My New Toy

[stovie]

Kev
Two provisos:
One, when paddling two-up, the stern seat is closer to the stern than the bow seat is to the bow. That way weight distribution is kept even and the bow paddler has enough room for his/her legs.

Two, when paddling solo the boat is used t'other way round, so the bow seat becomes the stern seat, and the solo paddler is sitting more central.

But personally if I am paddling solo I tend to kneel to keep my weight and C of G low.

hope this helps

 

[DavidJT]

Shape is usually the same I think Kev, it's to do with the positioning of the seats, and getting her to sit flat in the water. Have a look at this...

 

[Baggy]

Hiya

the seats are offset so paddling "backwards" puts the solo paddler nearer the center of the boat, the stable bit, also siting nearer the center keeps the bit of the boat facing forward down in the water.

I should say that the "front" is on the left of the pic

edit: The blue bags are bouyancy bags

 

[stovie]

Beautiful, and a sensible colour that won't show scratches too badly. Another egg sucking lesson, but remember fibreglass canoes sink ! I have a similar boat (Birch Creek) and it never occurred to me, until someone pointed it out, that I could lose my boat completely in a lake if the boat filled with water. You will need some buoyancy to be on the safe side.

NS

Too true, NS. I have polystyrene blocks to shape out to the lines of the boat, but have been toying with the idea of having them hollowed out in order to use as storage at the same time. Bouyancy and utility at the same time. I feel a little bath time experiment coming up :Thinkingo

 

[Ryan Woods]

...and it never occurred to me, until someone pointed it out, that I could lose my boat completely in a lake if the boat filled with water. You will need some buoyancy to be on the safe side.

NS

Very true.Thats' how I almost lost my kayak, I didnt realise this until it started going under... Got me flappin alright..!!

 

[stovie]

Into the shed for a little R&R...well, scrape and carve, to be more precise...time to get started on the paddles.

Ash blanks roughed to an ottertail design. Amazing how much wood you have to take off to reduce 1 1/2" to 1/4" on the blade...need to reduce the shaft and form the grip...still, its a start...very therapeutic...

 

[stovie]

Clear sky, early start and my aim to get the gunwale caps fitted, which is the last stage of construction.

Handful of panel pins and off we go

In order to navigate the midship bend needed a little steam. So vandalised the downpipe and plugged in the paper steam stripper...

Clamps and tacks

Now, a lot of elbow grease

To all intents she is sea worthy, just a bit of fettling and oiling...

 

[Robbi]

looking gooooooood !!

 

[DutchDave]

What a beautiful canoe! What's the weight? With that yoke it looks like the true thing to take on a trip with portages.

My compliments,
David

 

[stovie]

What a beautiful canoe! What's the weight? With that yoke it looks like the true thing to take on a trip with portages.

My compliments,
David

Thanks David.
Haven't weighed her yet, but I've been able to move her around on my own okay, will let you know when I pop her on the scales.

 

[stovie]

I was going to buy Danish oil to finish off the woodwork, on the general consensus that this is THE stuff to use...But having made a trip to DIY store and noticed that the price of said oil was 3 x that of Linseed oil (of the boiled variety) thought to myself, are there really that many benefits to warrant the extra cost (you guessed it, I'm a tight ***). I've always used Linseed on my willow, so feel comfortable with its properties...whereas Danish I know nowt...

Any thoughts would be appreciated...

 

[stovie]

Too dark to work outside on the boat, so finished the first of my two paddles...and in light of no particular opinions forthcoming (see above post) and staying true to my nature, finished it off with linseed oil...

Desperate to get the canoe finished for monday, as paddling with the scouts, but time is getting short and there's too many other jobs to do...not enough time...

 

[craeg]

Great work there dude and the paddles are awesome :notworthy Did you use a shave horse and draw knife. Pcs, pics, pics please?

I am so close to getting a canoe but I am very tempted to go down the DIY route for the satisfaction of creatinbg it oneself

Great job

 

[Wilderbeast]

WOW that's beautiful mate well done, I'm very impressed!

 

[stovie]

Great work there dude and the paddles are awesome :notworthy Did you use a shave horse and draw knife. Pcs, pics, pics please?

Thanks Craeg. Just in the process of oiling the woodwork at the moment...

Used the modern equivalent to a horse, bench and clamp. Spoke shave, plane, rasp and sheets and sheets of glass paper. Sorry no pics this time, but I'll try and get some when I do the second paddle...

 

[stovie]

...Well, more like pond trials...
made it in time for this evenings paddle with the scouts, and while they were occupied with their kayaks (suitably monitored by Andy and Mikey; thanks chaps) I had time to play...

first impressions count, and not being one to listen to others opinions, preferring to come to my own conclusions, I have to say that all I have read and heard about the Apache being "tippy", is in my opinion not accurate. the word that I would use is "responsive". From the very outset I felt comfortable and secure, and the more positive I acted the more stable the boat felt. She turns on a sixpence, glides through the water and tracks beatrifully with the twist of the paddle. After half an hour I felt i'd been paddling her for years...

Here she is waiting the put in...

A pretty shape

Finally...On the water...

Faster than a triathalon swimmer (they're mad...) middle left

A special scout gets to play (my daughter)

Spent the rest of the evening giving rides to the scouts, who gave it the thumbs up...

Still a little fettling to do, like putting the name on it, and finishing the second paddle, but have to say, I'm really pleased with the finished boat...I hope you approve Stu...

 

[Ryan Woods]

beauty, makes me miss my kayak (burned down)!

 

[stovie]

Finished my second paddle...stained with a medium oak and liberally coated with linseed oil...Tomorrow I start on the bow design...and there's a clue in my new avatar (actually its a blatent ad...)

Think I prefer the new paddle...but not sure...

 

[EssexMonk]

Nice job! makes me long for spring (still have 3 feet of ice on the lake) are you going to add a "ring bolt" fore and aft for painters?

 

[zeBarOOn]

Looks absolutely amazing. It must give you a huge feeling of accomplishment that you may not have got if you bought one pre-made. Have you ever had prior canoe experience before? Would you recommend an apache canoe for a novice paddler?

All the best,

Joel