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Summer: Bill and Ted (father and son) have excellent adventure
on Isle Royale, canoeing in our stripper for seven days. Met a sea kayaker,
was impressed with sea-worthiness and capacity of the (plastic or f-glass!)
craft.
Winter: WOODEN BOAT arrives with a story on building a sea
kayak! We get the fever! Let's build two!
Spring: Bill joins the Dayton Canoe Club.
July: Another excellent adventure brings us into contact with a kayaker
-- this on the Appalachian Trail. Tales of adventure in the 30,000 islands
of Georgian Bay!
October: A trip to Washington DC is parlayed into a plywood purchasing
jaunt to Harbor Sales in Baltimore. Six sheets cost about $200. Guess it
really is marine plywood -- 600 mile trip home in rain doesn't seem to bother
it at all. -- Sometime in here Bill and Ted decide that a cruise of the
30,000 islands would be an excellent adventure. We start collecting information
from Canadian tourist sources.
November: Purchase a copy of THE KAYAK SHOP in lieu of plans
(probably should have got the plans -- but the designer also wrote the book,
he gets some money...).
December: Ted has two weeks off over the holidays (he's a junior
in high school). We buy some epoxy and tape, another $200.00. We scarf the
ripped plywood sheets and epoxy them together. We work in the basement --
temperatures in the usual garage workshop hover around zero. -- We measure
the basement windows -- the boat's beam will make it out, but the height
misses (hits) by about two inches. -- Off to the lumberyard one afternoon
and get two closet poles and clear pine to make some paddles ($28.00). We
decide on asymmetrical blades in the same plane. Borrowed two Stanley WorkMates
(small work tables with vise-table tops) so that we can lay up both blades
at the same time. Works great -- both tables are in the same plane, at same
height, with nice handy bench dogs and vise! (We lay in a strip of redwood
at the joint to make it look high zoot!) -- Some members of the Dayton Canoe
Club begin making noises about canoeing and cruising and repairing canoes
-- you can tell it's the middle of winteer. A section of the canoe storage
room at the club is set aside for those members who are building or repairing
boats. The heater there is tested and it works! We ponder on how to get
the 16 foot lengths of scarfed plywood down to the club -- if we can, we'll
assemble the kayaks there. -- Evenings after supper: the carlins were ripped
and glued up (they are layered out of five strips of pine and bent in 24
and 18 inch radii).
January: It stays cold, so we get out a Jamestown Supply catalog
and window shop for fastenings and assorted equipment. A few evenings are
spent working on the second paddle and we also cut out the seats and seat-backs.
February: Work really grinds to a halt. Bill gets rapped around
the axle of a canoe refinishing project at the club. The club "inherited"
an old stripper flatwater racer with a lot of wear. We spend next few weeks
patching glass, putting on new inwales and gunwales, bouyancy chambers fore
and aft, new seats and a portaging thwart.
March: toward the middle of the month, the restoration is about done
except for the varnishing. So we start working on the kayaks again.
We noted a letter to the editor in WOODENBOAT this month about stich
and glue. The writer couldn't understand making holes to stitch, when using
duct tape on the outside will work just a well. We decide to investigate
this further......
We got all the wood moved to the club, and all the tools, and all the glass
and epoxy, etc., etc.,........ It is nice to have a heated space to work
on a boat! At the club, however, the distractions are many: it's too easy
to pull a canoe out of a locker and into the river, and paddle instead of
whatever.... Also there is always somebody standing around asking you questions,
offering you beer....
By the third week in March we've got the bottom planks cut out. It was a
simple task, took lots of clamps though (remember, we're making two boats,
that = four bottom planks).
[An aside about the canoe restoration for the DCC (Dayton Canoe Club): We
are about done with it by the last week in March. The club is going to sell
125 raffle tickets at $5 each. Raffle to be held on Memorial Day weekend.]
[Another aside: One day while working on either kayaks or canoe, a visitor
dropped by the club and was impressed by my work (not the fact that it was
good or anything but the fact that someone had the (lack of) ability to
attempt boat work). They asked if we could help out the University of Dayton's
fledgeling rowing squad -- they just had their heavy-weight eight fall off
a rack and shatter the prow and the splash boards for 6-10 foot down each
side. Ted and I spent about 12 hours each on this project. We had to plane
some pine (couldn't get fir) down to correct thickness, piece the shattered
remains back together (used hot- glue) enough to cut out the replacements,
scarfed the boards remaining on the boat to the new boards, and finally
fastened the whole shebang onto the boat. It's really interesting working
on a 65 foot long boat which has a 25 inch beam.]
