G
Guest
Guest
Wow, sweet ride. Sweet, sweet ride. Congrats on a super job. Well done.
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Happy National Limerick Day! 🅰️🅰️🅱️🅱️🅰️
Solo expedition build
- Thread starter Alan Gage
- Start date
Beautiful work Alan. You're never gonna want to take it out of the water! Testing should be fun. Will you experiment with packs and such, to see how it handles loaded?
G
Guest
Guest
The simplistic version of Wabi-sabi is that even the greatest craftsman would deliberately leave some small flaw, so as to never achieve perfection.
I’ll admit the Wiki definition appeals to me on many levels, “Characteristics of the wabi-sabi aesthetic include asymmetry, asperity (roughness or irregularity), simplicity, economy, austerity, modesty, intimacy, and appreciation of the ingenuous integrity of natural objects and processes”
Oh heck yeah, that sounds like a Scotsman’s creed.
That’s not a mistake, that’s Wabi-sabi.
Ya, come on ya big teaser.
OK !
Sorry !!
BOO me if you want, but I'm a paddler first and a picture taker last !
I'll let Alan post pics !
We hooked up and paddled. And yes I paddled Alan's Exposition Build.
Alan did a great job designing and building it !
I was skeptical about the handling characteristics, but it wasn't long before my fears were put to shame !
We paddled river with current and variable winds to 20+ mph.. I expected the Build to yield to the wind, but it handled it with ease.
I brought along my 38 Spl. to compare, and had to work to keep up with Alan's casual strokes in the Build !
The bow wake was minimal.
Easy to keep in line, and yet turning was not difficult, even in the wind and current !
Alan said, the gunnels were a struggle to make, but they were stiff and comfortable against the kneels. Coming in enough, that my kneels rested and added to stability.
The seat was comfortable, and the right height.
I believe Alan crossed all the T-s and dotted all the I-s with this build. I also believe it will serve him well on his Expedition !
Thanks Alan !! It was a pleasure to talk building face to face, and paddle your creation ! I wish my body was young enough to tag along, on your adventure, but you would have to build another canoe for me !
We will share a campfire one day and talk shop again !!!
Jim
Sorry !!
BOO me if you want, but I'm a paddler first and a picture taker last !
I'll let Alan post pics !
We hooked up and paddled. And yes I paddled Alan's Exposition Build.
Alan did a great job designing and building it !
I was skeptical about the handling characteristics, but it wasn't long before my fears were put to shame !
We paddled river with current and variable winds to 20+ mph.. I expected the Build to yield to the wind, but it handled it with ease.
I brought along my 38 Spl. to compare, and had to work to keep up with Alan's casual strokes in the Build !
The bow wake was minimal.
Easy to keep in line, and yet turning was not difficult, even in the wind and current !
Alan said, the gunnels were a struggle to make, but they were stiff and comfortable against the kneels. Coming in enough, that my kneels rested and added to stability.
The seat was comfortable, and the right height.
I believe Alan crossed all the T-s and dotted all the I-s with this build. I also believe it will serve him well on his Expedition !
Thanks Alan !! It was a pleasure to talk building face to face, and paddle your creation ! I wish my body was young enough to tag along, on your adventure, but you would have to build another canoe for me !
We will share a campfire one day and talk shop again !!!
Jim
G
Guest
Guest
Who would have though Iowa boys could have so much canoe fun.
Maybe someday I’ll be cutting north of my usual I-70 or I-40 route west and find myself in Iowa. I can think of few things finer than to hang at a campfire and talk boats with y’all.
Thank you all for the kind words.
Had a great time paddling with Jim, touring his workshop (stones throw from the river!), and admiring his wonderful fleet of boats. It was fun to paddle my local river, only 100 miles further downstream. Lots more water down there and different topography as well. And I apologize for no pictures of the boat on the water. I guess we were having such a good time I forgot all about it. Hope to be on the water with it again tomorrow so I'll see what I can do.
