The canoe launch is today, Father’s Day, June 17^th , 2018, at the Hollyburn Sailing Club.

Paul easily picks up and carries the canoe.

I have taped towels onto the roof rack crossbars.  We centre the canoe and I tie it down.  The now bolted-in bow and stern rings work well..  Feel very secure.

Two green ratchet straps, (the ones used to hold the strips to the station molds) secure the canoe….It could be a little further forward?

Aside from all the admiring glances, an uneventful drive to HSC.  Paul and I unload the canoe and place it on two kayak stands.

We put the canoe onto the kayak stands (now canoe stands). This club has everything you need to get out on the water…

Paul’s paddle is 66″ long and mine is 63″ long.  (Paul is 6’2″ and I am 5′ 9″)  Today will be a good time to test the lengths for comfort.  Paddle length is always a bit of a guess.  Today we will fine-tune the lengths.

We get our life jackets on and take the canoe to the beach.

Paul will take the first paddle solo.

We place the canoe in the water and Paul gets in…

And away Paul goes…No flip, no dump, no hesitation.

Paul takes the canoe for a test paddle.  Looks good!

Paul has good balance sitting on the seat.  He could be a little more forward.

Paul does several circuits, trying out different sitting positions and both paddles.  He is quite pleased with the results.

Paul and I are happy with the canoe, still unnamed.  Paul feels that his paddle is too long and my paddle is maybe a little too long as well for him.  We will take about 6″ off of his paddle and re-attach the handle.  We will come out again soon for another paddle trial.

 

My wife and I take the canoe out for a spin.  The balance with two paddlers is perfect.  The canoe looks level.  No photos of that paddle.

Paul’s canoe will be ideal for two paddlers and their gear.  An expedition canoe.  Paul did want to do some tripping and this canoe is the one for the job.

Final stats for Paul’s Canoe:  Overall length:  15′ 3″.  Width to outside of gunnels:  35¾”,  Width to outside of hull: 34¼” Depth of hull:  11½”, final weight 60 lbs.  Bow height 19″.

Good paddling to you,

Mike

With the canoe finished, Paul and I start work on our paddles.  In speaking with fellow Vancouver Wooden Boat Society member, Ian McGrath of Great Northern Craft, I tell him about the paddles.  Ian has some paddle blanks and will sell us two.  This will save me the hassle of sourcing wood for the paddles.   We get the blanks with Ian’s “Otter tail” design drawn on.

The lines on the paddle blanks indicate where the biscuits are.

Paul intends to do some longer trips so we have chosen “Otter tails” for long-distance paddling.

We will use the belt sander to shape the blade.

This is really awkward.  The workmate keeps moving and it is hard to put any pressure on the sander.

We have to come up with a new plan…

This way we have more control.  We can put more pressure on the sander.

I shape my blade down to a ⅛” edge.  Paul leaves his a little thicker, closer to 3/16”.  I suppose that Paul will be rougher on his paddle than I intend to be on mine.

The new system works a lot better.  We start out with 80 grit and finish with 120 grit on the belt sander.  We use my ⅓ sheet sander, with 220 grit paper, to take out the 120 grit scratches.  We then go to the random-orbital sander with a 240 grit pad.  Hand sanding with 320 grit finishes the job.

I use a ¼” round-over bit in my router to rough shape the shafts.  No photos of that.  We finish sanding the paddles by hand.

We put on the handles.  We square up the shaft at the top, cut a notch, and wedge the handle on, (with a little glue of course).

Because Ash has such open pores, we will epoxy coat the paddles for a smoother finish.

Epoxy coating will also make the paddles tougher…The same method worked for Gwragedd Annwn’s spoon oars.

When the glue is dry and the handles are sanded, Paul mixes up six shots of resin and hardener.  We roll on the epoxy and brush out the bubbles.

We leave the epoxy to set…then four or more coats of Varnish!!!!

The routine for Varnishing will be a light sanding followed by tack-clothing, a Varsol wash then a rolled-on coat of Varnish brushed out, until we run out of Varnish.

I know what you are thinking…I am just posting a bunch of pictures taken at the same time.  I am not, varnish drying just looks the same in every picture.

The stuff on the workbench changes.

Put the fourth coat on last night, fifth coat this morning.

Brushing out the bubbles.

