Gibbo's Canadian Canoe Build Blog

Grab handles - finally

2008-06-13T10:49:00.002Z

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

2008-06-11T18:23:00.002Z

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

2008-06-08T15:13:00.003Z

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

2008-06-06T20:15:00.003Z

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!

2008-06-02T07:56:00.006Z

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

2008-05-30T07:04:00.005Z

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

2008-05-29T06:58:00.004Z

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

2008-05-25T13:45:00.004Z

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)

2007-09-17T13:01:00.000Z

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

2007-08-29T08:10:00.000Z

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

2007-08-23T12:39:00.000Z

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

2007-07-17T08:17:00.001Z

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

2007-07-17T07:53:00.000Z

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

2007-07-09T07:32:00.000Z

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

2007-07-02T09:55:00.000Z

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!!

2007-06-29T07:55:00.000Z

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

2007-06-28T08:45:00.000Z

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

2007-06-27T08:12:00.000Z

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

2007-06-26T07:22:00.000Z

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

2007-06-25T08:59:00.000Z

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

2007-06-20T07:12:00.000Z

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

2007-06-19T07:26:00.000Z

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

Varnish - coat 1

2007-06-14T07:58:00.000Z

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

2007-06-13T11:14:00.001Z

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

2007-06-12T11:23:00.000Z

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

2007-06-11T13:30:00.000Z

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

2007-05-30T22:54:00.000Z

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

2007-05-23T08:55:00.000Z

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

2007-05-21T07:17:00.000Z

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.

My second paddle with the ICC

2007-05-18T08:01:00.000Z

No I'm not going to turn this into a series but only to say that since last week I was really pleased with my paddling progress and improvement this time round. There was no instructor this week so we just paddled from Cattawade up to Dedham and back. Distance is around 6 miles in total and I was getting a bit sore by the time we finished.

Mayonnaise

2007-05-16T08:42:00.000Z

Made up some more mayonnaise (fairing mix); named as such after it was described to me as the correct consistency, and have done the top glass joint all around the boat plus the stern. Glued the inner bulkhead cross bars whilst trying to work out how I'm going to fit the top bulkhead panel in place. I still can't think of a way that will look nice so in the mean time I bought a bit more timber to splice in and then maybe I'll rout it down a bit so I can inset the panel - we'll see.

Drilled out both painter holes to increase the hole size then; using a screwdriver, spread epoxy into the hole to seal the bare wood.

Bought some yacht varnish using the £20 voucher I got from Buildbase for complaining about their poor service (not from local branch, they've always been pretty good and willing to help) also got the 8 stainless steel M6x120mm cap screws from Suffolk Fasteners I needed to fit the seats on. Just need the dowels to set the seat height now.

Total spend to date £363

Outwales on

2007-05-14T10:51:00.000Z

Took a bit of time making sure my compound angles and outwale length matched the other one already fitted then glued it on at the weekend - see picture 2. Removed the clamps once cured because I couldn't wait to see what the boat looks like with uninterupted lines (i.e. without G-clamps). I like it....

Used my microballoon fairing mix (the purply colour in picture 2) to fill the front end exterior where I ran out of tape and had to patch. Rubbed it down late last night and the fairing really makes a difference, it just smooths everything out a bit.

Glued and drilled the blocks to allow the painter (mooring rope) through. I also marked out both sides and drilled half way on either side meeting in the middle as pushing a drill bit through ply tears the top laminate.

Cut out the bulkhead inner cross bars and dry fitted them, again compound angles involved so took my time making sure they're right.

My first paddle - but not in my canoe

2007-05-11T07:03:00.000Z

Joined the beginners group at the Ipswich Canoe Club and went for a paddle in a borrowed club canoe. Oh man how crap was I at paddling. Left the jetty and promptly found a reed bed and stayed embedded for a while. Once out promptly returned to said reed bed.

After some tuition and practice I did start to get the hang of it and by the time we finished I felt reasonably confident about getting myself back to the jetty without embarassing myself further.