Mike: Wabi-Sabi - That's just some fantastic stuff! I've never been able to properly put it into words but I always admire things that strike just the right balance between perfection and shoddy. A little farther one way and it looks like someone who was shooting for perfection and missed. A little bit the other way and it looks like someone didn't know how to read a tape measure. I guess that sweet spot in the middle is what you'd call Wabi-Sabi and I love it. If I ever start selling canoes I think I'll call my shop Wabi-Sabi Canoe Works.
I used Varathane brand. I looked into the WR-LPU as well and it sounds like it's been working well for people. Only reason I didn't go with it was because I was getting tired of spending money and I procrastinated making my decision on what finish to use and suddenly I was ready to apply something and didn't want to wait to order it. If you go with it I'll be very interested to see you results.
Well she's not much of a barker so we use a different rating system. She gave it 3 wags. To be fair she gives nearly every canoe her highest 3 wag rating. The one exception was when I told her to jump in my Wenonah J-180 C1. She hopped in that skinny little bow and tried to turn to the right, tried to turn to the left, and then jumped back out and that was the end of that.
Should be lots of room for her up front, even with a large pack. All that flare means she can go right up to the float tank without getting squeezed by the gunwales.
Alan
Had a great time paddling with Jim, touring his workshop (stones throw from the river!), and admiring his wonderful fleet of boats. It was fun to paddle my local river, only 100 miles further downstream. Lots more water down there and different topography as well. And I apologize for no pictures of the boat on the water. I guess we were having such a good time I forgot all about it. Hope to be on the water with it again tomorrow so I'll see what I can do.
Mike: Wabi-Sabi - That's just some fantastic stuff! I've never been able to properly put it into words but I always admire things that strike just the right balance between perfection and shoddy. A little farther one way and it looks like someone who was shooting for perfection and missed. A little bit the other way and it looks like someone didn't know how to read a tape measure. I guess that sweet spot in the middle is what you'd call Wabi-Sabi and I love it. If I ever start selling canoes I think I'll call my shop Wabi-Sabi Canoe Works.
I used Varathane brand. I looked into the WR-LPU as well and it sounds like it's been working well for people. Only reason I didn't go with it was because I was getting tired of spending money and I procrastinated making my decision on what finish to use and suddenly I was ready to apply something and didn't want to wait to order it. If you go with it I'll be very interested to see you results.
Well she's not much of a barker so we use a different rating system. She gave it 3 wags. To be fair she gives nearly every canoe her highest 3 wag rating. The one exception was when I told her to jump in my Wenonah J-180 C1. She hopped in that skinny little bow and tried to turn to the right, tried to turn to the left, and then jumped back out and that was the end of that.
Should be lots of room for her up front, even with a large pack. All that flare means she can go right up to the float tank without getting squeezed by the gunwales.
Alan
I think boats are kind of like people. Physical beauty, or lack thereof, is what catches your eye immediately but you don't really know how beautiful or ugly they are until you've spent some time with them and heard them speak. What appears stunningly beautiful at first glance can sour almost immediately once they open their mouth. The opposite can happen as well.
I've been trying to withhold judgement on my new girl. We've been in that awkward stage, sort of feeling each other out. Been on a couple dates but they haven't felt very natural. Different locations and paddling styles than you'd normally find me in. She's been satisfactory and seemed promising but she still hadn't really opened her mouth to speak. I didn't know who was really inside that shell.
But tonight it was time to do away with all the pretenses. The river is at the perfect level and on a beautiful evening we put in at our normal access to paddle my normal route that I've done hundreds of times in many different boats. Three hard miles upstream doing everything I can to beat the current (tucked close to shore, hiding behind log jams or other current breaks until the last possible moment, and ferrying from shore to shore) and then turning around for a leisurely return trip at sunset.
