Canoe #2

This post is to catch up on the progress that I have made on the second canoe.  This canoe will be mine.  I started in the middle of October last year and was only able to work on it for about a month before it got too cold.  I was able to start back on it around the middle of this month.  Here are a few pictures to show my progress:

Got the halves together and epoxy coated the interior.

Got the ends taped and the center spreaders installed.

Getting ready to attach the bottom.

Bottom is attached.

I captured the following process to show how the seams are done and how the fiberglass almost disappears when the epoxy is added:

Inside seam before. (Only duck tape on outside of seam)

Inside seam after fillet.  (For the fillet, I use wood flour to thicken the epoxy to the consistency of peanut butter.)

Inside seam with fiberglass over fillet.

Inside seam with fiberglass wetted out with epoxy.

Attaching exterior gunwales.

Attached keel.

Rounded and filleted keel.

Canoe hauler for my truck.

Fiberglassing the bottom.

Attaching inwales.

Seats fitted.

Gluing in dry box.  (Firewood is just to keep the bottom from moving while I fillet / glue the back side.)

This is where I am now.  I have just glued in the seat brackets and dry box.  Next I will be able to glue in the front and rear decks and finish up the fillet around the dry box.  After that I will apply the graphite epoxy coating to the bottom of the boat.  The graphite coating is suppose to help lubricate the bottom when sliding over obstructions and also shows you how much wear there is on the bottom.  Once you wear off the graphite, you know its time touch it up a little.  The last step of the process will be sanding and adding the logos and finishing coats of epoxy and varnish.  Here is a picture I photoshoped to get an idea of what I want the logos to look like when its done:

Overnight River Trip

A group of guys and I decided to do an overnight camping trip along Pea River in South Alabama.  We put in at the bridge on 167 and floated down to the boat landing in Elba, AL.  I didn't get to take my canoe this time, but I hope I will have it ready for the next trip.  Here are a few pictures from our trip:

Stopped for a break and some fishing.

Tim fishing.

Me fishing.

We had the boat loaded down.

Our camp site.

Putting up the tents.

More tents.

Supper included some potatoes and carrots with some rosemary.  Was planning on having fish with it, but didn't catch any big enough to eat.

For breakfast we had deer sausage and eggs.

For lunch we had burgers.

We had a good time.  Total trip was about 16 miles.  Left on a Friday afternoon and arrived in Elba at about 6:00 PM Saturday.  We are hoping to do this again soon.  The next trip may be about 25 miles long.  We will have to do a little more research to make sure that the river is passable on the upper stretch.

The first canoe

The first canoe that I built was for a friend.  He purchased the materials for 2 canoes, and I did the building.  This way I would get a canoe of my own by doing the labor for both.  It took me about 2 months to complete the first canoe.  I worked mainly at night when I got home from work.  My friend couldn't decide on a theme or logo for the canoe, so I sent it home with him so he could think about it and use it while I started on mine.  It was approaching winter quickly, so I was unable to finish my canoe last year.  Now that it has warmed up a little, I have finally started back to work on my canoe.  Here are a series of pictures to show the progress of the first canoe:

Cut out the yokes and main sections for both canoes.

Glued the sections together.

Applied epoxy to the inside surface of the canoe.

Taped ends and installed center spreaders.

Taped the bottom to the sides.

Applied fillet and fiberglass to inside seams.

Attached exterior gunwales.

Filleted and fiberglassed exterior seams.  Also added the keel and filleted it.

Fiberglassed entire bottom and up sides a little.

Epoxy coated exterior.

Graphite / Epoxy coated bottom.

Gluing inwales.

Attached seats and yoke.

It floats!!!

Testing it out

Made rope handles and hole through canoe with 1/2" C-PVC pipe on inside.

Installed a dry box.

Gluing front deck.

Fully assembled.  Did a final sanding and finishing but don't have any pictures of that.  Maybe I'll get some pictures when I put some decals on it (if my friend ever decides what he wants).

I would like to add that we got most of our materials from Duckworks Boat Builders Supply and they were also very helpful with the questions that I had.  I also was able to find out a lot about boat building and techniques from the Woodwork Forums.  Michael Storer was the designer of the Quick Canoe and it was a great first time boat building project.

Hobbies...

I thought I would try this blogging out and see how I like it.  I would like to have a place to keep up with all of my hobbies and activities.  Currently, I am boat building.  I have built one canoe and working on my second.  I'll post some pictures of my progress.  I am currently building the Quick Canoe, with a few modifications and customizations of my own.  I really like the simple design of these canoes.  My goal is to build the Eureka Canoe, it is a more challenging design, but also a much more beautiful boat.  This blog will probably be mostly about the canoes, but I also like to fish, hunt, ride 4 wheelers, and use my tractor.