Hats off to those of you who can paddle solo. Richard; our instructor, just made it look so easy and effortless. Regardless of my efforts I really enjoyed it and can't wait to get on the water again.

I'm sitting here aching already and that's not a good sign so it's off down the gym to keep those muscles loose.

Forgot to mention... Ipswich Canoe Club

2007-05-09T08:04:00.000Z

Me and a couple of friends attended the first outdoor meet of the year for the ICC. It was a BBQ and a meet and greet type of thing plus there were a few paddlers including one young lady who did a roll in a kayak. It was the coldest night for a few weeks so we spent some time around the BBQ keeping warm.

I signed up for the beginners training course but since my boat won't be finished in time I'm borrowing one (their only one) from the club for the time being. I don't have a roof rack yet but have ordered one which I'm told will be delivered today - it'd better as I'm picking the canoe up tonight.

My friend Toby managed to get himself an ex-club kayak for £40 so he was pretty pleased.

Outwales

2007-05-09T07:16:00.000Z

First of the outwales was glued on last night - ran out of clamps again. I shaped the ends to match the curve of the bow/ stern and tapered the thickness which I'm pretty happy with especially as I used the angle grinder to do it - just need to match the other one now.

Routed the portage yoke to give the bevelled edge I wanted. Dry fitted it using the newly aquired stainless screws. Just need to finish sanding it down then it needs a coat of varnish.

Inwales on - screwed and glued

2007-05-08T14:28:00.000Z

Spent last Friday with my neighbour gluing just one of the inwales on. We ran out of clamps and couldn't fit the other side so left it to set overnight then glued the other on the next day.

Waited until Sunday then dry fitted the outwales, these were much easier to form due to the smaller cross section however I can't get the outwale to follow the exact curve of the top panel (same goes for the inwales too) - it's about 10mm or so down. This is fine as I'll grind down the excess a bit later.

I cut down the centre thwart/ portage yoke to size and drilled a hole through the inwale and thwart. Need to get the right stainless screws now. I don't know whether to glue and screw the thwart or just leave the screws in for the time being... we'll see.

Trying to source the bolts (M6x120mm ish) for the seats, also need to get a length of wooden dowel and drill a hole through the middle so they can be used as a spacer for the seat.

Inwales on - screwed but not glued

2007-05-02T06:58:00.000Z

Got both inwales on last night - screwed not glued. Couldn't get the bow/ stern ends to follow the line exactly so left them sitting low inside the bulkhead as this section will be covered when the capping goes on. The plywood upper edge (where the inwales goes) was a bit wavey but as soon as the inwale was screwed in place it really gave a nice even line. The boat is extremely rigid now. I'm going to leave the inwales in place until Friday so they take a set then remove them and add the glue and go through the process again.

Gunwale fitting preparation

2007-05-01T09:41:00.000Z

I don't know why but I'm a bit nervous about fitting the in/outwales. Anyway this evening my neighbour is giving me a hand to fit the inwales so I've spent some time marking out and drilling/ countersinking the hull on the outside. This will enable me to clamp and screw the inwale in position along the length then once I'm happy I'll remove it and glue it in place then reclamp.

Once this is done the outwale is fitted which will cover up the holes/ screw heads.

Done glassing

2007-04-26T14:11:00.000Z

Finished off the remainder of the glassing and coated the bare bits of the hull with epoxy. I'll let it cure off for a few days before I attempt to fit the gunwales.

More glass taping

2007-04-24T07:12:00.000Z

Started taping the outside chines (only one left to do) but have run out of epoxy which is just great - not. I've ordered some more from China Wind Yachts because without it work will stop altogether as I can't do anything more until the taping is finished.

Carried on trying to bend the gunwales, there's a bit more set than before so it's going in the right direction. In the mean time I was talking with my dad who, as it turns out has a steamer, so I might try it out.

Spoke with "Woodman" from SoTP forum regarding methods of bending gunwales. He suggested fitting the inwales first and screwing them in using countersink screws which will be covered up after fitting the outwale.

