Building a flat bottomed canoe

Discussion in 'Wooden Boat Building and Restoration' started by troy2000, Jun 18, 2010.

  1. ancient kayaker
    Joined: Aug 2006
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    Location: Alliston, Ontario, Canada

    ancient kayaker aka Terry Haines

    I doubt I can buy even a used trailer for that! Not that I need it. I don't need the wee hand trolley most of the time either, just in the early Spring and Winter to get the tough, stable plastic kayak down to the water. When the water is still at freezing and I have to push my way around or through ice floes I don't relish an inadvertent dip! I guess that wouldn't be such a problem for you in California.

    For the rest of the year I use my wee 22 lb woody canoe which I can carry for miles if necessary. I build mine a little lighter than you! Strictly a one-seater though and a bit tippy for some. Of course, if I had a trailer I could build bigger boats. Hmm ...
     
  2. troy2000
    Joined: Nov 2009
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    Location: California

    troy2000 Senior Member

    And it gets delayed again....

    Went to get some life jackets and cushions, and found out the wife had taken them out of the house and stored them in an open carport. In a place that exceeds 100 degrees on a regular basis, that's PFD homicide; they're history. I have more, but they're in my motor home, 168 miles away.

    The nearest places to get PFD's are Big 5 Sporting Goods or Sport Chalet, and they both open at 10:00. By the time we got the boat into the water it would be the hottest part of the day--assuming Perris Lake hasn't filled up and been closed, which happens regularly this time of year on weekends.

    So I'll spend the day piddling around on the little stuff, and we'll be sitting in front of the gates when Perris Lake opens in the morning.

    Sometimes I hate civilization. If I were in Blythe where I work (and where I grew up), we could simply take the canoe down, throw it in a backwater and paddle away. And the fishing would be better, too.

    Ah, well. With the extra day, maybe my son can talk a cute little coed into coming along to take pictures for us.
     
  3. ancient kayaker
    Joined: Aug 2006
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    Location: Alliston, Ontario, Canada

    ancient kayaker aka Terry Haines

    Wife. Rhymes with life. They can both be deadly to boating dreams.
     
  4. troy2000
    Joined: Nov 2009
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    Location: California

    troy2000 Senior Member

    Didn't realize how long it had been since I got the family out on the water, until I found those PFD's were so rotten I could poke holes in them with my finger.

    My wife isn't wild about boats, anyway. She figures if God wanted her to go farting around on the water, he wouldn't have given her enough good sense to stay on dry land.
     
  5. troy2000
    Joined: Nov 2009
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    Location: California

    troy2000 Senior Member

    Loaded and ready to go. The rack is a custom QDCI design. You know...Quck and Dirty Construction, Inc. I was racing the sun and designing on the fly, while I knocked it together yesterday evening.

    The bottom of each upright is screwed to a crosspiece that sets in notches molded into the bed liner.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    I've had that little Nissan Frontier for over ten years now. I've put 160,000 miles on it and spent almost nothing for maintenance, and I love it to death. The only thing about it that drives me crazy is the lack of stake pockets in the actual sides of the bed. You can't build temporary sides or racks for the bed, and simply drop them into place.

    We wandered off to Big 5 this morning, and bought two ski-type jackets. If they're rated for water skiing, PWC's and wakeboards, they should be legal for a canoe.

    We'll spend half a day in the water tomorrow, then I need to take off and be at work tomorrow evening. That should be long enough to tell us how it handles, and get a good sunburn. Unless I get extraordinarily busy, I'll post some pic's from work.

    Edit: that all-white transom paint job looks like crap. I need to mask off the ends of the planking and bottom, and paint them blue to give the stern some definition. I suppose I could go do it right now while it's on the truck, but I just popped a beer.....
     
  6. hoytedow
    Joined: Sep 2009
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    Location: Control Group

    hoytedow Carbon Based Life Form

    That rack looks very servicable and I hope you have a great time. You may want to pixelate your tag number.
     
  7. troy2000
    Joined: Nov 2009
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    Location: California

    troy2000 Senior Member

    The plate number is a matter of public record anyway; I'm not sure why I should worry about it.

    And yeah... the rack is seven kinds of ugly, but it definitely does the job. It's cheap, easy to set into place or remove, and solid as a rock when it's under pressure from the boat being tied down. It's fastened with 3 1/2" coated deck screws. If I were carrying something heavier, I'd put some blocks or gussets on the upper cross piece.
     
  8. wardd
    Joined: Apr 2009
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    Location: usa

    wardd Senior Member

    what's ugly is something you've spent time and money on that doesn't work

    liberty ships were beautiful
     
  9. hoytedow
    Joined: Sep 2009
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    hoytedow Carbon Based Life Form

    There are wingnuts out there who might take advantage of your naivete once they match up you to your tag number.
     
  10. hoytedow
    Joined: Sep 2009
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    hoytedow Carbon Based Life Form

    Were? There is on docked at Port of Tampa right now.

    http://www.americanvictory.org/
     
  11. wardd
    Joined: Apr 2009
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    wardd Senior Member

    and long lasting
     
  12. troy2000
    Joined: Nov 2009
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    Location: California

    troy2000 Senior Member

    OK, I'm naive. And curious. What can they do to me, that the guy across the street with a perfect view of my plates every day can't do?

    If you're saying someone could identify and track me by using it, I suppose you're right. But it's no big secret who I am or where I am, anyway....
     
  13. wardd
    Joined: Apr 2009
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    wardd Senior Member

    you open yourself up to a broader audience of nut cases and scammers and believe me they are out there
     
  14. troy2000
    Joined: Nov 2009
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    Location: California

    troy2000 Senior Member

    Well, if they track me me down it's on their own shoulders, I guess. They'll just have to take the consequences....;)

    I'm perfectly willing to stand behind anything I've said or done, and I'm no more visible than a newspaper columnist or television reporter, who can be followed home from work any day. I'm certainly less visible than the average professional politician, whose home address is known to the world.

    There are plenty of things that worry me more than whether someone gets my vehicle license number from a picture on the internet.
     

  15. wardd
    Joined: Apr 2009
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    wardd Senior Member

    but are you willing to stand behind what others may do or say in your name, like buy expensive stuff?
     
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