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Jack's Special/ Chestnut Chum

Y’all build some fine looking boats.

I’ve always told myself that I do not want to build a boat. Not a stripper, not even a simple stitch and glue kit.

After a week of cutting, sanding and grinding 40 year old Vinylester resin, PPE clad, changing clothes and sometimes showering twice a day, I’m starting to wonder why.

At least I’m learning some things following along.
 
Got home after school and got right to work. Put the brass stem bands on and then sanded the gunwales and put on a coat of varnish. I had previously painted the interior with what I had on hand. Last fall I got a gallon of "Dory Green Marine Paint" for 5 bucks. Apparently the government is outlawing gallon sized oil based paint cans, and I was the lucky recipient. It dried tough as nails. All I had to hang the trim was a bunch of overlong 25 cent carriage bolts. I'm going to have to cut those down before the trip. Anyway, it's done, except for a couple of more coats of varnish, and rigging up a removable carrying yoke, which is already made. Oh ya, and attaching 25 foot lining ropes.

I'm pretty sure the one distinction I can lay claim too is having the messiest work space. I'll clean it up when I get back, my wife has spoken.





 
"Rustic is probably the best description right now." is what you wrote. If that is rustic I'd stand in awe of what you consider nice! I couldn't make that if you gave me a hundreds tries with free wood! Very nice, eye candy! Am glad you're cutting the bolts down, I have a hardware store that never carries the correct length bolts and I always seem to spending time on that stupid chore! I very much like the rounded off ends of he rails at the stems. For some reason I always cut them differently. Nice lines and a beautiful boat. Thank you for sharing this whole thing!
 
There are always things I don't like about my boats when I finish them and they always catch my eye. But they can't be too bad because other people never seem to notice. Or they're just too polite to say anything.....:rolleyes:

But I'm not being polite. It looks really good. It's going to look even better in the water. You must be anxious to paddle it and see if it fills your niche.

Alan
 
Thanks guys! I have a very busy weekend ahead, and I would like to put one more coat of varnish on it tonight, so Monday will probably be the launch date, fully loaded. I'm glad I had to push to get it finished, this little seven day trip will give me a good chance to get a feel for it. I'm not sure about weight, but feels pretty good, probably around 50 pounds, maybe I'll weigh it tonight.
 
Got on the water today, paddled a little over six k in an hour. This canoe is quite different from my asymmetrical models, it is very responsive to correction, should be fun in white water. Here's a few pics.







 
Wow that is gorgeous and it looks super good on the water. I am grooving on the green interior.

Did you ever get a final weight on it?
 
Looks nice, I too can't wait to give it a try in August.

You must be super tired, finishing the canoe and planning for a group trip all at once. I hope your trip goes well. Thanks for posting those pictures.
 
I love the contrasting stems and gunnels. And the green interior, how did you know green is my favourite colour?
Really nice looking canoe memaquay. Get it wet, and have fun.
 
Hey, are you back yet? Boat looks great but now we all want to know how it handled? Did you finally paint your masterpiece?

Alan
 
Got back yesterday, very busy for the next couple of days, so just a few quick comments. It's much lighter than I thought it would be, I'm guessing slightly under 50, it was a joy to carry on that first 1.2 k port. It handles a load really well. Doesn't track as hard as the asymmetrical canoes I'm used to, but I'm pretty much used to that already. However, on day three we had to do an emergency medical evac on a float plain, and the Chum had to go, as we were back to even numbers and i was forced to stern a tupperware canoe. Boo-urns! Anyway, it looked just as nice flying through the air as it did on the water.
 
If it's any consolation memaquay, I'm sure you made the pilot feel pretty cool, flying into town with that beautiful canoe on his struts.
Hope the student(s) are all okay and looking forward to the next trip.
 
Ha, just saw this Rippy.....yes, I like it, especially because it's real nice to look at. I'll give it a good workout in August with a big load and make the final pronouncement. I figure I'll have two 60 litre barrels, chainsaw and gas, big camera kit, shot gun and daypack. Add my weight to that and we'll see how the Chum does fully loaded.
 
It certainly did well on that trip with the load and man, was it scratched up at the end. Did you look see if you got through the cloth in any places? It was fun watching you and Robin paddle side by each, you both made it look so easy and effortless.

When we build one this Winter I think Christy wants to paint the outside so we don't have to be as fussy about strip colours. We shall see.
 
Somehow I missed this thread. Good looking canoe Mem. I like the way you stripped it, one side and then the other. Seems like the simplest way to go. I like the way you travel too. Shotgun and chainsaw. You may have answered this before, but how do you keep those dry? A couple trips I've been on a chainsaw would have come in handy. Do we have a chainsaw thread going? I've always thought one of those top handle arborist saws would work nice and maybe fit in a bucket or barrel.
 
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