 

…Three coats later, (Eight coats in total) I take out the eyehooks in the handles and plug the holes.

I will give the bamboo & handle a light sanding and a few more coats of varnish to glue in the bamboo plug.

The official launching of the canoe will be on Father’s Day, June 17th, 2018, at the Hollyburn Sailing Club, 1326 Argyle Ave West Vancouver, BC, at 9:30am.

See you there!

Mike

 

The black goop is dry.  Time to take the tape off and trim any excess black goop.

We give the hull a wipe down with Varsol, to remove any black goop stains or spots.

Paul files the attaching screws more flush with the brass strip.

After Paul has filed the screws flush, we vacuum the hull and wipe it with a tack cloth and then give the hull a wipe with the Varsol.

We are trying to get as good a finish as we can without going too crazy about it.

We add a little Pettit solvent and stir.  We will roll on the varnish and follow by brushing it out.

We roll and brush out the varnish.  Fun, fun, fun.

When you are brushing out the varnish, you can feel the brush “drag” where there is a holiday.  We re-roll out that piece again.

When the outside hull has dried, we attach the stem rings.  They are brass cotter pins with a brass ring.  We drill a hole in the deck piece, squirt in some black goop and put in the cotter pins and ring assembly.

When the black goop is dry, I remove the painters tape and install the seats.  This way, all the holes I drill for the seats will be varnished on the inside.

I have used the formula to place the seats, trying for about 200lbs balanced off by 160lbs.

Cutting the seats.

I mark all the seats and cut them to fit.

I will have to cut the “riser blocks” to hang the seats from the inside gunnels.

Six of the blocks are the same length, two of the blocks are longer,  I cut them out of some left-over oak.

I use the Shopsmith disk sander to shape the blocks.

I dip them in the varnish four times.

The two longer blocks have an angled top.

I have a long ¼” drill bit for the hanger holes.  I want there to be some wiggle” room to hang the seats.  It will be a tight fit.

After we have temporary fitted the seats and thwart, we remove them for the hull interior varnishing.

I have put painters tap along the underside of the gunnel (inside and outside) to catch any drips.  You can see them a lot better against the painters tape than the varnished hull.

I start by using a q-tip to varnish the scuppers.

Q-tips are cheap, and I use two of them a side.  I roll on the varnish and brush it out on the flat part of the gunnels.

The next step is to varnish the inside of the hull…Five coats.

Paul and I will roll out the varnish and then brush it out….

Rolling out the sides.

Brushing out the bubbles.

Dry, varnish, repeat five times.

When the last coat is dry, Paul and I install the thwart and seats.

We put a dab of the black goop to stick the seats to the hull…put a little less stress on the hanger bolts and gunnel when it is dry and we are using the canoe.

We give the bolts a wipe with Varsol to remove any excess black goop.

It is a tight fit.  We use dabs of black goop as a thread locker.

It is very tight for the seat.  We use a piece of wood to push the canoe sides apart to get the nuts on.

This is slow painful work..It is a very tight fit for the seats.  Next canoe will have wider inside Gunnels and no scupper where the seats will go.

We give the bolt heads a wash with Varsol.  Time to let everything dry.  The canoe is done.

Paul and I have an Ooops.  We hang the canoe by the stem rings to weigh her and the rings pull out.  I buy new brass cotter pins, put the rings in them and solder them up.

I thread the new cotter pin assemblies (brass ring, cotter pin soldered and threaded, brass washer, brass washer, brass nut), we drill the old holes through and bolt the new stem ring assemblies in.  No coming out now!

The canoe is now finished!  Final weight, just under 60 lbs. Time to get those paddles done.

See you out on the water.  The launching date is set for Father’s Day, June 17th, 2018 at Hollyburn Sailing Club.   now to get working on those paddles!

Mike

 

 

 

 

For every trip, you need to have a trip plan and leave it with someone who can call for help if you are overdue.

Original trip plan:

Trip as actually done:

We leave too early in the morning to pick up Maciej and Lars.  I am towing Gwragedd Annwn and have Maciej’s and Lar’s kayaks on the roof racks.  Paul has volunteered to drive the FJ home from Squamish.

When we get to the Squamish boat launch, Maciej and Lars load up their kayaks.

Gwragedd Annwn is already loaded and ready to launch.  This will be a “test” cruise to see how well Gwragedd Annwn works on longer trips.