Total spend to date £338

Looking ahead

2007-04-20T12:04:00.000Z

I'll be heading off to LA on business soon so decided to take advantage of the excellent pound to dollar exchange rate (2.0029 dollars to the GBP on 20th Apr. '07) and bought a throw bag, pfd and a dry bag from REI. They can deliver free of charge to a store not too far from the US office. Also placed a bid on eBay for a cherry/ spruce 60" paddle. I think that should be it for this trip otherwise I won't be able to carry anything else.

Gunwale forming

2007-04-20T09:02:00.000Z

Took some advice from SoTP forum on how to form the wood without using a steamer. Concensus is to weigh the wood down then pour boiling water over it to soften it up. I poured about 3 kettles over the course of the evening and wrapped towels around and left it overnight. Took a look the next morning and the wood sprung back in to place nearly smacking me in the face at the same time so there's no real set at all. I guess I'll keep adding boiling water and weights and see what happens. If that doesn't work then I may have to resort to the steamer.

In the mean time I've turned the canoe over and have sanded down all the chines so they are nicely rounded and smooth and ready for the final glass tape application.

Gunwales

2007-04-18T13:07:00.000Z

Took the Tuesday off work to go up to my neighbours woodworking shop. Spent most of the day routing out the drainage slots in the inwhale plus more time routing the edges of both in and outwhales with a nice bevel. Very grateful to Steve for letting me take up his time and tools - couldn't have done it without him.

Got the bits home and started to form them by suspending a bucket with bricks in. Not sure if this is enough so will consult with SoTP and get some answers there. Then spent the evening filleting and glassing the remaining inner bulkhead section.

All-in-all a good day and to cap it off my oldest boy; who's 4, learned to ride his bike without stabilisers plus it was his first day of school so a good day for him too.

Weds - Had a hospital appointment around lunchtime so spent some of the morning painting the remainder of the inside of the canoe with epoxy. The inside is finished now except for fairing and painting. Got the fairing mix delivered today but upon opening the box I found the contents spilled out and all over the place.

Total spent to date £300.

More taping

2007-04-12T07:24:00.000Z

Filleted and taped the forward bulkhead section. Access is pretty tight so getting a good fillet of glue is quite difficult and I had to resort to using long sticks and pushing the glue in then using my hand to spread it out.

I used a tip found from trawling the SoTP forum re. putting the resin and hardener in a bucket of hot water to get it nice and fluid. This helps when dispensing and works really well, I'd recommend it - just wish I'd found out about it earlier, it would have saved me some time.

Increased the hatch hole sizes in the bulkhead using an angle grinder. Not the right tool for the job but it worked.

Bought some stainless steel M4 button head cap screws to fix the hatches in place. Also bought the wood for the gunwales - just need to persuade my neighbour to lend me his router again so I can add the drain slot features.

Total spend to date £282

Good Friday

2007-04-12T07:16:00.000Z

Friday was good... I got up really early; in fact it was still dark, so decided to take advantage and start with the final filleting so I could lay tape down. My aim was to finish the area between the bulkheads. This took a whole lot longer than expected and really annoyed my wife who'd got plans to visit the zoo. I explained that once I'd glued I had to continue and put the tape down to get the strongest bond. All up this took about 7 hours.

Off to the zoo.

Glass tape preparation

2007-04-03T07:07:00.000Z

Forgot to buy some more masking tape so my plan of putting glass tape down was scuppered. Instead I took some time to clean up the tack joints and get rid of the dust etc. I cut the glass tape in lengths and lowered the canoe to a more managable height.

I'm amazed at how rigid the canoe is even though the joints aren't fully glued and no tape present either.

Offered up the deck plates to the holes cut in the bulkheads and even after making them as per recommendation the holes are too small. This is a real pain as I don't have a suitable way of removing the material. I need some kind of cylindrical sander is there is such a thing - off to screwfix to have a look.

Glueing the panels together

2007-04-02T07:29:00.000Z

I'm now ready to tack the panels together. I mixed the epoxy with Flag resin, taped the outside chines between the copper wire then pushed the epoxy mix from the inside and let it cure - that was Friday evening. On Sunday I removed all the spacers and staples and started to fill a few of the remaining gaps before running out of time.

