BJX
Why would Bardy think that was a good design for the Everglades? Bear with me, I am not a boat designer but love to discuss and learn. Is the constant flare good for handling rough water? And the “cheeked stern” is this to act as a skeg for better tracking?
Turning, unless you are trying to get through a mangrove tunnel is not typical of a general trip route through this area. The larger bays, rivers and coastal waters are large and generally windswept, shallow and tidal. Is this why he is using a long 16’ canoe that looks as skinny as my Kestrel and as shallow the reason for the design? I can’t believe he can stand up on that thing.
it’s no trick
you could stand-up paddle your kestral with practice.
Yes, flared hull
is great for shedding waves and pinched stern helps with tracking. BJX is narrow and long so initial stability is less, secondary is rock solid. If you watch the videos mentioned you can see Bardy heel the boat, even with a load, and achieve decent mobility…enough apparently for the Turner river. I paddled it in a Curtis Nomad which is much more manuverable…just shows what a talented paddler can do. And CEW is right, it is an incredibly elegant design.
BJX Freestyle Canoe 
Some years back I atended a Freestyle clinic put on by Karen Knight. My freind Heidi, an avid whitewater paddler brought a BJX, the only flatwater boat she owned. Fortunately for her (and me too), Karen brought a fleet of Wildfires and Flashfires.
At lunch time Karen demoed some moves in the BJX. Hey it turned pretty good when she got about two thirds of the hull out of the water!
Tommy
It helps
to weigh about 12 pounds
BJX is definately a kneeling canoe.
I owned one for a few months and sold it because I prefer to sit most of the time and the BJX felt much more stable when kneeling.
I agree
I paddled stevet’s BJX at the PA event and think if I sat in it the first time I paddled it I would have been dredging weeds.
building
– Last Updated: Jul-02-09 11:55 AM EST –
I think my biggest mistake was using too much filler in the ends. I was worried about having the inside radii be too small for easy glassing, and I probably overdid it. Since you have glass experience you'll probably do a lot better.
Masking before doing the seam fillets seemed like a pain but saved a lot of scraping.
Scariest part was probably wiring the ends. Most aggravating was probably the inside glassing. An extra pair of hands for the glassing was a big help.
The random-orbital sander with a soft pad and vacuum hookup was a huge help. A good respirator(3M 7500) pays for itself many times over.
I was surprised at how much weight the trim added to the hull.
Gunwales were tricky because of the tumblehome on the sheer panel -- on mine they ended up at 40 degrees from vertical. I used 3/4" x 3/4" ash for the inwales. For the outwale I ripped the same stock at an angle to match the tumblehome and make the top horizontal. After gluing I blended the two into a smooth curve -- it ended up looking nice with the plywood in the middle.
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2742014960087581313XWjHHm
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2441043910087581313wrBkMi
The deck plates are just scrap ply. Since these photos I've added grab handles made from gunwale scrap, and countersunk the hardware.
My first build, a gazillion mistakes, but she makes me smile...
question
anybody ever paddled a Galt Mirage?
Just curious (very).
Mirage
– Last Updated: Jul-03-09 12:07 PM EST –
Consider the Phoenix Mirage a less finished BJX. It had side pods, etc. In fact, Sawyer George was carting Mirage side pods around at a Raystown event, apparently looking for a hull to stick them in.?
aha!
– Last Updated: Jul-02-09 2:55 PM EST –
thank you for the answer!
(all this talk about the BJX, got me thinking about that design, which I saw in a Canoe Specialists catalog, but never read anything more about it.)
I can furnish pics
of a BJX if anyone wants to see it and is not familiar with the boat.
sure
shoot some my way. I have seen the boat, and think it’s gorgeous, but I can not have enough boat pics.
The BJX has a quality to it that is hard to explain. It looks very maritime, more than just canoeish. Like if you had to put the aesthetic spirit of one of those beautiful working wineglass transom skiffs into a canoe. At least to me, anyway. Like all works of art, as Galt boats were, it’s up to the audience to decide 
me too
I would be interested in seeing the pics and also find out what the specs on it were. Did your BJX have what looks like knee braces on the sides? In the video it shows he has an adjustable seat with the rails mounted under the “knee braces”.
search "bjx canoe"
i found some very interesting historical photos of bardy, galt and others in what looks like an old hemlock site.
cool stuff.
that’s the Hemlock photo album n/m
Love that picture of Bardy Jones
paddling a MacKenzie birchbark…and Tom had some more hair then than now(but thats another story)…
Go to http://www.hemlockcanoe.com/ and click on “Pictures”