Grab handles - finally

At last the grab handles arrived from EdsCanoe. They were marked out, cut to size and fitted using the M6 stainless screws in pretty short time. I had previously cut out spare plugs so chisled these out and epoxied them in place. Next morning I used a junior hack saw to remove the bulk of the protrusion. Will belt sand then apply more coats of danish oil.

The canoe is done....

Deck Plates Fitted

Fitted the deck plates after cutting a groove with a router in both the plate and the inwales. I used 4mm thick marine ply left over from my other canoe to make biscuits which were then covered in epoxy glue mix.

After fitting I sanded down the excess epoxy and gave the wood a coat of danish oil.

Still waiting for my bloody grab handles - at this rate I'll end up making them myself... Apart from these the canoe is finished. I do need to get some rope or tapes for painters though.

Deck Plates

Started on the deck plates today. I cut up strips of oak and sandwiched them around some maple. I used epoxy as glue then covered it in a plastic bag so the epoxy wouldn't stick to it and then clamped it up.

I then used a jigsaw to cut the shape out and planed the plates to size. Need to get a biscuit jointer befire fitting them to the inwales.

Pretty much finished

Still waiting for the grab handles to be delivered so apart from fitting them the canoe is finished. Picture below shows the ash furniture fitted.

The gunwale corners were bevelled off using a router borrowed from my neighbour. All the wood was oiled several times. So the boat was ready for its first outing. I went with fellow Apache owner Rich down the Dedham for the first of the sea trials.

I decided to fit deck plates so will show more of that later.

Almost there!

Finished work early on Friday so collected the fixings needed to fit gunwales, seats and thwarts etc. Decided on M6 cap screws in the end.

Carried on fitting the outwales using a 3-in-1 drill, clearance and counersink drill bit which I bought at the same time as the fixings.

Used my angle grinder with a sanding disc to cut away the excess GRP and then used a belt sander to bring this and the gunwales down to the same plane. In the process my neighbours car got covered with fine white/ blue dust so I had to do a quick wash down before doing anything else.

Added the kneeling thwart with angled spacers and fitted for size. Borrowed a router and shaped the spacers (gunwale offcuts) for the bow seat. Fitted the seat but not before giving them a coat of danish oil.

Carried on using the router with a 3mm bevel and routed all the gunwale corners. Borrowed a 10mm plug cutter and cut out enough ash plugs plus spares making sure I can match the grain up.

Jobs left to do:

• Fit plugs using epoxy mix
• Epoxy fill bow and stern inner gunwale points
• Hand sand all wood
• Danish oil all wood using hot oil
• Wait for the delivery of my missing grab handles before I can fully finish...

I've decided not to fit the stern seat for the time being since most of my paddling will be solo but will add it if both kids want to come out paddling. With this in mind I will probably not plug the fixing hole for the kneeling thwart since in my other boat I've had to remove it a few times. Maybe I'll design some kind of neat looking quick release mechanism but I'll leave that for later.

Sea trials not far away!

Inwales fitted

Finished off fitting the inwales. The joints aren't really as good as I'd like them but one of them will be improved when I fit the grab handle as it will close the gap up, the other end will need to be filled with an epoxy mix.

Measured and cut the portage yoke then fitted it for size. Used a ratchet strap to pull the sides in so I could mark the centre and the drilling points for fitting.

Made a fixture that aligns the outwale with the inwale.

Need to get some more screws to fit the outwales on but want to find out about how to plug the holes first. What I did on my other canoe (which had much thicker gunnels) was to counterbore a 10mm hole then use a plug cutter and glue and hammer the plug in place. On this canoe the gunnels are only 20mm wide so the drilling needs to be accurate and I'm wondering if a M6 screw will be too big so the counterbore could break out??

Fitting Out

Started the fitting out. I started by mitrering both inwales to get a good fit then clamped down half of one side and drilled and countersunk through the hull. I used a useful little tool that I'd seen on SoTP which rests on the inwale and straddles the hull and hangs down the right distance on the outer to mark the centre of the inwale to ensure the screw is in the right place.

I left 125mm (5" in old money) distance between screws and got about 3/4 of one inwale fitted before it was time to go in.

