I’m making a homemade kayak sail based off the plans here: http://home.clear.net.nz/pages/grantglazer/kayak/Hintssail.htm
Everything is in metric and the plans call for 15mm Class E PVC pipe. First of all what size does that equate to on this side of the pond? 15mm is roughly .6" so is that 1/2" pipe or 3/4"? I’m leaning toward 1/2" anyway because 3/4" just looks to big. Also, I am not familiar with the different “classes” of PVC, is Class E the same as Schedule 40?
Second, it says to use bamboo or dowel to stiffen the PVC masts. I’ve looked at Lowes and could only find dowel in 3’ lengths. I would like to find some that is long enough to use one continuous piece for each mast. Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance!
one more thing
make sure you reinforce the deck of your kayak where the base of the sail’s masts will be.
Some light lay decks ups might bow under the pressure of heavy wind.
If you care for the finish of your gelcoat you also might want to protect the surface of the deck since those knuckles will wear into the gelcoat.
For a different type of sail (single mast) you can look at this design:
http://gnarlydognews.blogspot.com/2009/03/shop-diy-sea-kayak-sail.html
cross country ski pole shafts
They should be long enough and can be found in aluminum fibreglass and carbon. The more flexible fibreglass ones are probably lurking in a bin at local thrift store.
Chimmney sweeping poles - Lowes…
Fibreglass, with ferrules to screw them together…I used them then used expanding foam blown into the PVC to help hold them in place and prevent them from rattling around…worked really well…
Don’t dismiss bamboo…it is wicked strong…
longer dowels
at a local lumber supply , lots more stuff than a bigbox store .
And bamboo at garden supply again local for the unusual stuff
M