Prospector Sailing Canoe Build

2006-11-16T11:27:00.000Z

Went for a paddle on the Stour yesteday from Grove Ferry to Fordwich and back.

Had a few issues with the rig, but it was only the second time I have tried to use it, initial results are promising, got up a nice bit of speed but need to fit a leeboard and rudder not to mention jam cleats and associated rigging, and I have to sort out a better method of fixing the mast steps as the both came out! fortunately I pre-empted a problem with them so I only epoxy'd them to the bottom of the boat and did not screw through thus no damage done.

My seat on the other hand needs more work, putting weight on the front dowel flexed it to the point that is came out of one end of the mounting slightly damaging both mountings, again not really a problem but I think I will take this opportunity to move the seat forward to trim the boat better (keeping the bow low in the wind is essential!)

I think I will try some form of adjustable seat hung over the gunwales (I’ll leave the stern seat as it is)

The other thing I am going to have to do it fit some ribs as the hull flexes quite a lot with two adults in it

a couple of photos of our trip

Transition Rig

2006-11-08T11:43:00.000Z

I have placed a couple of mast steps in the bottom of the hull, in different places because if paddling solo you seem to generally use the front seat (going backwards) and if tandem you obviously use the normal seating thus the rig needs to be out of the way for each arrangement, they are made from 2*3/4inch ply blocks one with the hole drilled in and glued to the other as a base, these were glued to the hull and then an epoxy fillet placed around the edge, I did not want to screw them in a) so that they are not a permanent feature and b) if they rip out then the hull should not be holed.
The rig slips into a larger diameter tube, this I have just strapped to either thwart, seems to do the trick
I will try the rig without a leeboard first but I guess I will only be able to run with the wind without it, I intend fitting both leeboard and rudder

Additionally I drilled out both stems and bushed the hole with 15mm copper pipe, this is to secure rope for grab lines that can also be used for carrying or tie-downs

Not impressed with my paintwork now, had lots of issues with it bubbling up so I have had to scrape it back, fill and repaint but its not the weather to be doing painting so its been purely to waterproof it, I will have to wait until next year to rub it all back and get some better paint on

Afloat!

2006-09-25T09:59:00.001+01:00

The Pictures speak for themselves...

Runners

2006-09-21T09:13:00.000+01:00

Fitted the runners, these are glued and screwed from the inside, I did not know if they should be straight or follow the contour of the hull, I opted for following the contour as it looks better, this may affect the tracking though.

I removed the masking tape and it hadn’t done its job! Wish I had used insulating tape, I do like making more work for myself! I will need to make good before the varnish goes on.

A shot of my fly camp, the wind picked up last night so I had to get some extra guy lines on, looks a mess but its done the job and the rabbit (pictured above) could not attack it like it did the tent!

Update

2006-09-20T10:13:00.000+01:00

Hung a tarp up in the garden and Dave has lent me some lights again, it looks like a Bedouin encampment but it serves a purpose.

I masked up the gunwales and have given the hull several coats of exterior gloss (Wild Berry) although its not being painted onto a perfectly smooth surface I am using gloss rollers so the finish is good and looks great from a distance.

The runners are to be fitted next and will not be painted, the whole of the hull, gunwales, thwarts and breasthooks will get a coat of yacht varnish (hope it does not react with the paint!) the interior will be dark green exterior gloss.

I wonder how much weight this paint will add to the finished boat, I am still able to pick it up easily and lift it over my head; I will have to devise a way of weighing it

THE FINAL PUSH!

2006-09-05T15:17:00.000+01:00

It’s now September, not had much of a chance to do anything to the Canoe during August due to family commitments and the weather.

The hull has been filled and painted in an undercoat, which subsequently peeled off due to an unexpected downpour and me forgetting to put a tarp over it, it got another rub down and some more undercoat and seems to be not too bad.