Didn't waste any time easing into it and things felt pretty comfortable. After about 10 minutes we were getting into a good rhythm and 30 minutes into the paddle she finally opened her mouth to really speak for the first time. And what came out was some of the most beautiful music and poetry I've ever heard! It doesn't matter that she's already stained and smeared with mud or that she's got some unsightly bumps and has Wabi-Sabi coming out of her ears. Once on the water all those imperfections disappeared in the shadow of her performance.
No GPS tonight but based on how long it took to travel the 3 miles upstream speed was good (over 4mph average after factoring in the current speed). I was a bit worried about tracking but so far, when paddling hit and switch, I'm getting enough strokes/side to keep it from being annoying (like my Kite). And in spite of the good tracking maneuverability seems to be there as well. Side slips with ease and I had no problems controlling either the bow or stern. Much more forgiving during upstream travel than my harder tracking boats, like the Bell Magic, which turn into an instant ferry to the opposite bank if you cross an eddy at the wrong angle. Tried to eddy out behind a couple log jams on the way downstream and, while not as agile as my Kite, which is over 1.5' shorter, it seemed to spin around quite well to duck out of the current.
I'm happy. Very happy. So is Sadie. Lots of deer, carp, and beaver to watch tonight and she can crowd way up into the bow to get as close as possible.
Next calm evening we need to head to a lake for some speed testing with the GPS. This weekend we'll hopefully have a date near Mankato on the Blue Earth river for our first taste of light whitewater. Lots more testing to go but I think I'm in love.
20150608_003 by Alan, on Flickr
20150608_007 by Alan, on Flickr
Alan
I've been trying to withhold judgement on my new girl. We've been in that awkward stage, sort of feeling each other out. Been on a couple dates but they haven't felt very natural. Different locations and paddling styles than you'd normally find me in. She's been satisfactory and seemed promising but she still hadn't really opened her mouth to speak. I didn't know who was really inside that shell.
But tonight it was time to do away with all the pretenses. The river is at the perfect level and on a beautiful evening we put in at our normal access to paddle my normal route that I've done hundreds of times in many different boats. Three hard miles upstream doing everything I can to beat the current (tucked close to shore, hiding behind log jams or other current breaks until the last possible moment, and ferrying from shore to shore) and then turning around for a leisurely return trip at sunset.
Didn't waste any time easing into it and things felt pretty comfortable. After about 10 minutes we were getting into a good rhythm and 30 minutes into the paddle she finally opened her mouth to really speak for the first time. And what came out was some of the most beautiful music and poetry I've ever heard! It doesn't matter that she's already stained and smeared with mud or that she's got some unsightly bumps and has Wabi-Sabi coming out of her ears. Once on the water all those imperfections disappeared in the shadow of her performance.
No GPS tonight but based on how long it took to travel the 3 miles upstream speed was good (over 4mph average after factoring in the current speed). I was a bit worried about tracking but so far, when paddling hit and switch, I'm getting enough strokes/side to keep it from being annoying (like my Kite). And in spite of the good tracking maneuverability seems to be there as well. Side slips with ease and I had no problems controlling either the bow or stern. Much more forgiving during upstream travel than my harder tracking boats, like the Bell Magic, which turn into an instant ferry to the opposite bank if you cross an eddy at the wrong angle. Tried to eddy out behind a couple log jams on the way downstream and, while not as agile as my Kite, which is over 1.5' shorter, it seemed to spin around quite well to duck out of the current.
I'm happy. Very happy. So is Sadie. Lots of deer, carp, and beaver to watch tonight and she can crowd way up into the bow to get as close as possible.
Next calm evening we need to head to a lake for some speed testing with the GPS. This weekend we'll hopefully have a date near Mankato on the Blue Earth river for our first taste of light whitewater. Lots more testing to go but I think I'm in love.
20150608_003 by Alan, on Flickr20150608_007 by Alan, on FlickrAlan
And that is where a canoe belongs. Glad you are enjoying how things turned out...
Looks like a great fit for the doggie! Glad you like it. I remember putting my osprey in the water last year and within a minute realizing that I was too fat for that canoe now. I'm glad yours worked out!