My order from Ed'sCanoe turned up (minus x2 grab handles), quick delivery and didn't have to pay any duty either. Laid the seats etc out just for size.

The Apache arrives

After having the Raven for a while and borrowing/ owning various plastic canoes I got a bit fed up hauling heavy(ish) boats around so decided to look around for a lightweight alternative. I didn't want to pay a lot of money for a Royalex boat so looked at and test drove a Venture 14' canoe. I probably would have bought one except the shop's order was stolen which lead me to the Apache website.

I didn't want to buy one with testing one out first and noticed that someone on SoTP lived in Suffolk and that person turned out to be a neighbour of mine. We got together and I had a paddle one evening on the Stour. It was quite windy on the way back and the Apache behaved very well in wind, unlike the Raven.

Anyway deal done I ordered one, well the hull and the ash for the gunwhales and arranged to collect it from Nottingham.

This blog will show the progress of the build...

Sudbury to the Sea (S2C)

First of all I'd like to thank The River Stour Trust (RST) for putting on a well organised event. Tea and buns at the end of each day is a nice touch too.

The day started for me, my youngest son, Bigrich, Greg and Stan the dog at The Granary at 9am. The boats were offloaded and we made our way to the slipway ready for the off. The carpark started to get quite busy with many craft including a couple of coracles.

We set off into perfect weather, sunshine and very little wind. There are several portages early on where the RST had people to help.

Along the way we spotted a Quentin sticker belonging to Mabbo who'd done S2C last year with his son. This year was with Mrs M.

The picture below shows one drop of well over a metre and the approaching banana boat took this on successfully.

The boat was fibreglass and flexed and wobbled its way down, it was pointed out later that it didn't have any gunnels, hence the flexing.

Lunch and around 6 miles into the trip was Bures. This is the view approaching the road bridge.We pulled the boats out at Bures cricket club.

Once checked in (each boat has a number which is logged at various stages) we were fed and watered and watered again as we headed off to the pub.

Stan the dog, who came along for the whole trip.

Below - the scene before lunch, probably only about 20 odd craft or so. By the time we came back it was a different story with lots of boats coming and going. Even the coracles had made it - hats off to you guys.

We met up with a couple of other Ipswich Canoe Club members who were in sea kayaks. Some of the ICC crew plus Mr and Mrs Mabbo.

We arrived at Wissington for the overnight camping stop around 3:30pm where we were helped out and pointed in the direction of tea and buns. I recently bought a pocket stove that I'm well impressed with. Good heat and very fuel efficient - down side is it blackens the pots... I also brought my home made meths stove made from a coke can which again worked really well however I need to improve my pot stand but that's another story.

The pocket stove in action.

In the evening the campfire was lit and the singing began... Next morning we headed off at 9am with my oldest son in the boat this time. We were also minus Bigrich who had a prior engagement doing the River Gipping cleanup.

There are stretches along the lower section that are very shallow, so shallow that getting out the boat is the only way forward. For some reason the mornings paddle seemed quite long and tiring so the lunchtime stop at Stratford St. Mary was most welcome. We also ran into Mabbo and missus again in the pub - deja vu.

The section from Stratford down to Cattawade (the end point) is quite familiar to me and the ICC members being our local and so we set off into familiar territory. The wind really got up in this last section and I was glad that it was with us for the most part.

Again the RST did a good job handing out cups of tea and cakes plus a certificate to mark the occasion. All in all it was a really enjoyable event and good to meet up with Mabbo and missus who hopefully we'll see on the water again. My kids also loved the "boat on a rope" I made, it kept them amused for hours.

Poling at Dedham

Only a couple of days until my 2 star assessment so decided to get a bit more practice time on the water. Started out at Dedham and paddled down to Flatford. Followed a kingfisher for quite some distance but never did get close enough, even with silent paddling, to get a good view though. Practised stopping, turning, moving sideways, ruddering and paddling backwards in the area above the lock gates.

After a short while I headed back upstream paddling on my weaker left side for a bit of practice, the water was flat calm and mirror like only disturbed by my bow wave and the occasional jumping fish. Kept a look out for the kingfisher again but the light was dimming by this time and I didn't see it.

