A Few More of the Final Product

Too long???? Never......

















Paddling with Grammy, Jenn and Larkin

It Floats!!!!

We finally got to launch the Peace Canoe up at Lake Tahoe! We joined the Livermore family at Dairy Creek and decided that this was the perfect time and place to launch. The weather was perfect, we had friends and family around and we were in one of the most magnificent settings anywhere.
She performed magnificently, only one inconsequential leak (about a cup of water every fifteen minutes).
Phin was so excited that he promptly fell asleep while sitting up and tipped over backwards about twenty yards from shore. Good thing he had on his modified Mae West life jacket which saved him from a serious thump on the melon.
What a great way to celebrate a great family project (and the end of residency, for that matter).



Many thanks to all who helped build and encouraged us on our first boat project.










Joe Cool (just before launch and falling asleep at the paddle)














If we shoot for the swim platform, we can always abandon ship there....

Aloha vs Unicorns and Rainbows

"Unicorns with rainbows!" That was the very enthusiastic reply by Larkin as to what she thought the motif of the canoe should be. We had a family vote and a pink and blue hibiscus theme out-voted the My-pretty-pony theme. Thank goodness.
We masked four panels to paint inside. One on either side of the bow and one on either side of the stern.
This is a hibiscus stencil we got on ebay for just a couple of dollars. We applied it to a piece of card stock and then cut it out. Using just enough paint to keep the brush damp was the trick so that it did not run.
We will start on the blue next weekend. Then a bow and stern grab loop (with a bit of fancy work, possibly), and we are ready to hit the water in the spring.

Ready for Decoration!

Cold, rainy day here in Sacto. The kids and I got some work done on the decorative side of painting.

Paint

After sanding the boat down with an angle grinder (best done outside the garage, by the way. My whole garage including bikes and tool are covered with a layer of okume dust....) we are on the the paint. Looks like it is going to take two coats and then the decorative painting. I am using porch paint from the local big box.
Getting under the seats has been the biggest challenge, but a ruler taped to a foam brush did the trick.

Success!

Once again, neighbor Rick came to the rescue with cold beer and we figured out a solution to the split/disconnected chine log.
I went down to Home Despot and picked up some 1x2 and we ran a strip down the inside (on the inboard side) of each chine/hull interface so the hull panel is now sandwiched between the chine log on the exterior and the new 1x2 on the interior. We used screws and adhesive and it worked beautifully. It even looks stout enough that I could think about adding a set of oar locks to really get the Peace Canoe moving in the water. And it adds a nice place to be able grab the boat and move it around.

Help!

I had a sheer clamp split while I was nailing it and also found that it had slipped with the outward pressure the curve of the hull was providing. In the bottom picture you can see the dogleg that it takes. Unfortunately the same thing happened to another scarf joint on the same side.
My neighborhood consultants, Rick, who can restore a Norton with his eyes closed, and Marty, cabinet maker extraordinaire, and I stood around and scratched our heads.
The best solution we could come up with was to get another piece of pine and nail and glue it along the outside of the hull up tight against the sheer log. I could get nails into both the sheer clamp as well as through the plywood which will allow it to regain it's natural girlish figure. (And she does have a beautiful shape when you sight down the bow or stern) I would bevel the ends of this second sheer clamp and make it about eight or ten feet long to be able to pick up both of the scarf joints I blew out. A matching second sheer clamp will be put on the other side, just for symmetry.
Anyone have any thoughts?? If you have run into this or have any suggestions, I am open to hearing what you have to say.