I am no expert but
since this is the internet, I will chime in. How heavy are you? Secondly what do you have in mind for the canoe. It sounds like it will be a slower canoe that turns well but would be quire susceptable to wind. You might want try some solo canoes before building one.
Before you try anything,
you might check out Pygmy Boat’s canoe kit at http://www.pygmyboats.com/mall/taiga.asp . It’s larger than what you are looking for, but if you are willing to humble yourself enough to undertake such strange boatbuilding behavior, you will need a boat with this length and beam for stability to handle your increased head size.
I did build an ultralight plane, and it was a satisfying experience - but so was the experience of building plywood/fiberglass S&G kayaks. For what it’s worth, some people thought me to be strange and weird for building the airplane; not so much for the kayaks. If this is a concern for you, lots of hobby shops carry doll house kits. You can build one inside and nobody has to know . . .
Not sure why that would offend.
You just want a chance to retype it for posterity?
You’re feeling touchy, too, like
makinwaves? I can’t see any reason why someone would feel offended by what James said.
None of it is “probably true.”
"paddled by weird people"
why would you say that?
what kind of comments are you soliciting
build it.
Ideally a shop space with steady or predictable temps is worth having. I saw this dialog on your site, you need steady temps for building it, not just for curing the epoxy. Your comment is like saying you can paint in a duststorm, just cover it with a tarp.
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Dennis - 11 minutes ago »
You’ll likely need some heat when it comes time for epoxy.
I saw a post on this somewhere…they covered the hull in a tarp and put an electric space heater underneath. Not ideal but it worked. This project may be put off until springtime anyway…just speculating here.
Building a boat
"Any man who wants to can produce a good boat. It takes some study, some practice and, of course, experience. The experience starts coming the minute you begin, and not one jot before. I sometimes hear the wail, “I have no experience.” Start. Start anything, and experience comes. Some say building a boat is one of man’s nobler efforts. Maybe so; it’s a lot of fun anyway. As one of my builder friends says, “Its only a boat; go ahead and build it.” If the first effort is a bit lumpy, so what? There will be another much less lumpy later on
Written by the late R.D. (Pete) Culler, in “Skiffs and Schooners” 1974
Pete’s words are what got me up and building.
Dave
Creeks
I usually stay away from lakes and other bodies of water affected by the wind. My paddling venues include small fast streams and rivers in the ozarks… slow and turny is good
-James
http://www.adventurecanoe.com
Built one
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2226231090087581313BCGwMR
Make sure your workspace has good lighting.
Invest in a good respirator – I like the 3M 7500.
Masking can prevent a lot of scraping.
Scraping beats sanding.
Use a sander with a vacuum connection, and a good filter on the vacuum.
Gunwales need a LOT of clamps.
Experience
I like that bit on experience. I think I will just order the plans and get some plywood and get to it. I’m sure I will glean plenty of experience along the way.
-James
http://www.adventurecanoe.com
Doll houses
I think I’m going to hold off until I have a daughter to build doll houses. That way if anyone comes over and sees it I’ll have an excuse.
-James
http://www.adventurecanoe.com
Offended?
I guess what I meant was previously I thought this…then when I considered it further I realized that it was actually a good idea.
Sorry for the ambiguity
-James
http://www.adventurecanoe.com
Don’t do it!
You will become obsessed with home built boats.If it is a little chilly out you will want to build. You will become drawn to lumber yards…
At least I am.
Which one you gonna build?
There is a Tiaga for sale on Hemlocks site under used/demo canoes. Dave has priced it approximately in line with his premium layup canoes. Not that you’ll necessarily get that quality of build on your first try, but a well built boat is a commodity.
And you will become a weirdo
Plywood
I’m having trouble finding marine plywood here in St. Louis. Does anyone have any suggestions?
-James
http://www.adventurecanoe.com
wood
Try two sources for marine plywood. Btw, any lumber yard (even Menards) will order it, might not be exactly what you want though.
Try Glen L, it’s a home built boat place that has all sorts of links for building materials, just do a web search for “Glen L” without the quotes.
Or: www.woodfinder.com
Bill H.
Boatbuilding is Zen
This is a framed poem that hanges in our home.
House are but badly built boats, so firmly aground that you cannot think of moving them.
They are definitely inferior things, belonging to the vegetable, not the animal world, rooted and stationary,incapable of gay transition.
The desire to build a house is the tired wish of a man content thenceforward with a single anchorage. The desire to build a boat is the desire of youth, unwilling yet to accept the idea of a final resting place.
It is for that reason, perhaps, that when it comes, the desire to build a boat is one of those that cannot be resisted. It begins as a little cloud on a serene horizon. It ends covering the whole sky, so that you can think of nothing else.
You must build to regain your freedom.