Got back to the mill pool at Dedham and practiced some poling where I felt like I'd improved upon previous attempts. Overconfidence got the better of me and whilst performing a sweep stroke and tipping the boat to aid the turn I lost my footing and landed on my arse in the back of the boat. I was quite pleased with myself though because, as I was falling, I was thinking about getting myself central in the boat and not splaying my arms out in case I injured myself on the gunnels. I found myself on my back with my feet and arms up in the air still hanging on to the pole and looking at the sky. After collecting myself for a few seconds and thinking that was lucky I got up and carried on with a bit more respect of the pole.

Time was getting on and it was starting to get a bit dark even though it was just after 8pm so I decided to call it a night and head off home.

River Stour @ Sudbury

Took the kids out for a second time in the Big Blue Canoe, this time we started at The Granary which is the headquarters of The River Stour Trust. Parking is free, and the put in point is great, there's a nice slipway and jetty to cast off from.

The rowing club can just be seen in the distance and there were several boats around, some of whom were learners so we had to keep a close eye on what they doing. The cut joins the main river shortly after where we were met by the local scout group in a bunch of small dinghies careering around all over the place.

We headed upstream into the wind to start with towards the A131 road bridge.


Both kids had their own paddle this time, however the youngest who was in the back insisted on facing the wrong way and paddling . He was enjoying himself so that was fine.

The river splits after a short while and one of the channels had a fallen tree partially blocking the way so we took the other one.


Eventually it became too shallow to continue so we did a U turn and headed back to the blocked channel and decided to force our way through. It was just about a metre wide so no problem. Again, this channel became too shallow and overgrown with reeds etc for us so we headed back downstream only to discover the wind had changed direction. Isn't that always the way?

To keep the kids interested and stop them getting bored we took along some bread for the ducks. The oldest decided he was a duck and ate most of his.



Anyone got other ideas to keep the kids interested on canoe journeys? I'd like to hear them.

Trip time was only a few hours but we all really enjoyed it, so much so the youngest wanted another go after lunch before we headed off home.

Monday night bonus paddle

Came home from work not feeling great and hadn't even considered paddling; that is until my better half said are you going out tonight? I thought about it and decided; yes, I would go. I wasn't sure if any of the other Monday regulars would be around and sure enough they weren't which meant unloading the boat on my own. I had the club boat as I'd put a new coat of varnish on the gunnels on mine and it hadn't fully dried yet.

I put in a Cattawade and decided that I'd paddle up to Flatford and back. I tend to paddle on the right side and am not that good on the left still. The BCU two star award requires that all strokes be performed on both sides so I decided that this would be a good time to practice. I got up to Flatford after a few stops on the way to watch a heron and then the barn owl that I've seen before and practiced some strokes in the mill pool.

I headed back still paddling on my left side, which, by now felt completely natural so it was worth the effort. Trip time was about 2 hrs, distance ~4.5 miles.

Dedham to Flatford

Took the "Big Blue Canoe" out on the ICC club night and put in at Dedham. Got there a bit late so the carpark was pretty full. The wind was quite strong in places; especially where there were open fields and no trees. The canoe tracks well and is very stable but as previously found out it's not that manoeuvrable e.g. turning on its axis.

During the lesson we tried doing some prys, the boat moved sideways but also seemed to be moving forward too. I think this was due more to my technique than the canoe.

We got down to the lock gates at Flatford (scene of Constable's "The Hay Wain") where the Trusty II was moored. This is an electric boat that does river trips up and down the Stour. They also rent out some row boats of which there were a few about so some dodging was required.

Chris demonstrated an unusual technique of propelling the canoe forwards without a paddle. He stood on the stern gunnels and bounced until forward motion was acheived then promptly lost his balance but credit to him he managed not to fall in. I'm going to try this at the next training night since we're doing rescues and will be wet anyway.

First trip out

Launch day. Went down to Cattawade on the Stour since I know that part of the river pretty well now. The river was higher than normal and there was a definite flow that I hadn't seen there before, not suprising really given the amount of rain we've had. Also the wind was gusting well.

I had my kids with me so decided I should test the canoe out on my own first and make sure everything was o.k. I seem to have got the thwart in the right position so the boat felt quite nicely balanced. It tracked well but turning on its axis isn't so great which must be due to the bilge runners.