I get in Gwragedd Annwn and Paul launches me.

Lars and I head out, Maciej says he will be along shortly.

Conditions are very good.  An outgoing tide and no wind.

Maciej and Lars will paddle together…The kayaks are twice as fast as Gwragedd Annwn.

I rapidly fall behind.

I take my sailing boots off and row in my runners.

The real advantage I have in Gwragedd Annwn is I do not have to go to shore to get a snack or a drink or anything else.  The kayakers have to.

I row on, rowing by a breaking rock by the point.

The breaking rock:

It is almost 8:30 in the morning and conditions are still good.

I row on, past the Point, Maciej and Lars pass me again.

I hear the train:

The BC Mining Museum is in the distance.

View from the kayakers:

I am so far behind, I am not even a speck!

The kayakers go into Ts’itpsm (Zorro Bay).

It is the kayakers job to set up camp so everything is ready when I arrive….at this rate, they will have a lot of time to do that.

I arrive at Ts’itpsm (Zorro Bay):

I spot a Zebra Swallowtail butterfly in distress.

Rescued, I row the butterfly into shore.

Almost there…..

Entrance to the campsite.  I am not going to bail out… I row around the bay and head on to Lhemlhemkwus (Islet View).

Eastern Defence Island.

I row on.   You can see my chart, #3311 sheet 2 of 5 HOWE SOUND, part of the Sunshine Coast series of charts.  I had bought a map bag from MEC, but it was a little too small.  I ended using a big “Glad” bag, $2.50 vs, $35 for the map bag.

There is a 2 to 3 kilometer an hour counter current along the shore.   Gwragedd Annwn’s progress slows to a crawl.  I row for a long time to go not very far.  I arrive about 12:30pm.

I find the campsite.  There is a cleared beaching site.  I beach Gwragedd Annwn and shortly after, she is dry.  I must admit, I am tired from the row, about 6 hours and 15 minutes at the thwart.

The tide will go out far enough for me to set her anchor by hand (or foot as it turns out).

The  tide is still going out to the low low tide.  I have checked the tide tables, The tide will not be this low again tonight.  I will have plenty of water for Gwragedd Annwn.  Maciej and Lars have a fire going.  Time for lunch.

The current is flowing the wrong way past the landing area quite quickly.  I am happy to be ashore.

Maciej chops up some firewood using my axe..note to self, do not let him use the good axe!

Maciej and Lars have set up their tents.  I am going to sleep aboard Gwragedd Annwn.  There is a slight change of plans, Maciej and Lars want to paddle down the West side of Anvil Island.  Fortunately there is cell phone coverage throughout Howe Sound.  I call in and amend my trip plan…No sense looking on the wrong side of Anvil for us.

Lars forgot his cup.   Maciej makes him a new one.

When the tide has re-floated Gwragedd Annwn, I board and prepare for bed.  The current is still flowing to the East, even on the rising tide.   Weird.

Maciej says there is no rain forecast in the weather report.  Great, it will be easier to sleep aboard Gwragedd Annwn than drag her up and then down the beach in the morning.  The tide will be very high tonight and quite low tomorrow morning when we wish to leave.

Because there is no rain forecast, I am not going to pitch my tent, I am going to sleep on the deck.  I still have to put the deck pieces in place, stow gear, assemble my camping cot and get my sleeping bag ready.

I have my sleeping bag laid out, on top of a self-inflating mattress which is on top of my camping cot.  As I prepare my bed, another couple has arrives.  You can see their zodiac on the large stump.  The tide will rise past the base of the stump.  The current is still flowing to the East.

The weather liars lied.  At around 12:20am, it starts to rain.  I am uncertain as to what to do.  I have a tent, and I could go to shore and pitch it and sleep in my spare sleeping bag, but what a hassle.  It is not raining very much, I am warm, so I decide to wait it out…I put my jacket over my sleeping bag, my hat over my head and hope that it stops soon.  If I start to get cold, I will go ashore and pitch my tent and sleep in it.  After 15 minutes or so of light drizzle, it stops.  Saved!!

Around 1:30 it begins to rain again.   Rats!  Again I decide to wait it out…It stops by 1:40pm.  It is dry for the rest of the night.