[Yet another aside: Ted and I were scarfing the sheer clamps Sunday the
27th and we decided to go get a sandwich. Returning to the club I screwed
up a leap over a traffic barrier, landed wrong, and BROKE MY LEG. After
Ted stopped laughing at me, he dragged me out of the road, fed me my lunch
and a beer, and took me to the emergency room. I'm in a cast to the knee
(right leg) for six weeks! What a way to build boats. One interesting thing
is that the technician who put the cast on used fiberglass and epoxy! He
was a kayaker -- we discussed a wood-strip cast, but decided against it.
APRIL: First week: Well, I'm hobbling around on crutches,
but we got the sheer clamps glued on to the sides, and the seat backs glued
up too.
Second week: We assembled a kayak -- at least we duct taped one together!
Using the duct tape made the job really simple -- we were amazed at how
easy it was! I made a mold for the inside of the hull at the point 2 foot
back from the bow where the sides and the bottom form the extreme V shape.
I backed up a drywall screw with a piece of scrap wood and it pulled into
shape nicely.
[CHEAP CLAMP HINT (PLEASE GIVE ME CREDIT FOR THIS ONE!): Take some of that
scrap PVC pipe that's laying around and slice 1 inch (or so) rings, cut
these rings at one point, and you've got the makings of some of the neatest
clamps you'll ever want. It takes a little coordination to open them up
and put them on the work. You can use any size pipe -- I've got both 2 and
4 inch, and, by varying the width of the cut you can make them any "strength"
too. I just made 24 to use on the sheer clamp of the kayaks for $1.59.]
Third & fourth weeks: The assembling of the second boat went real fast,
using the duct tape method. I can't imagine drilling all those holes, and
worrying
about tightening the wire so much that it rips the thin plywood! The ends
were easy to fit -- I used a coping saw and a wood rasp. Gunked up the joints
and then taped the seams. I used some of those plastic body putty spreaders
to apply the epoxy to the tape -- worked well.
May: First week: Cast comes off this week! Can't stand too
long, so kayak building suffers. Did a little cruising on river in canoe
-- saw a family of muskrats (1 large, 5 small) crossing river in single
file.
Second week: Travel to Boston on business (did I mention that I started
a new job the day after I broke my leg?
Third week: The tape comes off the boats and the outer seams are
smoothed and taped. We decide to glass the bottom panels completely. I host
an open house and ribbon cutting for my new office. Ted takes finals. I
don't think we'll make it to the 30,000 islands this spring.
Fourth week: Adding some microbeads to the epoxy mixture and spreading
it (as a second coat) on the glassed bottoms makes for a pretty smooth skin.
June: First week: Ted and I head up to Michigan for a week.
We canoe the AuSable river (south fork). It was great! Nicely flowing and
no portages (nice for me and stupid leg). We only saw two other canoes on
the water the entire trip.
Second week: Back to the kayaks and install the deck carlins and
bulkheads. We decided to glass in plywood bulkheads to insure extra strength
and for watertightness (?).
Another accident on the river. Two rowing doubles have a head-on collision.
The sweep of one catches just under the forward splashboards of the other
(which was stopped). It was a lucky thing. The oar was traveling fast enough
to break! I've been asked to replace the forward deck, the "v"
shaped splashboards and about 12 inches of gunwale on both sides of the
cockpit. Well, I'll try.
Third week: I go to New England for a wedding while the canoe club
goes down to Tennessee for some Class II canoeing. Fourth week: It's been
too nice to work on kayaks. There's been sailing canoes out on the river
just about every time I've been at the club. I've also been tempted by an
Alden ocean shell which has also absorbed a lot of my boatbuilding time.
July: First week: Big 4th of July party at the club. We have
about 25 boats out on the water during the fireworks display. I feel real
bad about ignoring the kayaks, so I paint the interior of one. sheech! I
finish the double shell just in time for the rowing club to use in a race
over in Indiana. Not a bad job....I did some filleting around the joints
of the splash-boards using very fine sawdust as a filler, it looks real
nice.