Also managed to borrow my neighbours router and finished the portage yoke. It still needs to have the edges bevelled but aside from that it's finished.

Cut out the triangular bulkhead panels that fit on top. I placed the front pointy end on a brick then loaded another load of bricks on top to bend the ply so hopefully it will take the shape of the fore and aft of the canoe.

A colleague kindly dropped off my deck plates that I bought from a US supplier. I'll dry fit them this evening to check the hole size in the bulkhead.

Lolly sticks

2007-03-30T07:12:00.000Z

Spent what little time I had this week continuing to insert the lolly stick spacers between the chines. This whole operation took a lot longer than I expected because at the same time I had to blend the lower bilge panel with the others because of it being too long. This I did with an angle grinder and an old sanding disc which worked pretty well.

I needed a flat surface so I placed the canoe on my ladder which in turn was placed on the trestles and squared up. Used the spirit level to check the flatness and skew of the top panel which for the most part is pretty good. The aft bulkhead was a little high so I placed a couple of bricks on it and left it over night.

*?!** bulkheads

2007-03-27T11:06:00.000Z

OK - removed the bulkheads again and cut the corners away to allow for clearance of the inwhales when ready. Started to insert my spacers between the chines. These are in the form of cut up lolly sticks. Once inserted the copper wire is twisted to pull the panels together and nipping the stick in place. I've only done a quarter of the boat so far.

Also removed the overhanging lower bilge section previously mentioned using a jigsaw. I then had to remove some material where the panels meet for better fitting.

I think what I'm going to do is to part glue the joins (tack weld) then remove the spacers and wire then properly fillet the joins and tape over the top.

Poor planning

2007-03-26T13:11:00.000Z

I was looking through some build pictures of other people's canoes, it suddenly dawned on that I haven't removed any material from the bulkheads for the inwhales. So I need to remove them for a second time...

Yet more stitching

2007-03-26T07:17:00.000Z

Removed the bulkheads and made 6.5" holes in them ready for the inspection covers. They need a bit more finishing but they'll do for the time being. Stitched up all the panels over the weekend and it's now finally looking like a canoe. And it's a big one! In fact that's the first thing my wife said when she saw it.

The lower bilge panels seem to be about a 1cm longer than all the other panels (See first picture) for some reason so I'll have to unstitch the front end and remove this somehow.

Stitched up too

2007-03-23T08:23:00.000Z

Carried on stitching the panels together. I drilled the bulkheads and mounted them so the bow and stern could be stitched and take some shape. Both lower bilge panels are in and loosely stitched and clipped together - forgot to make the holes in the bulkhead for the hatches so they need to come out again as trying to shape a 6.5" diameter hole in a loose panel won't be easy.

Ordered x2 hatches from a company in the US and am having them delivered to our office north of LA. A couple of colleagues are there on business next week so hopefully they will be delivered in time so they can bring them back for me. Cost of the panels inc. shipping were ~£19.

Total spend so far £268

Stitched up

2007-03-22T12:47:00.000Z

After glueing and taping the butt joints I cleaned up the excess tape and epoxy and was ready to start stitching the panels together. I made a gauge from a piece of plastic and some M3 cap screws that allowed me to set the drill hole distance in from the panel edge by 6mm and 200mm apart. This helps to ensure the holes line up between the panels.

Drilled the bottom panel and lower bilge panel and stitched them together using copper wire. Only managed one panel as time was getting on so will have to finish the others later.

One thing struck when putting the panel on was that this thing is longggggggggg.

Hoping to order some hatches from a US supplier and get them delivered to my office in the US in time for my manager to pick them up whilst he's over there on business. That way I can cut the holes in the bulkheads for them prior to fitting the bulkheads in the boat.

