Has anyone built and/or paddled

the solo design in James Moran’s book “Building Your Kevlar Canoe”? If so, I’d appreciate any input on how it paddles including speed, tracking and stability.



Thanks,

Bryan

a link
here is a link to someone who just completed one a couple months ago. If you scroll down there are links to all his posts.



http://www.network54.com/Forum/9927/message/1189473351/

Very helpful, thanks!

Great link bsia
It’s fascinating to watch the step by step process – thanks for posting that.



A few thoughts:



At the cost of Kevlar & epoxy and attaching some very minimum value to my time it’s WAY cheaper to buy a good used canoe than to build one. I don’t think that point can be argued… but sometimes I DO get a hankerin’ to build somethin’ – just because. (Materials cost $700 (+/-) labor at bare minimum ‘retired guy’ rate of $10 per hour X 50 hrs = $500. Total cost = $1,200 – the assumption is made that the builder has the available heated space and all the tools needed)



I have the book and have pondered building a canoe using some of the author’s techniques. Quite frankly it never really occurred to me to follow the author’s hull plans – what he offers has no ‘track record’. I figured I’d turn to Bear Mountain or another known quality plan provider for a better guarantee of ending up with a useful craft. After all that work and expense I’d want to be sure I ended up with a good hull design. Buying a good set of plans would run the price up even higher – but that would certainly be money well spent.



Another random thought – The method used by the author (and by the guy with the online photo montage) to attach the seats through the sides of the canoe with screws looks very weak. It is also not in any way adjustable. Bad idea.



Just some thoughts… RK