Boatbuilding goes completely to hell during rest of month -- too much to
do on the water. [One Sunday I was out practicing some solo moves in my
canoe (I just read Mason's "Path...." again) and I noticed a strange
object near a low head dam just south of the club. Closer investigation
revealed a body.....been in the water a while, too. I hightailed it back
to the club and phoned it in to the cops and fire dept. The first cop who
showed up demanded a canoe ride out to the "site." He was impressed
enough with the canoe and the canoe club that he joined a few weeks later.
What a way to recruit members......]
August: A few members of the club and I take off for 4 days to tour
some of the Ohio canoe-able rivers. We spent two days on the Little Beaver
(over on the PA border) (I got in a lot of poling practice -- the upper
part was really too low), one day on the Little Muskingum (beautiful, covered
bridges, no traffic, etc...) and a day on Raccoon Creek (also nice). It
was pleasant to get out of town for a few days. At the end of August the
club held it's annual homecoming and regatta. War boat races, watermelon
and canoe swampings, etc. A few canoes were sold this weekend, some at exceptional
prices.
September: Time to get serious once again about the kayaks. I took
them out of the storage locker and finished up the bulkheads. The forward
carlins were cut and fitted. They are ready for decks! Now I have to get
the sheets of 3mm plywood down to the club. It's still nice sailing weather,
I keep being tempted.
Work (oh yeah, the real job) has been hectic during September and very little
gets done on boats....
October: The first weekend is traditionally the rowing of the Muskingum
River in the Jerome K. Jerome Memorial Row. This is a non-event put on by
Jim Stephens and the Marietta College Rowing and Cycling Club. The DCC took
the trailer and about six boats down. It was a first, in that a sailing
canoe took part, and actually sailed most of the way. It was a great weekend
on the water!
I got the plywood measured and cut for the decks and gave it a coat of epoxy
on the interior surface. Work (#!@!!) is keeping me from working on boats
even more this month. Also college visits with Ted (you remember Ted?) take
up some weekends.
November: I spend a week and a half in DC visiting the home office.
While there I visit the Wood Boat School at the Alexandria Seaport. Boy,
are they doing some neat things. I talked to the proprietor (name escapes
me now) about Cape Charlies -- they have the designer (who lives nearby)
teach some classes there. I also talk about repair of sculls -- the college
team has wrecked an eight, putting a gash about 20 feet long in it! Hmmmm,
I guess I can fit repairing that in to my boating schedule.
I was in the right place at the right time on Thanksgiving weekend and actually
bought a canoe. It's an ancient wood and canvas 17 footer. It needs some
restoration -- to include recanvasing. Hmmmm, I guess I can fit that in
to the old schedule too.
Let's see, this started out as a kayak building description right? I have
done some work the kayaks lately -- I put a couple of coats of epoxy and
filler on the hulls. I wanted to get that on before decking so I don't screw
up the decks ( and also the hull is more stable upside down without the
rounded deck).
December -- Ted and I get the decks put on -- Murphy was there to
help. If you've got a 50 percent chance of doing it wrong...... Well, it
seems we used the wrong panels on the first boat -- I thought we had a lot
of exess hanging over the gunnels. This meant that the two panels left couldn't
cover the entire length. We were able to scarf in the extra in the middle
of the boat -- on the sides of the cockpit (the panels meet at about the
center of the cockpit ) -- instead of a scarf of about 12 inches in the
bow. We even had them marked very clearly. Panel A and B on one boat and
X and Y on the other. Oh well, we can tell the boats apart now.
January -- Just too cold to think about going down to the basement
of the canoe club -- it has a heater, but bringing the area up from about
30 degrees to about 60 takes forever. Can't work on boats? Spend money!
We catalog shop for equipment for the 30,000 island trip. We buy a bunch
of waterproof stuff sacks, and I get a new sleeping bag. Great excuse to
buy new sleeping pads too, because we are going to sacrifice our old closed
cell foam ones to line the cockpit and pad the seats of the boats. We also
start looking at the charts of Georgian Bay. We do get in a little time
on the boats and cut out the hatches. We also bought material for cockpit
covers and spray skirts. We took a pattern off some skirts down at the club,
and a friend is going to sew them up for us. Materials cost: less than 30
bucks!