When I wake up, my sleeping bag is dry, my body heat has dried up all of the rain.  Gwragedd Annwn’s decks are still wet.  I carefully pack up.  I go ashore, have breakfast with Maciej and Lars and set out.

Again, I am the first boat out.  The current is still flowing to the East.

Looking back, it begins to rain again, but, at least I am rowing and warm.  Not far from the islets,  the current switches and now is pushing me to the West.

It is raining a lot heavier that it did last night.  I feel sorry for Maciej and Lars packing up in the rain.

West side of Anvil Island is to the right of the picture.

We share an orange and have a chat as they pass me….We will meet again at Halkett.

Gwragedd Annwn is sitting much more level.

Maciej and Lars press on.

I can smell the mill.

I row past Anvil Island.  No landing here.

Conditions are still good…Maciej was right, conditions are usually better early in the morning.

Maciej and Lars make a detour to Pam Rock.

I, on the other hand, row straight towards Gambier Island.

Rowing beside Gambier, Anvil Island in the distance.

I continue on to Halkett Bay.

As I close on Halkett point, Lars calls me on the radio…the campsite is full and he is heading home, continuing on to HSC.   Maciej is staying behind to find a campsite.

Lars will probably be at HSC before I get to Halkett Bay.

Halkett Point.  The wind begins to pick-up from the South East.

Not much further now.  The wind picks up more for the run into Halkett Bay.

When Lars left, the tide was past the big stump behind him.  I beach Gwragedd Annwn.  Maciej and I quickly discuss continuing on to HSC.  Maciej has found a good campsite and we decide to say.  I go ashore to the campsite Maciej has found.  About 5½ hours at the thwart.

Our campsite:

A toast to being here.

I turn in for a nap.  As the day progresses, some campers leave, the tide comes in, space open up and I can tie Gwragedd Annwn to the dinghy dock.  We get word that Lars is back at HSC.

We will have another long day ahead of us, so we turn in early.  The loud music starts by 9pm and then abruptly stops at midnight.  No music no more voices.  Did a ranger make a visit?

I row Gwragedd Annwn over to the beach below the campsite and load up.  I help Maciej carry his kayak to the water.  I get a head start while he loads up.  He will catch me shortly.

Conditions good, flat calm, no wind.

Maciej and I will have to watch out for the ferries.

Maciej passes me.

Maciej is going to try to go between Finisterre Island and Bowen Island.  I do not think that the tide will be high enough for Gwragedd Annwn to make it.  I go around.

The tide is too low even for Maciej, he carries his kayak across the spit.

Maciej and I had intended to cross the Queen Charlotte Channel together.  Here we are discussing the crossing.  There is a problem.  If Maciej paddles slowly enough for me to keep pace with him, he gets cold!  We decide to cross at our own pace and meet just past Point Atkinson, in Starboat Cove.

We have two ferries to dodge.  The Bowen and Nanaimo ferries.

I see the Bowen ferry and stay to the North of her route to Snug Cove.  When she passes, I row on.  I spot the Nanaimo ferry quite far out but I will never be able to cross her route in time.  I stay to the South West of her route until she passes.

I row past White Cliff Point, Whyte Islet, Bird Islet, Batchelor Point, Fishermans Cove.

The rowing gets tougher…I have run head-on into a counter-current.  My speed over ground slows to less that two kilometres an hour.

I creepy-crawl past Grebe Islets, Indian Bluff.

The going to here has been painfully slow.  I round the point.

Maciej should be just around the corner, in Starboat Cove.

A slight change of plans, Starboat Cove is too full of driftwood for a landing.  Rounding Atkinson, the current and wind are now in my favour.  I decide to carry on to HSC.

Maciej will pack up and catch up to me soon.  I am making good time.

The tide and current continue to favour me.  I carry on.

Maciej vanishes into the distance.  Those kayakers sure are fast.  I row on.

Maciej and I on the beach at HSC.

Trip stats:

All in all a great row…no blisters and good numbers.

Many thing worked well…I can sleep on Gwragedd Annwn.  She does row well with a load.  The stove worked, the tent worked, the food storage worked, the equipment storage worked.  The anchoring worked.  All in all a good row and a good result.

 

Happy rowing to you,

 

Mike

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the last chance to get the hull smooth.  I kill off an afternoon sanding the canoe.  (Again!)  When we brought the canoe out into the sunlight, you could see a few runs….We are trying for a good finish…

220 grit then 320 grit.

