Next project.

[Patricks Dad]

Some of you had asked what's next? after recently finishing our Redbird.....

Well, we have a couple potential answers. My younger son is interested in sailing and we contemplated building a sailboat but as fate would have it, a couple weeks ago the kids stumbled on a free Sunfish sailboat in fairly good condition and grabbed it. I was worried about an old saying: "A dozen eggs is an asset. A dozen rotten eggs is a liability"

It needed some work on the bow (an apparent collision) which took an afternoon to address with some left over epoxy and fiberglass from the Redbird. We've refinished the rudder, daggerboard, etc. and sealed with 3 coats of epoxy. They are ready to varnish. We'll put a coat of paint on the hull and she'll be ready to sail! A pretty short project compared to the 13 month Redbird!

To keep this post on the topicof wooden boats....

Last weekend while on a canoe trip on the Wisconsin River, we looked up a woman in Mineral Point who has been holding in storage a partially built canoe. It apparently is the product of a divorce and has been sitting in a storage locker in Dodgeville for quite some time (years?). I had heard about it through my wife who recently opened an art gallery in Mineral Point, WI (and apparently everybody talks to everybody about everything up there). It seems a shame for the hull to just sit there. It needs someone to adopt it. So we went to take a look. The workmanship on the hull is very good. I'm guessing it's a Bob's Special but perhaps the experts on this forum can confirm. It's pretty close to 15' (measured it with a dollar bill). Here's a picture.



The workmanship is very good but for the life of me I can't explain the red "bondo" job around the stems. The accent strips appear to be walnut and ash (maybe).



It also has alot of watermarks all over it (I'm guessing the storage facility roof has leaks). I happened to have a water bottle in the car and rubbed away at a portion of the hull and the watermarks appeared to go away (not sure if this would be successful across the entire hull).



I'm trying to think of something special we could do to this canoe to finish it in a manner that would make us love it as much as we love the Redbird and not view it as simply "adopted". We understand that only about 30% of the job is done (in some respects, the "fun" 30%) at this point. And I'd have to get rid of that red putty job and refill with epoxy mixed with something in the right portion of the color spectrum. We'd probably move it from this storage locker to my wife's gallery (basement) and finish it there rather than take it all the way back to IL. When done, we'd have something "knock around in" in the local lakes.

My last area of input from you folks would be "What's it worth?"

Your thoughts?

[Glen Smith]

The lines of that "Orphan Annie" do look like a Bob's. Did you check if the keel-line is straight and the ends plumb? As for the value, I have heard that an unfinished boat isn't worth much more than the cost of the materials put into it unless it has some special value for the buyer. So far there is only wood and glue in that boat. It also requires some work done on it before the job can be continued as you have noted.

[Patricks Dad]

The keel line looks very good. Didn't get a good look at the plumb of the stems but I'd guess they're ok. The builder seemed like he knew what he was doing (with the only exception I saw being that red putty).

[Glen Smith]

The outer stems are probably well glued in place since they are still there after all this time so I guess it would be possible to dig out the red Bondo with a gouge and refill with the colour of your choice.

[KARKAUAI]

Hi, Randy/Patrick, If I were going to do something with those bondo'd areas, I think I'd cut a groove parallel to the stem that would take out all the bondo, then tape off and fill in the whole groove with the color of choice...would look like an accent stripe, eh?

[Its Me]

CSI Bear Mountain

The Bondo could have been installed by some one other than the originator; someone, not as familiar with the process. The bondo could have been placed on by the original craftsman who did not yet have the epoxy. It looks like the whole processed stopped just before the glassing.

Your adopted canoe should not be forced to look just like your biological canoe. Rather if it has character lines these should be embraced and accepted for what they are. I am not saying to ignore all flaws, just accept what you cannot change.

Finally, it's does not surprise me that a divorce came while the guy was building a canoe. I know my canoe was my mistress for many of evening rendezvous.


:razz

[Patricks Dad]

I learned this morning that somebody else bought the Bobs Special Orphan this week. I guess I don't have to worry about finding a way to make it special. I'm glad that it's finally going to a good home that will finish the project. That's what really important.

We need t keep pondering our next project.

thanks for all your inputs.

[Patricks Dad]

Well, our next project found us about a month ago. Thomas (#2 son) was interested in sailing and we started to look at sailboat plans. A guy down the street was moving and decided that he no longer wanted his 1967 Sunfish sailboat and it somehow found its way to my driveway. It needed some work as the front end had been hit hard enough to put a pretty good crack in the hull. The sail was in good shape so we decided to fix 'er up. No water on the inside so it didn't need any drying out.

We had plenty of fiberglass and epoxy left over from the canoe project so fixing the hull was no problem. We sanded down the rudder, tiller and dagger board and coated them with several layers of epoxy and varnish. We needed to do quite a lot of sanding and put on a couple coats of paint. Thomas decided on the color scheme. We also needed to buy a new set of wheels for the rusty old cart it came with. All totaled, we've put about $120 into it. Here's a picture. The kids took it out themselves yesterday while I was up in ND deer hunting (guess they couldn't count on the weather holding much longer). They had to drag it over a mile to get to the lake (maybe if I put a sail on the lawnmower....)



Now we need the next, next project.

Hopefully this one will have more wood on it.

[mtpocket]

Great looking project. It should offer many hours of fun.

Your next project could be a sailing rig for the Redbird.

[Bud]

They had to drag it over a mile to get to the lake (maybe if I put a sail on the lawnmower....)

Don't do that unless you want them to drag the mower to the lake and try to sail IT. :shocked

[Patricks Dad]

Good point. They may try to reverse the engine and use the blade as a propeller..... Hmmm now you've got me thinking....

[KARKAUAI]

I KNEW IT!!! You can't stop after just one, and sailing is just too much fun to ignore. Looks great.