Alan,
It sure looks nice in and near the water...I know of which you speak when it comes to straight keeled boats and cross currents.
And you nailed it exactly about the difference between external and true beauty, boats, people, cars, bikes (both kinds)...
I've always enjoyed those enigmatic dichotomies of a book wrongly judged by its cover. I have an old Jeep CJ5 that I built to be very strong and extremely capable, but it looks like an ordinary, old Jeep. I love the looks of surprise when people realize what it really is.
MDB and I were paddling once in my old 17 ft tandem when we came to a .8 mile carry. The boat was pretty beat up, but there was no mistaking that it was a custom built stripper. Some of the much younger guys we happened upon offered to help me (the old man, I was 42 at the time!!) carry the boat. I politely declined, but told them to go ahead, lift it! Boy were they surprised. Then I convinced them to paddle it...you should have heard the whoops and hollers.
But none of that applies here...there's no mistaking your latest build to be anything but a superior boat! It's the complete package.
Hope it does all that you wanted and then some.
It sure looks nice in and near the water...I know of which you speak when it comes to straight keeled boats and cross currents.
And you nailed it exactly about the difference between external and true beauty, boats, people, cars, bikes (both kinds)...
I've always enjoyed those enigmatic dichotomies of a book wrongly judged by its cover. I have an old Jeep CJ5 that I built to be very strong and extremely capable, but it looks like an ordinary, old Jeep. I love the looks of surprise when people realize what it really is.
MDB and I were paddling once in my old 17 ft tandem when we came to a .8 mile carry. The boat was pretty beat up, but there was no mistaking that it was a custom built stripper. Some of the much younger guys we happened upon offered to help me (the old man, I was 42 at the time!!) carry the boat. I politely declined, but told them to go ahead, lift it! Boy were they surprised. Then I convinced them to paddle it...you should have heard the whoops and hollers.
But none of that applies here...there's no mistaking your latest build to be anything but a superior boat! It's the complete package.
Hope it does all that you wanted and then some.
Took the boat out to the lake with the GPS the other night. I was very happy with the speed. Lollygagging along with a Canadian stroke was right around 3.5mph. Pushing it a little more with the Canadian stroke would get me to 4mph or just over before the speed started to outrun my technique in keeping everything straight.
A fairly relaxed hit and switch brought me up to 4.5mph. Working harder at hit and switch took it to 5mph, a real workout to 5.5mph and a full out sprint (not sustainable for more than 30-45 seconds) topped out at 6.2mph. I top out my Magic and Barracuda at 6.3mph.
It's yet to be seen how it does fully loaded. No doubt it will be slower but I'm quite optimistic at this point. The original goal when designing it was to be able to do 4.3mph loaded with an effort that was pushing it but still sustainable.
Today it was off to the Blue Earth River near Mankato for some quicker water. Out of town and solo so the shuttle was a little tricky but happily I fond out there's a paved bike trail that leads back to the put-in. So after stashing the bike and trailer in the woods at the take-out I drove back to the put-in and we were on our way. First time paddling this river with good water levels but the rapids weren't as big as I was hoping for. Pretty easy stuff but there were still some new things to try out. Forward and back ferrying seemed to go well as did side slipping and eddying out behind boulders. I aimed for the biggest haystacks I could find, a couple of which had me a little nervous, and the canoe seemed to shed the water fine. Also played around climbing some rapids upstream by eddy hopping and also figured out it will upstream surf small haystacks good enough to let me take a break and catch my breath with little effort. I'm no good at judging classes but I doubt anything approached class II.
It was just a perfect day for paddling and after stashing the canoe in the woods and digging out the bike and trailer we started peddling back. Sadie trotted along in front of the bike for the first 3 miles, politely ignoring the few other people on the trail, as we rode atop a sandstone ridge through the woods with ravines on either side and gently flowing creeks in the bottom. A completely different world from where I live just 1 1/2 hours away. Not just because of the landscape but also the well developed river and bike trails (Jim: we live in the wrong state!). About the time we came out of the woods Sadie was ready for a rest so she hopped in her trailer and we rode county blacktops with nice wide shoulders for bike traffic the last 3 miles back to the car.