Looks the same as the 220 grit.

I finish with wet/dry sandpaper.

After the sanding, I give the hull a good rinse.  I am done with sanding.

 

Even though Ted Moore does not have a bass keel strip on his Hiawatha design, Paul decides that he wants to have one on his.  I look at many pictures of cedar strip canoes on line and none have a brass keel strip….I guess that Paul wants his canoe to stand out.

From Alaska Copper, I buy:  Three Half Oval Free Cutting Half Hard Yellow Brass Bars (minimum order).

From their catalogue:
Nominal Chemicals: Copper 61.5%, Zinc 35.4%, Lead 3.1%
Average Physical Properties: Tensile 45,000 psi (min), Yield 17,000 psi
Specifications: ASTM B 16, Temper H02 (1/2 Hard)
Size                 Lbs/Ft
1/8 x 1/2        .181

Paul will use 213″ of half oval at .181 pounds per foot= .181 x 12 x 213 = 3.21275 Lbs.

Paul’s canoe will exceed Ted Moore’s design weight.

 

Paul wants to use a few screws as possible, so we will use polyurethane goop to glue the keel strip on.  Four screws, one at the top of each stem and one at the bottom (on either side of the stem curve) to hold the strip on while the goop cures.

The brass half oval comes in 12′ lengths.  We have two choices, a 12′ length in the middle with a (approx) 24″ piece at each stem or two strips from the stems, meeting in the middle.

The first choice will be the easiest, as any excess length will protrude at the stem and can be cut off.  The fit need not be as exact as using two pieces that meet in the middle.

Paul wants to have two strips, meeting in the middle for only one “seam”.

We measure and dry fit the keel strips.  I use a punch to start each screw hole.

You can see the first screw at the beginning of the curve.  Paul will now drill the top screw pilot hole.  Paul drills the second pilot hole 1/16″ too far away to draw the keel band tight.

We dry fit the keel strips and then draw a pencil line on either side of the brass strip.

We will use tape to mask the keel line.

With the keel strips to one side, time to “Goop up”.

Paul runs a bead between the strips of tape from stem to stem.  Gloves are mandatory!

I use a Popsicle stick to spread out the goop bead.

All gooped up and the keel strip is on.

Paul and I do a lot of “eyeballing” to get the keel strip straight and use tape to hold the strip in place.

The fit is pretty good in the middle of the canoe.

A slight gap will allow for the expansion and contraction of the strip.  The goop says that it can accommodate +/- 35% movement.

We scrape off the excess with a putty knife and then use Varsol to clean up the rest of the  excess goop.  After we have cleaned up the excess, we tape the keel strip down every 10″ or so.  Time to let the goop dry…3 to 6 hours to be tack free, up to 7 days to cure completely.  We will remove the tape tomorrow afternoon, after 24 hrs of drying time.

The strip looks really straight….but, will the goop really stick the brass half oval to the epoxy coating on the hull?

 

I make up a test strip, using a left-over piece of hull and left-over brass half oval.

In a couple of days. we will try to pull the two apart.  The canoe should have a better bond, as it was sanded and washed with solvent.  With this tester, I just put down a bead of goop and set the brass strip onto it.  If we cannot pull the tester apart (or it is very hard to do) job done.  If we can pull the two pieces apart easily, we will consider that the goop is for bedding not bonding and drill the canoe’s keel strip and put in more screws to hold it on.   Time will tell.

All the best,

Mike

 

We are going to work outside to keep the dust down in the shop.  There is varnishing in our future. A perfect afternoon for working on the Canoe.  Warm, sunny with a little breeze to take the dust away.

We are going to take around ⅛” off of the gunnels.  This will give us a clean edge.  If the gunnels still look a little too thick, we will plane off another 1/16″ or so.  All eye-work.

I hold the canoe steady while Paul cleans the gunnel so the power planer will not hang-up on anything.

Paul decides on two passes of the planer…about ⅛” of an inch.

Paul now sands the shear-line, leveling the gunnels with the cedar hull strips.

We were pretty careful with aligning the gunnels and the shear-line.  Not a lot of sanding to do.

After Paul finishes sanding a round-over onto the gunnels, I make a paper pattern for the decks.