Dave kindly gave up a whole Saturday to help me with the woodwork, in fact Dave made both of the bulkheads and breasthooks while I concentrated on the seats Dave came up with a neat idea of making a grab / carry handle at the joint of the breasthook and bulkhead with a slight bevel backwards and upwards for a nice grip, unfortunately I managed to completely knacker his hard work by filling the forward and aft compartments with too much expanding foam and nailing them down, the ply on the bulkheads popped out of their glue block settings and will not go back without complete removal and re-fixing, they will have to be re-cut as the bow and stern actually bulged out slightly too (this actually happened after 24hrs so beware it still expands long after you would have thought it safe) Still at least we know the void is filled, I just feel gutted that it was all a perfect fit and now it was a lot of wasted time, as I said before this is a massive learning curve!!

The seats on the other hand seem to have gone without a hitch, being of more generous proportions I opted for hopefully a stronger seat fixing solution, sections of 3/4inch ply were cut of approx 10inces by 3inces, two slightly offset holes were drilled in each to take a dowel and the edges had a nice profile routed onto them, the inside of the hull will be painted so I am not concerned about end grain showing, the dowels were placed and the fixings glued and screwed from the outside, if a seat dowel should break then another can be replaced in two pieces using a copper / steel sleeve to join them.

I am going to use some of that rubber matting (the type you can get for your dashboard to stop keys and phones slipping about) along the inside for slip resistance and a little comfort if kneeling, my Dad happens to have some in green so this will match nicely.

The boat is out the front of my house on trestles at the moment but I will be putting up the tent again to get the job done once and for all, a FINAL PUSH!

Some pics

you can see where the expanding foam has pushed the sides out

Centre Thwart

2006-06-26T09:51:00.000+01:00

Will checking out the seats

2006-06-25T11:00:00.000+01:00

Screw plugs

Contrast

Gunwales

2006-06-25T09:36:00.000+01:00

Fitted the second Inwale which I steamed for an hour (1 hour per inch of timber) it bent up to the right curve much better so I wont need to scribe in any timber on top to support the breasthook. Fitted the Outwales to complete the Inwales and plugged the holes, the stock was short so I had to scarf in a little piece at the end but I did not have any matching timber so I had to rip down some scrap on my table saw, this was heart wood so not matching but I actually like the contrast. The whole structure is a lot stronger (I even did a drop test off the trestles!!! landed with a bit of a crack but no damage done)

Bending up the Outwale

Tricky Clamping

Pluging screw holes

Inwales

2006-06-22T16:08:00.002+01:00

Started to fit the inwales and as the plans state the 15x35 timber was too thick to bend up at the stems, I am not too bothered that the last couple of inches do not bend all the way up as I am fitting compartments filled with foam and will be taking the inwale and plank down to fit the breasthook level with the outwale but I made sure that most of the inwale bent up to the plank edge to get a fixing and any of it showing after the breasthook is level.

I did not plane them down to get the bend as suggested, instead I rigged a wallpaper steamer to a PVC pipe and steamed the ends of the timber, it seemed to work ok and I guess that if I left the timber in the steamer for an hour or so then I would have got the bend all the way to the end.

I think if I was to do it again I would make a former to clamp the steamed timber up therefore not forming it on the planks and adding any undue stress to the edges, if using shorter lengths necessitating a scarf joint somewhere then four ends could be steamed and clamped all at once, this would make life very easy and make a neat job that could take a fancy breasthook perhaps slotted into the middle of the inwale.
The inwale was held with quick clamps and fixed with glue then screwed at 150mm centres from the outside of the planks (75mm centres where it starts to bend up) the screws heads will be hidden by the outwales but could have been filled and painted anyway, the outwale will be screwed through to the inwale with the screw heads probably sunk and plugged.

timber scribed onto the top of the Inwale

I am thinking that the craft is quite flimsy and as I will be using it in the sea I think it would be wise to get some more resin and fillet any gaps on the outside then tape all of the outside seams, yet more expense and further delay but I think time spent now will avoid any issues in the future when I least need them