At the end of the trip I felt like a very lucky guy to be able to spend such a lovely day with such a well behaved canoe and dog.
File photo from last summer:
IMG_0569 by Alan, on Flickr
Alan
A fairly relaxed hit and switch brought me up to 4.5mph. Working harder at hit and switch took it to 5mph, a real workout to 5.5mph and a full out sprint (not sustainable for more than 30-45 seconds) topped out at 6.2mph. I top out my Magic and Barracuda at 6.3mph.
It's yet to be seen how it does fully loaded. No doubt it will be slower but I'm quite optimistic at this point. The original goal when designing it was to be able to do 4.3mph loaded with an effort that was pushing it but still sustainable.
Today it was off to the Blue Earth River near Mankato for some quicker water. Out of town and solo so the shuttle was a little tricky but happily I fond out there's a paved bike trail that leads back to the put-in. So after stashing the bike and trailer in the woods at the take-out I drove back to the put-in and we were on our way. First time paddling this river with good water levels but the rapids weren't as big as I was hoping for. Pretty easy stuff but there were still some new things to try out. Forward and back ferrying seemed to go well as did side slipping and eddying out behind boulders. I aimed for the biggest haystacks I could find, a couple of which had me a little nervous, and the canoe seemed to shed the water fine. Also played around climbing some rapids upstream by eddy hopping and also figured out it will upstream surf small haystacks good enough to let me take a break and catch my breath with little effort. I'm no good at judging classes but I doubt anything approached class II.
It was just a perfect day for paddling and after stashing the canoe in the woods and digging out the bike and trailer we started peddling back. Sadie trotted along in front of the bike for the first 3 miles, politely ignoring the few other people on the trail, as we rode atop a sandstone ridge through the woods with ravines on either side and gently flowing creeks in the bottom. A completely different world from where I live just 1 1/2 hours away. Not just because of the landscape but also the well developed river and bike trails (Jim: we live in the wrong state!). About the time we came out of the woods Sadie was ready for a rest so she hopped in her trailer and we rode county blacktops with nice wide shoulders for bike traffic the last 3 miles back to the car.
At the end of the trip I felt like a very lucky guy to be able to spend such a lovely day with such a well behaved canoe and dog.
File photo from last summer:
IMG_0569 by Alan, on FlickrAlan
Very happy for you Alan. I have quietly followed your build as I have nothing to offer in the area of boat building. But I understand the deep satisfaction of designing and building purpose built things, and then having them perform the way you wanted / expected them to. So when are you leaving for Canada? Looking forward to the Bloodvein trip report. Dave
Time to drill some painter holes in a perfectly good boat. I've never done this before so if I'm doing something wrong it's too late to change now but you can point and laugh and hopefully someone else will learn from it.
First I found the water line and taped off the area above to keep it from chipping. Then I measured up 3.5". From the multiple marks you can see I waffled a bit over how far in from the stem to drill. In the end I picked the mark closest to the stem.
20150614_002 by Alan, on Flickr
I think I've said it before but I love my laser level, it always comes in handy for new things, like keeping the long drill bit level:
20150614_003 by Alan, on Flickr
A spade bit probably wasn't the best choice but I didn't have a standard drill bit or hole saw in the correct size and didn't feel like buying one just for this. I'm sure the inside edge of the hole is chipped and ugly as heck from the way it chewed through the last little bit but that part is hidden inside the float tank. As soon as the tip of the bit started to protrude on the opposite side of the hull I switched sides with the drill and used that tiny hole as a pilot. That allowed me to drill from the outside on both sides of the hull and keep all the chipping on the inside. Between that and the tape I had clean holes on the outside:
20150614_004 by Alan, on Flickr
Super glue gel is one of my new favorite things. It comes in handy all the time for tacking things in place. I was trying to figure out how to epoxy the PVC tube in place without it being a disaster from it constantly spinning and pushing in and out. A little super glue gel did the trick by holding it firmly in place while I applied the epoxy. I could have done the same thing with a dab of epoxy but I would have had to wait a lot longer than 5 minutes before it was setup.