The two decks are not exactly the same.  I transfer the pattern to the 1″ thick S2S oak stock and use my bandsaw to cut it out.  I am going to Dado the two sides to fit the inside gunnels.

Paul has decided that he wants the decks to appear to be just over ⅛” thick.  I adjust the Dado blades accordingly.

We line the dados with cloth and lots of epoxy.  We put the decks on with the canoe right-side up and then flip it upside-down so the epoxy drips will not run down the sides of the canoe.

We leave the epoxy to cure overnight.

The next day I decide to weigh the canoe.  I take off all of the clamps and put in the seats and carrying yoke.

Scale reading:

If Paul wants the canoe to be lighter, we will plane off more of the outside gunnels.  Paul is happy for now.

I  sand off the epoxy flash with 100 grit and then give all the bare oak a going over with the 240 grit:

We feel that the deck is very substantial, as it is 1″ thick and epoxied to the gunnel tops and sides.

Time to epoxy the decks and gunnels.

Paul is at work so I roll on the epoxy coat.

I roll on an epoxy coat onto the decks and gunnels.  I now know what the canoe will look like when varnished.

I roll out the epoxy for about ½ hour.  I will come back in an hour or so and chase any new bubbles.

I will wait for the epoxy to cure and then put on another coat…Maybe tonight.  Should be done with the ‘Poxy then.

Cheers,

 

 

Mike

Paul and I have tapered the outside gunnels and now we are going to epoxy them on.  The first step is to cut off the excess gunnel.

Having cut off the excess, we dry fit the gunnels and use a clamping jig to keep the gunnels aligned at the stems.

I have cut two wedges to be able to clamp the gunnels tight to the stem.  A third clamp keeps the gunnels on the same level as the top of the stem.  I will use wax paper to keep the clamping blocks from sticking.

With the hull sanded, We expect to get a good bond between the gunnels and the hull.  Paul paints the canoe at the shear-line with epoxy resin.

We begin clamping.  Paul holds the gunnel in place while I clamp.  The goal is to get a little epoxy “squeeze-out”.  The 2½” clamps only fit near the stems where the gunnel is tapered.

You can see a few runs.  We are going to turn the canoe over so the drips will not run down the hull…

At this point, Paul and I decide to give the canoe one more coat of epoxy…a finish coat to get rid of the “runs”.

The two gunnels are aligned at the stems.

Paul and I roll on the finish coat.  We go over the hull many times.  We are trying for a very “thin” coat.

We go over the hull with a brush, taking out (popping) any bubbles the rollers leave.  We go over the hull many times, looking for “holidays” (missed spots) or runs.

Now it is time to cure.

I take off all of the clamps to see what she looks like.

Overhead shot.

I flip the hull back upside down and begin to fill any gaps between the hull and the gunnels.

Were ever there is a gap, I get some bubbles as the epoxy fills the gap.

After chasing bubbles for half and hour….it is time to let the epoxy cure.

Tonight when Paul gets home, we will round-over the gunnels, sand the shear-line flat, put on the decks and then give them all a final epoxy sealing coat.

Attach the brass half-oval.

Varnishing is in the future.

Mike

Paul has decided to weave a “Babiche” pattern on his canoe seats, using paracord instead of rawhide lacing.  He picks a “Blue Camo” paracord colour pattern.

I do some research on the internet and find a diagram on Mike Elliott’s (Author of “This Old Canoe”) web site.

Mike also describes how to weave a “Babiche” seat in his book, “This Old Canoe”, pages 83 to 89, using rawhide lacing.

I test out the pattern on the stern (smaller, 10 by 10 pattern) seat:

I have made a few minor mistakes in the weave.

Mistake #1- should have gone over the horizontal strand, not under.

Mistake #2- should have gone over, around the horizontal and diagonal strands and then under the horizontal strand, not over, as I did at #4 arrow.

Mistake #3- same mistake as #2.

Mistakes #5- should have gone around under and down the left verticals.

I think that I have learned something from this and try the larger bow seat.

There should be an equal number of strands going vertically and across the set.  I decide on twelve (one every inch) for across and every 2/3 inch for the vertical.  I use a pair of dividers to mark the seats.

With my strand locations marked, I begin to weave the seat.

