is a non-folding wood version of Tom Yost's Sea Flea. ~ 12 feet overall, 17" wide and low volume. The challenge of this boat is to build everything (except the skin) from what I have laying around the shop. So far, so good.

	5 1/2 hours into the build. All of the sections are in place and the gunwales and chines have been epoxied into place.
I now need to form the bow and stern pieces and attach them.
	After the bow/stern, I need to fit it out and skin it. I think this may come out at about 20 hours, 1 4x4 sheet of plywood, 1 12' 2x4 and some skin.
9 1/2 hours and the frame is basically complete. I will add seat boards in the cockpit area and give everything a once-over with the sander before sealing with polyurethane and skinning.
	Looking forward. I added 3 stern deck stringers that mount flush with the top of the sections. The goal is to have a good roller, so I don't want stuff raising the depth to sheer in back.
The cockpit area. Depth to sheer at the back of the cockpit is 5.5". At the front of the cockpit it is 7". Final length is 11' 2.25"
	The skinned and completed boat. The skin is 13 oz. Nylon from George Dyson. The coating is 7 coats of oil-based polyurethane (semi-gloss)
Side view.
	Long view (from stern).
Another side view.
	Trial fitting. Note the low back deck. This should facilitate layback rolls for kids.
Looking forward (without foot brace).
	...and with the foot brace. These boats need to be adjustable to fit a variety of kids, so I made this removable footbrace out of minicel foam and 5.4mm plywood.
Looking towards the stern.
	Side view of the foot brace.
Back view of the foot brace.
	To add to the adjustability of the boat, I added a whitewater-style backband. Because of the small size required, I made one. It is 1/4" HDPE heat molded into a curve and covered with 1/4" closed-cell foam which is, in turn, covered in fabric scraps from the skin. There are webbing straps on the back to hold the back strap in place.
The back band is held in place by screws. I glued an extra piece of gunwale material to the inside of each gunwale and added a threaded insert into which I could attach the screw.
	Here is a top view. The adjustment strap is a cam strap, cut in half. I added a grommet on each end, through which I can screw the strap to the gunwale. There is a piece of bungee (yellow in the picture) that wraps around the center post and keeps the seat in place. The seat is adjusted by pulling on the free end of the strap.

All images and text are copyright by Marcel Rodriguez unless otherwise noted and may not be used for commercial purposes without the prior written approval of the copyright holder. Noncommercial use is permitted.