Sea trials over, it was time to get the kids in. One at a time to start with then both in together, one in front and one behind. We did a couple of trips just to get them used to it and went up as far as the lock gates for those who are familiar with the river. Again the flow was strong here and the kids didn't want to go through so that was the limit of trip that day. with the flow the way it was I'd expect the current to be strong further up at Judas Gap weir.

The kids seemed to really enjoy it and somehow I managed to get permission from my canoe loathing wife to take the kids on an overnighter for the Sudbury to the Sea trip in September.

C'est finis

Yep it's finished, all bar tying the painters on. The paint and varnish need to fully dry and next weekend I'll take it out for its maiden voyage.

I finished the painting early Saturday morning as yet again the kids woke up at some ungodly hour. It took an hour to apply the second coat and I'd finished by 6:30am! I put a couple of coats of varnish on the gunnels as these edges will get the biggest wear due to the paddle running against them.

It feels strange that it's done although I've noticed a few minor blemishes that need tidying. It's a bit like when I finished writing my dissertation for my degree I sat around thinking well what do I do now? No chance of that this time round as I've got the Triumph Vitesse to renovate.

One Star Paddler!!

The ICC changed venues from Cattawade to Dedham last night and our instructor decided that we'd do our 1 star award. It was pretty windy but we used the shelter of the mill to do the various manoeuvers required and I'm glad to say I passed.

First top coat

Spent about an hour last night putting the first of the top coats on. I'm not sure about the colour; which is blue, I think because the undercoat is showing through a bit still. I'm sure the colour will deepen as soon as the second coat is applied.

Almost there - the plan for my first launch is either next Friday evening or Saturday sometime wife permitting.

Final undercoat

Put on the second and final undercoat last night and this morning - kids woke me up early again! Also added the bulkhead hatches including the mastic to create a watertight seal plus fitted both seats, thwart and yoke. It really does look like a boat now.

Bought some exterior gloss paint for the top coat so am hoping to get it finished by the weekend ready for a first trip out sometime the week after.

Things left to do:

• Paint the exterior
• Varnish the exterior
• Buy painters
• Get out on the water

Total expenditure to date £392

Undercoat

Gave the cabin area a last coat of varnish. Turned the boat over and sanded down the rough epoxy from the bilge runners then sponged the whole of the outside down to get rid of all the dust. Woke up early this morning and started painting the undercoat on but was only able to do about half the boat before running out of time and having to go to work. It looks like the paint has taken ok as this was a concern after reading several posts from SoTP.

Total spend to date £377

Bilge runners

Glued on the centre and bilge runners over the weekend. I didn't want to drill and screw through the hull to attach them (as per the plan instructions) so used the by now familiar epoxy/ woodflour mix. Once dry I then filleted the join to the hull to fill the gaps and to make it a bit stronger. The bilge runners are supposed to stiffen the bottom panel and reduce the "oilcanning" effect seen. I didn't want to test this out just yet but will wait a few days until the resin has completely cured. I'm almost out of hardener now but that's fine as this job was the last of the constructional type tasks.

Gave a second coat of varnish in the cabin area - only one more to go! Bought some undercoat which I'll try applying tonight. Also need to buy a top coat the colour of which I think will be a dark blue.

Glassing the hull

Back to glassing again, this time it was the bottom of the boat to help protect it against general wear and tear. It's not pretty as I had to use about 6 strips of 75mm tape so some of the joins are a bit ragged and lumpy but it will be functional. Put a second coat of varnish on the thwart, seat ends and hangers and portage yoke. One more on each of those and they'll be done.

Things left to do:

• Fit centre and bilge runners
• Paint the exterior - undercoat and topcoat
• Varnish exterior
• Apply more coats of varnish to piece parts and interior

Cricket Stops Play

Travelled up to Chester-Le-Street in Durham to see England Vs West Indies in the cricket.

Varnish - coat 1

Didn't have much time last night since I was on babysitting duties so decided to coat the complete interior with a coat of varnish. I also coated the yoke, thwart and seat hangers. Took a look this morning and the varnish really brings out the wood grain and gets rid of the sanding marks etc.

Need to glass the bottom before doing anything else though.