You only use three knots…a Hitch to start, a whole wack of Lark’s head knots and a few half-hitches to finish.  The pattern consists of three strands.  The horizontals, the vertical slanting to the right, and the verticals slanting to the left.  Basically you go across and then down and up again in a “V” shape:

I am using about seventy-five feet of paracord.  The stern seat (10 by 10) took almost sixty feet.  From across, you go down to the middle of the seat.  Pull the paracord tight after every Lark’s head.

Then back up again to the top.

CHECK your work to the diagram!!!!  This is a five to six hour job and you do not want to have to un-weave very far to fix your mistakes!!!!

I have tucked the extra paracord from the first knot under the Lark’s head.

It takes a while to train your eye to spot mistakes so check against the diagram after every pass.

The up-going to the left “V” arm go under the up-going to the right “V” arms and over the horizontals.  The up-going to the right “V” arms go over the up-going to the left “V” arms and under the horizontals.

The real weaving is starting…

The Lark’s head knots do move a bit on the seat frame.  Put them back where they belong.  Remember to pull every strand as tight as you can.

Another problem begins. pulling the paracord through the weave begins to put a real “twist” into the cord.  I have to stop after every pass and shake the twist out.

The next day I find my mistake……see the dot?  There are only eleven Lark’s heads on this side of the frame.

I have already trimmed the paracord…it is now too short to fix this.  Paul will have to live with it.  Maybe I just will not tell him.

Time to do something I cannot mess up…Sanding the outside of the hull for glueing on the outside gunnels.

We were quite careful not to get any drips or runs in the final fill coat.  Time to sand the hull really smooth for the varnishing and glueing on of the gunnels.

I am going to finish with 240 grit.

The hull ends up pretty smooth.

I give the canoe a wash…she looks pretty good.  If I only had some 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper!

Time to work on the gunnels.

On the Weekend, Sunday, we taper the outside gunnels.  The taper will be ¼”, the gunnel will go from 1″ wide in the middle to ¾” wide at the stems.

We need four passes for the planer to get a ¼” taper.  We measure and put a planer mark every nine inches.  Paul planes the gunnel, and then smooths out the taper with the belt sander.

We take the gunnel over for a “test-fit”

Paul eyeballs the fit to see if the taper is sufficient.  Does the gunnel look too wide?  Is he happy with it?

We clamp on the East gunnel.  Paul is happy.  The width of the gunnels fit his hand for carrying.  After we glue the gunnels on, we can still plane off a little if he then decides that they are too “thick”.

Paul will sand off the sharp edges after the gunnels are glued on.

We do not have enough time to epoxy the gunnels on.  The weather is supposed to be much hotter in a few days.  ‘Poxy evening!

Almost done!,

 

Mike

 

 

 

 

 

Paul has decided to “Scupper” the inside gunnels.  We cut up the 8′ oak plank to get 16′ lengths for the gunnels.  We will use a “half-clothespin” splice to get the length.

With this jig, I will be able to get a consistent angle for the scarph.

I will have to cut a scarph in each end of the gunnel pieces and in the “half-clothespin” part.

Glueing up the pieces:

A few photos of the glue-up:

Clamp the pieces.

All Clamped up:

Carefully, we set the gunnel pieces aside to dry:

While the glue sets, Paul and I use a cedar strip to mark the shear line.

Other end too!  A lot of “eyeballing” to get this right.

Paul uses a sharpie to mark the line.

Finished line…We mark both sides.

I rough cut the shear line.

The canoe now really looks like a canoe!

When the glue is dry, I rip the gunnels to trim the 1/2 clothespin splices:

With the gunnel pieces a consistent width and height, we cut an outer and an inner one.

Testing the width:

I end up with two outer gunnel strips, each about 7/8″ by 3/4″ and Three inner gunnel strips 1/2″ by 3/4″.

Paul and I cut one of the 1/2″ by 3/4″ into blocks and four 3′ long pieces for the bow and stern, where the inner gunnel is not scuppered.

Spreading the glue:

We cut blocks to glue to the inside of the inside gunnels:

Time to glue them up:

We are using Titebond II.

When the glue is dry, we test fit the inner gunnels into the hull before we put the epoxy and cloth in.

Paul and I dry fit the inner gunnels, cutting them to get a close fit….

We use the Shopsmith Disk sander…

We are satisfied with a “Rough” fit, the dimensions will change once we put the epoxy and cloth on the inside.

We heat up the canoe using the heat lamps.  At the start, the hull is at 15 degrees.