Good progress made

2007-03-19T09:06:00.000Z

Busy few days on the canoe front. Took Friday off work to work on the canoe. Original plan was to tape the butt joints but again the dreaded slowness of the epoxy setting put paid to that as it still hadn't cured sufficiently. I decided to call up the supplier who agreed to send me some fast setting hardener FOC if I paid the postage - obviously I was happy with this. The supplier called back to let me know he was in the area on Saturday and could drop by if I wanted. This he did and dropped of the hardener and also some more resin, manufactured by Flag this time which he recommended for gluing and fairing. Paid for the shipping - £10.

In the mean time I still had to fill my Friday so I got some more ply for the centre bulkhead support (that's only fixed in temporarily to keep the shape of the canoe) and the bow and stern bulkheads. I used 5mm WBP for this.

I also got a 1M plank of oak for my portage yoke, the plans of which I got from Jem Watercraft. I also made up a template of the yoke to use for routing the finished article. Oak is really hard and it took ages to cut.

On the Saturday and Sunday I used the fast cure hardener and taped all the joints up. Fast hardener really does work fast!

In the mean time a contact from SoTP forum dropped off the seats I bought from her - which are really nice.

Total spend to date £249.

Don't let your kids in the garage!

2007-03-14T15:23:00.000Z

I took a lot of time and trouble to measure up and make sure that my butt joints were good. I placed the upper bilge boards over each other and they matched extremely well. The lower bilge panels at the centre were off by about 10mm. The joint wasn't parallel and I remembered that my youngest lad managed to kick the end of the panel just after I had glued it. I didn't check it and I should have so the upshot is I had to cut the glue joint and start again. Extremely annoying as the epoxy is taking a long time to cure off.

Anway hopefully this evening I will do the above joint as well as the ones I still had left to do.

Arranged to get my seats delivered this Friday so am looking forward to that. Also ordered a 100m roll of 75mm glass tape from China Wind Yachts. Also found out from CWY that you can add acrylic paint to the epoxy to give it a colouring. Apparently it's a bit trial and error but I'll give it a go and see what happens.

Waiting for the glue to dry...

2007-03-13T08:46:00.000Z

After 36hrs of waiting my glue joints still aren't fully cured. This is due to the slowww curing hardener (and the temperature) I was sent. I don't want to move the panels but at the same time I still have a couple more joins to make so would like to get on.

In the mean time I met up with Paul (the picture's his canoe) who's a member of the Open Canoe Association Suffolk Branch who kindly showed me his Selway Fisher Peterborough. He imparted some good advice aswell as some tales of woe. I think I'll change my thoughts about the gunwhale timber and go for the smaller cross section on the outside. Also the inwhales need to have some holes in them so when the canoe is turned over the water has somewhere for it to escape.

What struck me was that the canoe is huge, both length and width and mine will be about a foot or more longer.

Ordered my 75mm tape (a 100m roll) for £24 from CWY.

Total spend to date £239.

Joining the Panels

2007-03-12T08:11:00.000Z

Because the panels are only effectively half the length of the canoe they have to be joined. I decided to use a butt joint that would be glued using an epoxy and woodflour mix. So Saturday afternoon and Sunday I spent some time laying the panels out in my garage trying to make best use of the space available whilst making sure they were correctly aligned. I did this using the method outlined by JEM Watercraft which seems to work well until one your kids moves comes in and trips over your work.

I carefully read the instructions for mixing the epoxy and priming the pumps and set about trying to get the peanut butter like consistency required. As this was my first attempt I didn't know how much to mix and needless to say mixed too much. Anyway the goop was pushed into the joint and then smoothed out using a spreader. With a plastic bag under and over the glue joint I put a couple of bricks over to make sure the joint comes out flat. Nothing to do now until the epoxy cures.

Got Epoxy

2007-03-09T10:36:00.000Z

Whilst still recovering from surgery I spent some time searching for places that sold epoxy resin. Eventually ordered some MAS Epoxy from China Wind Yachts. Unfortunately their website is 2 years out of date so the prices quoted are not correct but they are still a bit cheaper than other suppliers. Their kit also includes the metering pumps. I bought some woodflour mix at the same time. Tried to get some 75mm x 100m glass woven tape but that was out of stock, however they did agree to send some out freepost when available.