Both seats fitted

Measured, cut and fitted the bow seat last night - used the same method as with the first seat. I need to get the seat hangers cut down by 10mm though as the seat is angled back a bit due the hangers all being the same length. Since the hangers are attached to the top panel the seat follows the curve hence the need to alter the hangers.

Picked the canoe up (not as heavy as the borrowed plastic one I'm using) and put it outside on the drive for a sponge down in readiness for painting and varnishing etc.

Bought some more M6 stainless bolts this morning to fit the portage yoke and thwart . They're cap screws and I'll sink them in the gunnels then cap them off with a dowel insert. Gave the runners for planing, thwart for routing and seat hangers for cutting to my neighbour who'll do those jobs for me today.

One seat fitted

Spent only a short time in the garage but it was quite productive

• Seat hangers: Used a 20mm wood drill and made a blind hole in a wooden block about 50mm deep. Once done changed the drill bit to a 6.5mm one, dropped the oak dowels being used for the seat hangers in the 20mm hole and drilled through the centre. This was the only way short of using a lathe that I could think of that would guarantee getting the hole in the centre and true all the way down the dowel
• Drilling the inwale: Used my pre-drilled wood block with a 6.5mm hole drilled through at 5 degrees offset so I could drill through the inwale
• Fixed the bolt to be used to fix the seats down into the drill, aligned the dowel and seat to the correct position w.r.t. the inwale hole and ran the drill all the way down the hole to touch the seat and mark the required drill position. Used the pedestal drill and drilled through the seat.

Above process repeated until all the holes were drilled etc. Fitted the seat and lightly tightened the nuts. The seat needs to be disassembled so the parts can be varnished.

I'm glad I started (and partially finished) this as I've been putting it off a bit not really wanting to drill through the gunnels in case I got it wrong but the drilling block worked well.

Work stops work

Haven't done anything on the canoe at all for 2 weeks now. Been working away and then for various reasons haven't been able to get into the garage.

Anyway here's the plan of some of what I shall be doing this week:

• get my runners planed down to the right size - Done
• get the portage yoke routed and fitted - Done
• completely glass the underside - Done
• Make a jig so I can drill through the centres of seat dowels - Done

Allergic reaction

I was given some wood; Iroko, from a fellow canoeist and Ipswich Canoe Club member to make a kneeling thwart from. I'd already made a template using my CAD package at work so marked and cut out the wood. As usual there was a fair amount of dust around, some of which made it into my eyes. The next morning I was (and still am) suffering from really puffy and itchy eyes. I'm not sure if it's the wood or something else but the swelling hasn't gone yet and now I'm in the US on business looking like some freak of nature and having to explain to people I'm not normally this ugly...

That aside I did manage to prepare the bilge runners so they can be glued on when I get back from my trip. I also picked up my paddle, throw bag and dry bag from my colleague who was storing them for me. The paddle is nice with a resin tip but did sustain some damage whilst in transit but nothing major. It's also the perfect size and a beaver tail unlike the tourer style I'm currently borrowing from the club.

Off to REI to see if there are any more bargains to bag - I might get some sunglasses to hide my hideous eyes...

Bulkheads finishing part II

Cut out and fitted the stern bulkhead top panel - exact same operation as previously described.

Started thinking about mounting the seats. I drilled a hole through a test piece of inwale using my bench drill at an angle of 5 degrees then counterbored it to sink the bolt head down sub flush of the surface. This seemed to work o.k. but I wonder about getting 4 holes in the right place without messing up either the inwales or the seats. The other thing is drilling a hole straight down the centre of the spacing dowel is difficult without using a lathe as I discovered.

On top of this there was a post on SoTP saying that the seats should be attached to the sidewalls of the canoe as they add to the strength.

Off to buy some wood for the bilge runners.

Total Spend to date £367

Bulkheads and Fairing

Cut out the triangular top panel and chamfered the top edge and stuck it on. Sounds simple but because there was a gap between the inwale and top edge I had to fill it by adding some more wood which took a while because that had to be shaped and stuck on the day before.

Did some more fairing to get rid of the glass tape lines on the outside. I was hoping to paint the exterior this week sometime with the undercoat primer I was recommended to use only to find out that it doesn't work. Back to the drawing board for that one.