Paul and I drape the cloth in the canoe and add resin.

We do eight cups of resin/hardener.

We reduce the heating in the garage and boatshop…trying to minimise the “off-gassing” and have the resin be drawn into the wood.

We put on the cargo tie-downs on.

We let the canoe cure overnight.  Weighs 37 lbs!  The next day we put on the first fill coat and glue on the inside gunnels while the resin is still “green”.

We dry fit both gunnels.

Paul fits the two gunnels.

When both gunnels fit, Paul mixes a batch of resin, and coats the gunnel blocks and then the top two inches of the East side of the hull.

We put in the East inner gunnel.

We have to clamp the gunnel at every scupper block.  We aim to see a little resin “squeeze out”.

Dry fit photo of how we got the stems even with the gunnels:

A lot of clamps.  Then finishing putting on the 1st fill coat.

After chasing bubbles and dry spots, it is time to walk away and let the epoxy cure:

Looks more and more like a canoe every day.

Time for tea…  Might be able to get another fill coat on today, if not then tomorrow.  The critical factor is insuring that the inner gunnel epoxy is cured enough so they do not come away from the hull.  It would be good to have the clamps out of the way for the second coat.

Well, Tonight’s the night!  The second fill coat

We take off all of the clamps.

That clamp was on a little tight!

We give the gunnels a quick sanding and vacuum the hull.

Paul and I remove all the green tape from the cargo tie-downs.

I brush resin into the scupper holes and he rolls out the hull.  We both roll out resin for half an hour, trying to get an even coat.  You can only do that for sooooo long.

 

Time for a cure.

 

The third fill coat went on just like the last one, but with more rolling out.

Cheers,

 

Mike

 

 

I have had a lot of experience with launching dollies.  Aluminum tubing seems to work the best.  No rust problems.  Plastic axles for the wheels for the same reason.  Stainless Steel bolts/washers/nuts.  I have gotten more than ten years out of Redwing’s dolly, and it is still going strong.

Gwragedd Annwn is 14’6″ long, too long to use “Redwings” launching dolly.  At 225 pounds, (102 kg.) I can use the same basic design as “Redwings” dolly, using 1½” square aluminum tubing, and 1″ solid round bar as the axle.  This will be a basic “T” shaped dolly.  The most critical part is getting the balance of Gwragedd Annwn on the dolly right.  Too far forward of the axle and the dolly is heavy to lift.  Too far aft of the axle and the boat will tip the dolly backwards and fall off.

 

 The first step is to design the support brackets:

These are the brackets for the axle, the bow mast and the hull side supports.  The stainless steel bolt positions are marked.  I head to the metal supermarket and buy enough aluminum bar for the axle, axle supports, the centre piece and the mast piece and enough aluminum ⅛” plate for the support brackets.

I measure Gwragedd Annwn to find where the balance point is.  This gives me the distance from the mast to the axle.

Using the plans as a template, with my jigsaw and a metal cutting blade, I cut out the support brackets and cut the square tubing to length.  I use a drill press for the ss bolt holes in the brackets.  I dry-fit the pieces together and drill all of the ss bolt holes through the aluminum bar.  Photo of the partly-assembled dolly:

Here the bow mast is clamped to the dolly frame, ready for drilling.

The plastic-hubbed wheels (no metal to rust) are on a 1″ diameter rod, which is in a 1¼” piece of square aluminum tubing which is in the 1½” diameter square aluminum tubing. The 1¼” tubing fits neatly into the 1½” tubing and the 1″ diameter rod fits neatly into the 1¼” tubing.  This assembly is “locked” by ss bolts going through all three pieces.  A cotter pin and washer (cut from the aluminum plate) secure the wheel on.

After installing the axle supports, I put on the UHD plastic hull supports.

I drill a 1″ hole at the top of the mast for a handle.  The handle is a piece of 1″ aluminum rod.  A bow ring holds the handle in place.  A plastic cap finishes the handle assembly off.

Time to go and try the dolly out.

Another view:

Trying the dolly out:

After a few launches, I find that there are better ways to do some things:

Gwragedd Annwn snaps off one of the “V” shaped keel guides.  I design new ones:

A few photos of Gwragedd Annwn with her dolly:

 

Over all the dolly has been a success.

 

Good rowing to you,

 

Mike