February -- Two days of spring-like temperatures, we bring the hulls
outside and sand and sand! Watching PBS recently, some series about the
human senses, sense of smell supposed to rekindle memories.... wow! does
the smell of auto body filler (BONDO!) remind me of my youth! The great
god BONDO, forgiver of many sins.....Boy, it works good on these hulls!
We head down to the local Sherman Williams discount store and shop for paint.
What a deal on INDUSTRIAL GRADE MAINTENANCE ENAMEL! Indoor, outdoor, roof,
floor, lathe, 30 ton press, diesel engine, you name it, this'll paint it
-- and it's not a bad color either (kindd of a light, greenish, grey). We
put on three coats in four days. Also assemble and epoxy the hatch covers
-- took as many clamps to do that as to assemble the hull! We are going
to trim the hatch openings with split rubber tubing, epoxied on. There will
be half inch foam tape on the lips of the hatch covers to make the seal.
March -- Spring comes in like a lamb, and boat building takes it
in the neck. Ted has many things which keep him >from the boat shop --
school play (he's the director), various competitions, dating..... I have
a number of road trips for work -- Chicago, Orlando, etc.... The kayaks
nag however, and we do get a little bit done on them. We installed mahogony
rub-rails and got the decks ready for the varnish coats. I confess to a
canoeing/camping trip one weekend - - a friend and I did the upper reaches
of the Great Miami River. It was amazing up there, there are no cottages
along the shore for about 12 miles. While we only saw four humans, we saw
4 owls, 8 deer, 1 fox, 1 beaver, 1 muskrat, and 1 mink (and various and
sundry other small mammals and birds). We attempt to gain some info on Georgian
Bay via the rec.paddle news group. Nothing conclusive about bugs -- I had
hoped that we'd squeek in between the mosquito and the black fly seasons.
We have also been following the rudder/no rudder arguments -- I guess we'll
do without. Real men don't need rudders (especially if real men have procrastinated
and now don't have time to install rudders).
April -- We are into the "short list" now! It is getting
exciting...... The seats are all in and the closed cell foam is glued all
about the inside of the cockpits. We move the boats up to the club ballroom
where it is dry and not dusty. After a wipedown or two they get five coats
of varnish -- now people stop and stare! The "your're not really gonna
put them in the water?" comments are starting.
Ted and I really got daring and took out two of the club's Perception kayaks.
We joked around about squeezing in, and doing rolls, and getting wet, and
then we actually got on the water in a kayak. I did mention that neither
of us had ever been in a kayak before? Well, now we have some experience,
at least 20 minutes worth!
We built new racks for the pickup truck. We made cut outs in the thwartships
members to the shape of the hulls and lined them with pipe insulation foam.
We left the rear rack a little higher (3+ in.) than the front -- for aerodynamics
and to let oncoming cars enjoy a view of our handiwork!
For two days Ted and I install all the straps and handles and bungies and
hatch combings. We also hang the seat backs. I don't know if if was the
fumes from "cauterizing" the nylon straps or what, but we started
to do an awful lot of grinning and giggling as we got closer to finishing.
When we were done on the morning of Easter Sunday, April 16th, 1995, we
were positively overwhelmed. I turned the last screw (on the stern carrying
strap on "my" kayak) as Ted took my picture. Then we shook hands.
Then we hugged.
Later that day -- about six o'clock -- we took the boats down to
the waterfront. This was to be a real ceremony, with champagne and beer,
and a christening by mine and Ted's favorite sponsor (wife and mother, respectively:
Lorraine).
We launched the kayaks and watched each other climb in. The camera's clicked
as Lorraine poured a bit of bubbly over the bows -- I believe she said something
under her breath about seaworthiness. Then an observer grabbed the champagne
and with a few shakes, christened the rest of the crowd.
Ted and Bill's first excellent kayak cruise lasted about 45 minutes. The
water was exceptionally smooth and we spent a lot of time admiring each
other's boat and reflection. They went straight -- no rudders or skegs!
We experimented with seat positions, and different paddling strokes, and
how to lean, and how quiet it was, and how near the water was, and then
I had to go into shore because of face cramps, I was grinning so much my
jaws started to ache!
We kept the boats in the water for a while and accepted the congratuations
of the assembled throng -- buying them a bunch of Molson's didn't hinder
the flow of compliments!
(Two other new boats (Old Town canoes) were launched that day at the club.
We assembled for a group picture.)
(William Whalen)
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