Search found 726 matches

by Rick
Tue Apr 26, 2011 9:43 am
Forum: Choosing a Design
Topic: Cottage cruiser vs 16' prospector
Replies: 1
Views: 7365

Re: Cottage cruiser vs 16' prospector

Prospectors were designed to carry heavy loads with good manoeverabilty on rivers... the displacement is 420 pounds vs 337 on the Cottage Cruiser (this includes the weight of the canoe). If a Prospector is too lightly loaded (eg. on a day paddle going solo), it can be blown around very easily by win...
by Rick
Mon Apr 25, 2011 7:17 am
Forum: Project Directories
Topic: Freedom Solo 15' 3" or 16' 2"
Replies: 97
Views: 296232

Re: Freedom Solo 15' 3" or 16' 2"

Beautiful combination of wood tones, Randy. My solution to the tippy feeling would be to paddle kneeling Canadian style and callus up those knee caps. Sitting only, maybe a lower seat. The back rest might be adding to the tippy feel if it is preventing hip rotation from damping out any rolling actio...
by Rick
Fri Apr 22, 2011 10:54 am
Forum: Builders' Forum
Topic: Varnish
Replies: 4
Views: 4376

Re: Varnish

...I was wondering if it would create any problem if I would step the outer and fit it tight to the inner, covering the hull. You must be referring to the outwales..? And rabetting them out to an L-shape so that they fit over the top and outside of the sheerline at the same time? These are on my Hu...
by Rick
Mon Feb 28, 2011 9:56 am
Forum: Builders' Forum
Topic: Scarf Orientation Question
Replies: 6
Views: 6313

I made the "B" type... the "A" scarf might result in a wider glue line after being sanded down which could affect color after the epoxy soaks in.

Dunno if this actually would happen since I didn't make them this way, the "B" scarfs will create a thin glue line for sure.
by Rick
Sat Feb 26, 2011 10:40 am
Forum: Builders' Forum
Topic: Thoughts on seat depth
Replies: 5
Views: 5697

Another thing with seats that are higher up... you can sit in the bottom of the canoe and rest your back on the seat edge to relax. Mine are 11" up. PS... it helps to have the thwart in the right place to put your feet up and really relax when the waves are bobbing the canoe around... come on, ...
by Rick
Sun Feb 20, 2011 10:54 am
Forum: Builders' Forum
Topic: Epoxy repair coat needed?
Replies: 4
Views: 5242

Keith, some of those scratches look deep enough to go into the fiberglass. My stripper gets some damage, I've filled in deep scratches as they occur, with epoxy using an artist's brush, sanded to remove gloss and then spot-varnished for UV protection. The main thing here is to keep varnish from pene...
by Rick
Fri Feb 18, 2011 11:14 am
Forum: Builders' Forum
Topic: Epoxy repair coat needed?
Replies: 4
Views: 5242

If the abrasion has gone far enough to expose a lot of fiberglass cloth, maybe it is better to seal it with epoxy and make repairs where necessary. If the hull is very rough, allowing varnish to soak cloth and cedar might mean epoxy bonding problems later on since epoxy will not bond well to varnish...
by Rick
Mon Jan 31, 2011 9:46 am
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: Fresh water mermaids?
Replies: 3
Views: 6253

There used to be freshwater mermaids at one time. They all looked like Pamela Anderson, with the extra "flotation" up front needed in less dense freshwater. They were all caught by fishermen and now there are only saltwater mermaids left. This is why mermaids never have very ample measurem...
by Rick
Thu Jan 20, 2011 12:31 pm
Forum: Builders' Forum
Topic: inwale and scupper dimensions
Replies: 2
Views: 4256

...my inwales are 7/8 x 3/4. At first I wasn't sure because it seems it would make more structural sense to have the 7/8 side be vertical and the shorter sides level with the hull. IMO... better to glue the inwale on with the greatest amount of surface area available to the hull, so that the possib...
by Rick
Sun Jan 16, 2011 10:40 am
Forum: Builders' Forum
Topic: Shallow coves - gap problem
Replies: 14
Views: 11091

Woodguy, How are the gaps seen from the inside? Will they be as visible as on the outside of the hull? It may be possible to paint the exterior if the inside is tight and still get a very good-looking canoe,.. eg. this Winisk from Green Valley. http://www.greenval.com/gargantua_3.jpg http://www.gree...
by Rick
Mon Jan 10, 2011 8:50 am
Forum: Builders' Forum
Topic: Uni-wale?
Replies: 85
Views: 95391

Randy and Moonman... I was planning to bolt the seat directly under the inwales, without any drops... the center depth of the solo hull is only twelve inches and that doesn't leave much room for kneeling paddlers to slide feet underneath (at least those with big feet). My other canoes have eleven in...
by Rick
Tue Jan 04, 2011 10:03 am
Forum: Builders' Forum
Topic: Increasing freeboard
Replies: 9
Views: 11389

It shouldn't be a problem affecting performace wrt hydrodynamics, since the hull shape below the water line won't change. Windage, the force of the wind affecting the canoe, will increase as the depth increases, especially if the canoe is lightly loaded and riding high in the water. Steve Killing wr...
by Rick
Wed Dec 29, 2010 9:28 am
Forum: Builders' Forum
Topic: Fiberglassing in cold temps
Replies: 6
Views: 5270

Do a test with some clean plywood, fiberglass and epoxy at the temperature you'll be working at and note how the wetout performs and how long till the epoxy gets tacky enough to apply fill coats. Allow some cloth to droop over the plywood edge and watch for any milky characteristics in the thick epo...
by Rick
Wed Dec 15, 2010 10:00 am
Forum: Builders' Forum
Topic: Sanding too smooth?
Replies: 5
Views: 4897

Randy I was using the squeegee on the hull and the glass was sliding around more than I'd like... On the inside of the hull, any excess epoxy may be flowing down and pooling up at the bottom and that may be causing the sliding (fiberglass may be floating a little). Fiberglassing the outside, excess ...
by Rick
Sat Dec 11, 2010 8:32 am
Forum: Builders' Forum
Topic: Uni-wale?
Replies: 85
Views: 95391

Well... the website with the photos of the removeable yoke I referred to earlier is gone and the builder isn't answering an email I sent several day's ago. This was a very straightforward design and shouldn't be difficult to design on one's own... simple and quick, slides in under the inwale, and fa...