2006-06-18T22:23:00.000+01:00

I have now taken down the temporary workshop and the boat is in the open for the first time, I have discovered that one stem had a rather bad kink to the top planks, although it should not have happened I am going to blame it on the lack of space around that end of the work bench, anyway I was wondering what end was the stern and now I know (so I don’t have to look at it)

A file is the best tool for getting rid of the snipped off stitches that are set in fillets and I found that a wood file with a rasp back did the trick shaping the stems, as I taped the seams I did not have much resin filleting to clear up although there were two fair leaks which were very hard and difficult to sand, again the wood file did the trick

I taped the inside of the chines, it was not until the last few that I worked out a method, the trick is to cut the tape to exactly the right length then roll it tightly up again, wet the seam with resin and then just roll out the tape over it with a slight pressure to make it adhere, then you can wet it out with a brush, the first seams are a little wobbly and don’t go all the way into the stem, I figured that I would cut them short and do the fiddly bits later, this was a mistake as the short lengths were almost impossible to get in, I managed to get a double tape on the outside of the centre chine which used up the rest of the tape so I cant tape the inner stems anyway, they are held with fillets and the stems outers are taped so I cant see a problem (looks like I will be having those stem compartments after all) I figured that I will be painting and filling the entire hull inside and out so I was not too bothered with the neatness of the taping besides it was 30DegC and the resin was going off quickly! I made up some filleting mix to fill some of the gaps in the chines but I wanted to save some to cover the entire outside, this I started to do but as I came to the bottom of the resin bottles the dispensers could not get the dregs out, there is also resin in the pump body so I poured all of this out and mixed it, there was just enough to cover the exterior but with two quarter planks left to do it went off, looks like I will have to use gripfill after all for the little gaps left in the chines

As I sat and pondered my problems and mistakes I decided I would do it differently next time, a workshop is a must, it removes the problems caused by lack of space, lighting and environmental influences, I have spent too much time scratching my head about problems unrelated to the actual craft and reflecting on mistakes that have been made due to working conditions. The shop must have a bench of 16x8 that can be taken down to 16x2 and working space of at least a couple of feet all the way around (a double garage would be fine) there would be another bench for tools it should have sufficient lighting and power and be able to maintain a comfortable room temperature and allow ventilation when using resin I would buy 100m of tape, a 1.2kg resin pack and the dispensers and a bigger pack of resin to top up from, I would look for a method of delivering fillets i.e. a caulking gun. I would “paint” 4 sheets of ply with resin (both sides) and allow to cure this I think would make filleting and taping easier and save time later it would also make a neater job, I would then cut the planks from templates using a router and make sure that the plank edges were primed with resin, I would tape the butt joints all at once (on top of each other to keep them the same) I would cut the moulds with a circular saw as a jig saw does not leave a straight line, cutting holes in the points of the moulds where they contact the chines would allow continuous filleting under the mould, I would also drill small holes for screws on all of the mould lines on the planks and screw the moulds in as I went, the holes can be plugged later, I would use zip ties and place a dowel under each tie to keep the planks in line and I would tape the outside of the chines again but not with parcel tape, I would use insulating taped for ease and clear up

2006-06-15T10:28:00.000+01:00

I called Paul Fisher the other day for advice on the gunwales and he faxed me over a drawing of suggested gunwales / breast hooks, he provides excellent aftersales, I am most impressed with his entire operation (products, advice and customer focus) I am still undecided about how to proceed here, I would like watertight compartments for storage and buoyancy but I think time will force me just to apply a simple breast hook with a carry handle either incorporated or as a batten just behind it

Moulds

Before filleting I gave the inside of the stitches a “crank” with snipe nosed pliers just to give them final nip, I notice that the moulds are no longer tight, must be the drop in temperature and increased humidity due to the rain, I hope it warms up before I give it all a coat of resin

