A Slow Boat To Nowhere

[algale]

Last month I went canoe camping on the Potomac River with the Slow Boat. It was a great time and the canoe was fantastic. But I realized that if I am going to be running more rivers I need something to lash down the gear. So I added twenty (10 each side) of these bronze pad eyes to the inside edges of the gunnels.

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[nuhobby]

Beautiful work, beautiful craft!
I also saw the Potomac while on vacation 2 weeks ago, and was impressed at the area (not to mention the Allegheny Mountains that made for a fun drive from Indianapolis)....

Chris

[algale]

I had a little mishap with the Slow Boat. I had just finished a Class II whitewater run with nary a scrape. I was paddling in very shallow (5 inches or less water) and decided to stand up and pole my way through the shallows. About 200 yards from the take out, the pole got stuck, I lost my balance and fell/sat hard into the bow seat. The result was a busted inside gunnel.

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After consulting with Shipwright, he assured me that since it was a clean break, the gunnel would be as good as new with some thickened epoxy holding the pieces together. It actually went back together with no issues.

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You may notice the plugged bolt hole for the seat bolt. While I could have rehung the bow seat from its existing location, I have come to wish I had placed the bow seat a bit closer to center both to give the bow paddler more leg room and to make the canoe easier to solo when paddled backwards from the bow seat. I decided it was a good time to make this adjustment. Only the existing seat was cut to fit further forward in a narrower part of the canoe and was now too narrow, side-to-side, to fit nearer the center.

So time for a new seat.

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All back together!

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[RFGuy]

Alan,

OH NO!!!! Well it is still a gorgeous boat and the repair looks good. Glad you are okay after this mishap. I hope I can get around to building a wood boat with my Shopsmith some day. Also good to see that you are still getting good use out of this canoe.

[algale]

Thanks, RFGuy, and I'd encourage you to build a boat -- it's no exaggeration to say that it has been a life changing experience for me!

I was never in danger and wasn't physically hurt in the slightest. But my ego was bruised because it happened on a totally still, flat section of water after finishing a Class II whitewater run.

While the damage looked gruesome, the repair was actually ridiculously easy. The hardest and most time consuming part of the whole job was having to re-varnish the darn gunnels and varnish the new seat. I always forget what a total PITA job varnishing is! But I now have a spare canoe seat. Not sure what to do with it. A lot of good memories/trips with that seat. Maybe I'll build another canoe and use it for the narrower stern seat. Stay tuned....

[JPG]

'Interesting' grain at the break!

Glad it came out better than before.

[MODERATOR]

Sorry Al! Apparently I missed that one.