Fred In Wisc CC14 Cheap Canoe at 80% Scale

[Cracker Larry]

I'm with ya on the food and ammo, been having a hard time keeping stocked up on ammo since Mrs. Cracker and little Mrs. Cracker have started going through 500 rounds a weekend though. They kill a sheet of plywood almost every Sunday

Is that Dori with the big 90's hair?

That's her. They quit fishing to fly a kite. The picture was about 1992.

[terrulian]

Beautiful work, Fred. You and Larry are making me regret I didn't do this.
I wasn't certain it would produce the stiffness in the gunwale that would be achieved with a solid piece since there was no exterior wood on my gunwale except the 1/4" side of the hull, and that assumed weakness is what sealed the deal. I'll be interested in seeing your judgment about the rigidity, but you have the exterior wale to strengthen it, which I wouldn't have had. 1/4" just seemed too flimsy for this area even with separated backing blocks.
One of the advantages of your design is that when the boat is inverted, water can drain from the sides of the hull instead of being captured by the underside of the inwale, which is what will happen with me. I guess I'm just a little worried about storing the boat like that but on the other hand, maybe I'll wipe down the boat before turning it over. For the first week or two.

[Fred in Wisc]

Larry, I'm jealous that you can shoot like that right at home. I sure miss living in the country.

Terrulian- I'm guessing it will be nearly as stiff as a solid piece- the middle section of a beam doesn't matter too much, most of the load is carried in the outer surface, and stiffness is a function of thickness (I think to the 3rd power even), so a thick rail even with a partially hollow center, should be pretty strong and really stiff. That's the theory at least. I'll see how it plays out tonight.

[Fred in Wisc]

Was invited to a relative's lake house on Saturday for a party, thought it would be a good time to get the little boat wet. It's not quite done, needs paint, seat, and finish sealing the slotted rail. But done enough to take for a little paddle around.

Loaded boat on the minivan roof rack, no problem.

50 miles on the highway, no problem.

Carry down 4-5 flights of steps (the shoreline is really steep), no problem.



Drop it off the dock into the lake, no problem. Figured I should take a quick test paddle before putting my little girl in there. It floats real high and pretty, it's super light weight.



Climbing on board, figured I had better be cautious, it's designed for a max weight of about 120 pounds and me with a little gear is 195. Ain't gonna have much freeboard. That's a concern, but probably not a problem.



Put my weight in the boat, that left little freeboard and it feels real tender, it's narrow and my center of gravity is a little high. Sitting on the boat cushion raises it another 2". Kind of a problem. If this were a flight rather than a paddle, I'd stop and evaluate, maybe scrub the mission for the moment. Or at least take my wallet and stuff out of my pockets. But it's not flying, it's just boating in waist deep water so we forge ahead.



Got settle in and started to push away from the dock. Leaned a little and then things went downhill fast. Houston, we have a problem......



Well, nothing really hurt but my ego. Performed an important safety test. The foam in both ends will indeed float the boat when completely swamped. And the slotted rubrail really makes draining all the water out easy.



Thought y'all might enjoy seeing that not every splash is problem free and triumphant.

After that, I got in a whole lot more carefully and cruised it around a bit. I'm definitely too heavy and have to really be careful, a little lean or a small wave and water comes right over the side. On the other hand, it's super fast. Way faster than the other plastic kayaks we had out in the water. tracks very straight but takes a little distance to turn with the triple keels (and my inability to lean it over any without going swimming).



Abby was a little shy about trying it out after watching Daddy get plopped in the drink, but it works great for her. She paddled around just fine one she got used to it being a bit less stable than the wide plastic boats.

[jacquesmm]

It's less stable than a wide plastic boat but it is also 20% smaller than designed. It will be fine for a child or a light teenager and if I remember well, that was the idea.
The smile of that child proves that it is the ideal boat for them!

[Fred in Wisc]

Yep, works great for her, and that was indeed the goal. But I'm a big fat Midwestern American. Not a good fit for me. Not at all a fault of the design, I'm just plain too big. If I had better balance and was a little smaller, it would be great fun, it's a LOT faster than the plastic boats. And it sure looks nicer.

I'll build a regular sized one for me later on.

[Fred in Wisc]

I put the boat downstairs when we got home, with the dehumidifier and a fan....... It was nice and dry by Sunday afternoon.

Sunday Abby asked if she could start painting. Flipped it over, masked the rubrail and the graphite bottom. Showed my girl how to do a "roll and tip" paint job, and then mostly got out of the way. I was in charge of dispensing paint, handing tools, and holding the boat down so it didn't move if she was pressing hard with the roller.

Once it's dry, we'll sand lightly, then go to the real paint (with a better tipping brush, not just a chip brush).







The primer meets with Abby's approval.

[terrulian]

Great shots, great report all around. Congrats on getting her (the boat) wet and keeping the new skipper dry.

[Fred in Wisc]

Oh , I forgot, you had asked about how strong the slotted rubrail is. It feels extremely strong and rigid. I can support my weight on it no problem. And the sides are only 2.5mm plywood.

I REALLY like how water drains right through it. That and the light weight make it super easy to drain the boat by passing it over another boat out on the water. We practiced that a few times just to make sure we could do it if we had to.

[Cracker Larry]

This is a fantastic picture