Also started looking around for some seats - 2 needed. Average price seems to be around £45 a go for the wooden frame/ tape type but I trawled around SoTP and found someone in Norwich who had some home made ones for £25 a go plus shipping. So I'm in the process of sorting that out.

Total spend to date = £215

Work Stops

2007-03-09T10:22:00.000Z

Off I went to hospital for my op. I had some of my collar bone chisled away plus some other bits scraped away. Left hospital the next day with my arm in a sling and feeling pretty sore. Since nothing was going to happen on the build front I looked for other things to do. So I went down the library and borrowed Path of the Paddle and Thrill of the Paddle by Bill and Paul Mason. Good books that give instruction on paddling technique etc. Did I mention I'm a canoe virgin and need to learn all the basics?

Looked on eBay for a paddle and got a DDR beaver tail for £11 plus shipping. Also bought a book from BuyRights (their marketing slogan is "maykert part of yar Suffolk loif" - make it part of your Suffolk life for those who don't know local Suffolk!) the title of which I don't remember but it's a good colour book with instruction on J and several other strokes.

Total spend so far = £100

Cutting out the panels

2007-03-09T10:13:00.000Z

Next stage was to cut out the panels themselves. In the mean time my parents had very generously bought me an early birthday present of an electric plane and jigsaw.

I desperately wanted to get the panel cutting done as I was about to undergo some shoulder surgery which would put me out action for a while so full steam ahead. The first panels cut out were used as templates to create the remaining ones required.

Once all the panels were cut out they were matched up and clamped ready for planing in one go.

The planer is very good at creating flat surfaces but is no good for planing down concave surfaces. For this I borrowed a spoke shave which did the job really well.

Marking out

2007-03-09T10:04:00.000Z

Next stage is to loft the plans. This involves making a series of pencil lines 305mm [12"] apart on the plywood and marking the corresponding points to create the panel shapes. I bought a length of overflow pipe from my local builder's merchant and used some duct tape to hold the shape whilst marking the curves out. This worked out pretty well.

Marking out was done on my dining room table since it was freezing in the garage and took several hours (~5 hours) to do but being an engineer I check every dimension several times just to make sure.

Got Ply

2007-03-09T09:40:00.000Z

Collected my marine ply from Edens in Norfolk and strapped it to the roof of the car. The price was pretty good at around £13.50 a sheet compared to £25 plus/ sheet from other places. Local timber suppliers just don't seem to stock 4mm marine ply and I ended phoning around loads of places.

Cost of ply including the compulsory small order charge was ~£45.

Total spent so far = £85

My plans arrive - Jan. '07

2007-03-09T09:21:00.000Z

I finally decided which canoe to go for. It's a Selway Fisher 15'7" Raven open canoe made using the stitch and tape build method. The length is just under the width of my garage so I'm hoping that once it's built it will fit in quite nicely.

Cost of the plans is £40. For this you get some basic instructions on the build method and some scaled dimensioned drawings that are lofted onto the plywood. For this design you need 3 sheets of marine ply, the thickness that I chose was 4mm. You can go thicker but I wanted to keep the weight down as I'll probably be the person to carry it when done.

Unfortunately I was away in the US on business when the plans arrived which was a shame as reading through them would have relieved some of the boredom of the evenings.

I don't know why...

2007-03-09T09:11:00.000Z

This is me white water rafting down the Zambezi whilst on holiday with some friends. Yep that's me with the Adidas trainers going for yet another dip - check out YouTube for a short film of this.

I was trying to think what the trigger was for me wanting to build an open canoe. I really can't remember, but over the years I have always fancied owning a canoe of some description. I did own a kayak (which never saw water) for a while when I lived at home but my dad seemed to hate having my stuff in the garage and eventually the canoe was cut up and sent to the tip - shame.

Anyway after doing a fair bit of research on the internet and then joining The Song Of The Paddle Forum I decided to go down the self build route. This blog shows my progress.