Centerline

This morning I managed to get a good looking center line installed on the 12 footer. I am at the point where I usually switch from placing strips on the outside in to the inside out. I kind of had a thought about doing a different pattern on the bottom, chevrons or diagonals or something.... have to see what happens.

Fill Coats Going Down

One project complete and the next one is underway. Fill coats on the unfinished are progressing nicely. Once it hardens then I can flip it over and start fairing the inside of the hull. You can see in the back ground another 12 footer is underway with the strips up to the waterline....

Test Run

Ok so I know these boats will float, how could they not? But given the opportunity to take one out for a test paddle is a no-brainier... so i took a 12 footer down to Lake Pelican and put it in the water. The wind was blowing off shore so the water looked calm. I had to stand on the painter line to keep the boat from being blown away as I snapped pictures like a fashion model....

I did paddle it for awhile, up and down the shoreline... it took a moment to get the feel of the boat and relaxed into the seat. There is a bit of rocker in the craft and using a single blade is a bit cumbersome. Using a double blade though really brings out the speed and maneuverability. Just a pleasure to paddle.

Side Job

Can a side job have a side job? Ok, so every once in a while I have to do some fixing up around the castle grounds. In this instance an entry step that I built over 10 years ago, decide that enough was enough. It even had the rudeness to collapse while the boss lady was using it... so to keep the peace, 9 boards and a couple hours... tada!!

Fixing the cracks

This is an interesting project, there are a number of cracks and splits in the hull of this canoe. The boat was taken off its forms before fiber glassing and put in storage for quite awhile. The cedar has dried out a bit and some of the seams have split. Sooooo how do you fix something like this?

The problem is how to squeeze the parts together to get the glue to stick and dry... here is the clever part. Superglue! By gluing down a couple of scrap pieces on either side of the split.

Once the glue is dry, I should be able to plane off the scraps and sand any blemishes out. So far so good, I'll keep you posted.