All done!

[marchmyres]

Well, she's on the roof of the car and ready for her first trip tomorrow. Red Fox (the working title seems to have stuck, although the gaelic, Ruadh Mhadaidh, will probably go on the nameplate) was due to have her maiden voyage today, but an accident with a builder, a backhoe and a water main put paid to that plan.... At times it looked like her maiden voyage may have been on our driveway...

I'll try and get some photo's tomorrow, but some details anyway:

16ft Prospector, western red cedar with ash trim. Lofted from Canoecraft, built on 1ft spaced forms made from 3/4" MDF. Took two years to build, to the day almost. A large part of that was tracking down WRC in Scotland. Another large chunk was spent tracking down more when the first lot was all used up! In total, I'd estimate about 250-270 hours all in from making the strongback to the final coat of varnish.

Biggest mistakes (sorry, lessons learned!):
(i) Due to the different batched of WRC, and only just having enough to complete the football, not being careful enough with the strip matching where it really shows...
(ii) Wet out coat on outer applied too cold and probably a bit vigorously
(iii) Using Titebond II - yukky tan gluelines that are impossible to remove
(iv) Attempting the scarfing of the gunnels during the coldest week of the year
(v) And then trying again without removing the previously epoxied surfaces...
(vi) Putting on one too many coats of epoxy, wide gunwales and wondering why I can barely lift my boat! I'm not sure what it weighs, and since we have no scales in the house (secret to a happy life!) I'm unlikely to find out...

High points.
(i) Finishing the planking
(ii) Popping her off the molds
(iii) Carving the decks on my birthday, with Michael Mara on the radio on the first sunny day of the year
(iv) Her first scratch...

Big big big thank you's to:

Colin Calder, who got me drunk enough to convince me I could build one, then stayed sober enough to help me see it through...
Niall Paton, furniture maker and all round good guy, for the ash boards that became decks and seats, and for the afternoon session ripping and milling WRC in his workshop
Laurie & Vickie Duffin, for the loan of their shed, and their patience over the last two years as I turned a peaceful home gym into a stinking, dusty boatshed.
My Dad, who helped fit the gunwales and turned the ash sleeves for the seat bolts.

And finally, my wife Jo for her encouragement and patience. Here's hoping we have some great trips together... And yes, you do need new shoes to go canoeing!

Gordon

[marchmyres]

As promised, some photo's from the maiden voyage:


One proud builder


The ash for the gunwales was much darker than the decks


Slight streaking of the epoxy, due to a combination of low temperatures and a bit too much force during squeegeeing. Still, looks like rippled sycamore!


Lesson learned for the insides, glassed in May.


Not so sure about this... Why can't I just swim like all the other dogs...?

[davidb54321]

Gordon,

Very nice job on your Prospector. I hope mine will look as good. I hope you enjoy it as much as you can.

[joatmon]

Great job! It's fun to finish and get them in the water. Nice to see the dog gets a ride too. Enjoy yourself.