Cranked Stitch

I completed the filleting between the stitches, this is a bit of a task, first you have to get the mix right then work out some form of delivery, I went for a large syringe initially which delivered a small bead of fillet but it was difficult to load and operate, I ended up using a ½ inch brush and just loading it on, there are not many gaps between the planks and the majority of the chines are flat (ish) so I don’t really see the point of most of the fillets, in hindsight I should have skipped it for most of the chines and gone right for a tape joint, the vertical joint fillets just seemed to drag down and I will probably end up with a fair bit of sanding, the temperature has dropped and we have had rain so the resin did not look like it was going to cure, I left it overnight and this morning it was still tacky! I hope it goes off. It doesn’t look very good at the moment but I'm sure that once the tape goes over the fillets it will be fine, a fair bit of filling will be required to make the inside good for painting, I cant see how you could build this type of craft with this method and have a good enough finish to varnish
If I was to do this again I would look for a better delivery method like a caulking gun and make different spreaders from plastic for the different shaped chines, I would also request some assistance, one caulking and one spreading, I would pick a fair day for faster curing
If I have any resin left I will conduct an experiment on some scraps substituting epoxy fillets with green Gripfill, I am sure it will do the job just as well and would be easier to handle

Stem Fillet

Chine Fillet

Fillet Runs

I had another major problem with the resin, the hardener fell over and I lost most of it! It just pours out of the dispenser when inverted! I went to a local dinghy store and got some more (£8) but it was 206 not 205 I was told not to mix them, anyway with all of the fillets and less than efficient method of applying them I have now run out of resin too so I will have to get another 1.2kg pack (£25) I really don’t want to be buying any more than that, while I was in the store I picked up a paddle for £17 a bargain!

Those stitches really are dangerous, I bent down for something and caught my head on one, heard a nice ripping sound and thought I will probably have to make a trip to A&E, luckily I only have a couple of deep scratches, this project really is blood and sweat (no tears yet though!)

2006-06-12T22:48:00.000+01:00

I have cut out and placed the moulds in the marked positions (pictures to follow)(i used 1/4 MDF) i had to screw through the top planks into the mould to hold them in place but as i am painting this canoe now its not a problem, I'll just fill the holes with resin, the hull is almost in shape without the moulds although the middle one seems a little small, we used some small wedges to give an equal gap around the mould, this gap could be from the planks sitting in 53DegC in the tent and getting a bit of a sag going, Dave came over to lend a hand, this section is a bit tricky and the hull neede turning to tighten the stitches, got loads of scratches from working in this confined space with all these stitches hanging out, take care with eyes!

you can just see the moulds in position, note that we have rested the hull on blocks and sat them on the moulds

We have taped over the chine gaps hoping that when the resin fillets are added not too much will drip through reducing clear-up time and sanding / grinding

All of the stitches were tightened up (with a few snapping and having to be replaced) and the hull turned over again, a line was pinged from end to end and the craft seems to be true with no twists or buckle, the ends have been chocked up but it holds its own rocker and seems very solid, resin fillets next!

Stitch Progress

2006-06-09T15:55:00.000+01:00

We found that the earth wire from 1.5 flat twin and earth lighting cable is good for the stitches, its smaller than the red and black pair so must be about 1mm, to mark the planks for stitching we just used a pencil running it up the planks using the middle finger as a guide at about 6mm. using a set of dividers 8 inch marks were made along one of the lines (the upper line only), I found that marking an inch either side of the tape joint and placing the first two stitches there give a good starting point whilst not stressing the joint then instead of marking out the stitch marks I just drilled as I went using the holes on the other plank as a guide, this meant that there was no chance the stitch holes would "creep" out of line (this may have been down to me and the dividers!) we found that its easier to make up loads of stitches before hand by cutting lengths of 3-4 inches and bending them in the middle into "staples" a pair of flat pliers makes for a better twist, needle nose pliers are handy for threading stitches in awkward places. Quick clamps / grips are handy for holding the plank ends in place whilst you are stitching along, there are over 200 stitches

The ends of the planks are slightly out of line here but I'm hoping that they can be trimmed when the resin fillets are added

