Chesapeake 17 Kayak - Drawing the pattern and cutting out the side panels - January 17, 2015

I used a flexible piece of wood to form the curves of the panel edges and drew the shape of the side panel. You can see in the photo that I used some long skinny pins stuck into the panel at the offset points and held the flexible wood piece against the pins with some heavy tools like my portable drill and a couple of hammers while I drew the lines.

Then once it was all drawn (below from both bow and stern) I used my Bosch jig saw to cut out the side panels. I highly recommend the Bosch jig saw once you use one you will wonder why you ever used any other brand of jig saw. I always use hearing, eye and dust protection(particle mask) when sawing or sanding.

This is my BOSCH saw.

I cut the panels together so they will be identical for both sides of the boat and I cut wide of the line and then use my sander to get down to the line.