20150614_005 by Alan, on Flickr
For the epoxy I first pushed un-thickened through the gap as much as I could to saturate into the bare wood. Then I thickened it and pushed that in as good as I could before smoothing it off with my finger and wiping the excess with a alcohol soaked rag:
20150615_006 by Alan, on Flickr
Trimmed it nearly flush with the same little flexible pull saw I use for trimming my strips and then sanded it flush with the orbital sander. Then a little sandpaper on the inside edge to knock down that sharp corner and a few quick coats of varnish over the area to finish the job:
20150615_007 by Alan, on Flickr
20150615_008 by Alan, on Flickr
What looks like a small gap in that last pic is the small area where the super glue gel was applied so it's still sealed. Enough un-thickened and thickened epoxy should have been pushed through to fill in any voids on the backside of that area.
Alan
First I found the water line and taped off the area above to keep it from chipping. Then I measured up 3.5". From the multiple marks you can see I waffled a bit over how far in from the stem to drill. In the end I picked the mark closest to the stem.
20150614_002 by Alan, on FlickrI think I've said it before but I love my laser level, it always comes in handy for new things, like keeping the long drill bit level:
20150614_003 by Alan, on FlickrA spade bit probably wasn't the best choice but I didn't have a standard drill bit or hole saw in the correct size and didn't feel like buying one just for this. I'm sure the inside edge of the hole is chipped and ugly as heck from the way it chewed through the last little bit but that part is hidden inside the float tank. As soon as the tip of the bit started to protrude on the opposite side of the hull I switched sides with the drill and used that tiny hole as a pilot. That allowed me to drill from the outside on both sides of the hull and keep all the chipping on the inside. Between that and the tape I had clean holes on the outside:
20150614_004 by Alan, on FlickrSuper glue gel is one of my new favorite things. It comes in handy all the time for tacking things in place. I was trying to figure out how to epoxy the PVC tube in place without it being a disaster from it constantly spinning and pushing in and out. A little super glue gel did the trick by holding it firmly in place while I applied the epoxy. I could have done the same thing with a dab of epoxy but I would have had to wait a lot longer than 5 minutes before it was setup.
20150614_005 by Alan, on FlickrFor the epoxy I first pushed un-thickened through the gap as much as I could to saturate into the bare wood. Then I thickened it and pushed that in as good as I could before smoothing it off with my finger and wiping the excess with a alcohol soaked rag:
20150615_006 by Alan, on FlickrTrimmed it nearly flush with the same little flexible pull saw I use for trimming my strips and then sanded it flush with the orbital sander. Then a little sandpaper on the inside edge to knock down that sharp corner and a few quick coats of varnish over the area to finish the job:
20150615_007 by Alan, on Flickr20150615_008 by Alan, on FlickrWhat looks like a small gap in that last pic is the small area where the super glue gel was applied so it's still sealed. Enough un-thickened and thickened epoxy should have been pushed through to fill in any voids on the backside of that area.
Alan
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The job you do is really good!! The one thing that I would do different on my boat is having the painter rope/grab loop hole higher, I usually go 3" south of the gunnels and 3" back from stem.... Cause I don't need the painter for serious lining, I set up lining ropes for that. That way I never have the grab loop in the water creating drag... Just my way, not the right way!! Cheers
I thought about that too since I really didn't want something dangling in the water and gurgling away. I decided that I won't use a separate grab loop and instead will tie the painter directly to the "eye". Tying it with a relatively large bowline should allow it to function as a quick grab loop without uncoiling the rope, which will be bungeed to the deck or carry handle to keep it pulled up and out of the water. Or at least that's the plan...
Need to start practicing my lining. Never done it before.
Thanks,
Alan
