Building Again

[Jay]

I hope to be done in February.  I call this shot "Clampzilla".  Hopefully it is at least shaped like the second shot.

[Jay]

She's done. Well they're never really done.

Came in pretty much as I expected.  Ended up at 43lbs.  I added bulkheads fore and aft with hatches.  Figure it would be nice to have some dry storage.  2 liter bottles fit nicely.  Working on a removable compass and GPS mount for the forward thwart.

While I was varnishing....decided to strip down my two kayaks and re-varnish....they needed it.

Going for a paddle out in the back yard.  Hoping to sneak in a couple of late season trips.

[Amazon Bill]

That is a very sharp looking canoe! Colors, inlaid trim lines and finish are A+. 

[vivian]

Absolutely gorgeous. Congratulations Jay!

[Jay]

Thanks Bill and Vivian.

Took it out for a couple of hours yesterday.  Cruises nicely at 3 knots....max was 5.1.  I am looking forward to putting a load in it and seeing how she stabilizes out.  Tracks very nicely.

:)

[toofaraway]

Stunning!

[Jay]

Thanks very much.  I took down to the park yesterday for a nice day trip. Beautiful day.

Coot Bay Pond - Coot Bay - Mud Lake - Bear Lake - that skinny water area west of bear lake - back through the Homestead Canal to Buttonwood back up to Coot and the pond.

Played with some juvenile Tarpon.  Couldn't get the Reds to bite.

And yes - put the inaugural scratches in the boat. No big deal....it's a boat.

[toofaraway]

That sounds fantastic, have you ever tried to push through from W of Bear Lake to East Cape Canal?

[Jay]

I think that is where I was yesterday. At the W end of Bear Lake there is a creek that opens up into another lake that that does not appear to have a separate name on the charts.  At the W end of that lake there appears to be another creek that continues W.  I went all the way to where the water was extremely skinny...and considering it was a falling tide, I started my return trip. (plus I took an hour or so trying to get the Redfish on that flat to bite)....so that is as far W as I have been back in there.

Have you?

[vivian]

I did that same trip last weekend and found some nice snook at bear lake. How did the canoe handle? Fast, easy to control, etc and so forth?

[Jay]

Hi Vivian,

I think it handled well.  It is a very flat bottom, so tracks well.  Probably too well in some cases.  I was going to build in a bit more rocker but I was concerned about unintended consequences and stuck with the design

The last serious canoe paddling I did was over 30 years ago in the family's canvas Old Town.  I have been pretty much exclusively kayaking for the last 10 years.  My strokes are a bit rusty.  When I edged it a bit - of course it responded much better.

Speed - I could hold 3.0 - 3.2 knots pretty easily (no wind).  The wind picked up in the afternoon and I was in the 2.6-2.8 range working a bit harder.

Stability - I had a small load - a few gallons of water, cooler and my camping hammock, and some emergency gear.  I think it is pretty stable.  Stood up a few times for a bit and it was pretty comfortable.

I will probably pick up a carrying thwart that I can swap out if I am going to portage.  I forgot that I had loaded a couple of 2L bottles in each end....sure didn't feel like 43lbs - which is what it ended up weighing in rigged and empty.

I made a removable compass and GPS mount that worked great.  I have the compass amidships and the GPS about 10" to the right.  The GPS mount is non-ferrous but the GPS batteries can cause problems.  I saw no deviation with the GPS installed and I like the positioning.

Is that unnamed shallow lake area west of Bear Lake still considered Bear Lake?  That is where I got into the Tarpon.  Lots of fun.  And there were a bunch of Reds on the mud flat at the W end of that area.

Fun - Fun!

[vivian]

Sounds like the canoe would also work well for poling the shallow flats? I wonder how it would respond without those water bottles at bow and stern compartments? Lastly, is this canoe set up for sitting, kneeling or both? I would like to see a picture of gps mount for ideas.

My canoe has differential rocker it tracks beautifully in open bays with winds but is also alot of fun in twisty creeks but kneeling works best to get most response from the hull.

[Jay]

Poling probably would work well.  My spare paddle is a 50 year old Oak Otter Tail long paddle and I spend some time "poling" with that when I was in that skinny water.  It did in a pinch.  It has been 30 years since I used that paddle.  Wow they were heavy back then!

I have it rigged to sit or kneel.  I have the seat rigged at a pretty nice down angle.  I spent about equal time doing both.

Since I had 2L fore and 2L aft...it was balanced out - so I don't think it would effect the handling.

I did find one picture of the GPS/compass mount. I had a piece of Cedar which I made into the shape of the thwart.  I made bulges at each end where the actual mounts would go.  I drilled a slightly over-sized hole through the thwart and then sealed the hole with epoxy. Then drilled a whole into the mount for a 1/4-20 threaded insert.  That insert accepts a 1/4-20 knob ended bolt.  I put a couple of pieces of leather on the underside of the mount so it won't scar the thwart over time. I will probably change the leather to synthetic felt pads since the leather will go hard over time....I just didn't have any felt pads handy.