Sam checking my work

All of the planks stitched in place

2006-06-09T15:20:00.000+01:00

2006-06-09T14:51:00.000+01:00

I have completed the tape joints now using the following method: laid out one set of planks i.e. one side of the craft, clamped either side of the joint using scraps of wood screwed though to the bench (not through the planks) clamped the ends of the planks using the same method, checked all the planks were in line then taped the joints and allowed to dry, then clamping a piece of wood a couple of feet long over the joints to support them I turned the planks over clamped them down and taped the other side, note that I laid a piece of PVC down so that the resin did not stick the planks to anything else, next I laid spacers over the planks and laid the second set of planks over the first using the previously taped ones on the bottom as a reference, this ensures that both sides of the craft are the same so I figure there should be no twist or buckle, then clamped them down and taped them turning to do the other side in the same way as before

Joints clamped and taped

All the planks laid out

resin cured and planks laid out in order

Bottom planks stitched together

Dave adding a bit of weight to the situation

Plank 3 getting stitched

2006-06-06T10:06:00.000+01:00

Called Selway Fisher yesterday and talked to Paul Fisher regarding the butt straps and tape joints, he stated that a marine glue is normally used rather than epoxy bonding, he also stated that the taped joints will be more than strong enough when the hull is complete, I said that I wanted to leave the planks natural for varnish but the tape joint would show so I would have to paint it and I asked about suitable paints, Paul said that the hull can be undercoated with normal undercoat designed for exterior gloss and any tape joints or imperfections can be filled with polyfiller or tetrion between coats of undercoat, then a good exterior gloss can be used and it will be fine, I am happy about this as it is inexpensive and does not require special preparation

Regarding the missing hardener, I had another check of the dispensing pump and I had not fitted it correctly, there are two screw caps that should be done up, one to the bottle the other onto of the first, the instructions are not clear at all on this matter. When done up the hardener dispenses travels a lot less dispensing much less hardener, I wonder if this contributed to the disaster with bonding the butt straps

Looks like I will have to order some more although I think WEST's should at least contribute some of the cost due to poor instructions with no diagrams

Spent most of the rest of the evening mending the light sets transformer that kept tripping my RCD then turned over the one tape joint I had done to do the other side, it looked like it was going to be fine, I finished extending the work bench and laid out several other planks ready for taping, I intend measuring them for squareness off the first plank and along their length, this should mean they are all square and no twisting should appear when they are stitched together, this will probably be a 2 night operation as I have to tape one side, let it cure turn them over, do the other side then build another tier of planks to complete them all on the space available, that leaves Thursday to lay them flat for a night and Friday to get stitching, Saturday for filleting, Sunday for taping

2006-06-03T20:27:00.000+01:00

Disaster! The butt-strap did not work! The resin did not cure and the strap lifted and curled, I managed to pull it off and save the planks and scrape the sticky filleted bonding off, don’t know if it’s the resin or that is how it is supposed to be or if it was too hot in the tent today, all in all a nightmare!

Sticky mess!

Went back in there when it had cooled down this evening and prepped the planks again, this time I am using the tape method, just butt the planks up together, resin them and then tape across the join, when its hard turn it over (gently!) and do the other side, it doesn’t sound very strong to me but its one of the methods they suggest so it must be OK, I have done just the one plank to see how it goes
Whilst I am on the subject of resin I noted that there was a bit of damp on the resin box when I opened it, there was a bit of something, resin or hardener, on the bottles but not much, the hardener bottle was less than half full but it is .2kg so that may be how it is although after just a couple of pumps its almost empty, I’m hoping that its all primed in the pump, I will email CFS to make sure

Clamped down well

Taped joint, not pretty but its is how the plans say do it

Missing hardener?

2006-06-02T22:02:00.000+01:00

Had a bit of a nightmare with these butt-strap joints, the plans say use glue and brass nails, I could only find copper nails or so I thought, I had got copperised nails so they wont do, I don’t want them poking through so I need to cut them which exposes the steel, by glue they must mean epoxy resin, the instructions on the resin state that for bonding prime the surface then use a filleted out resin between the surfaces, this is did but when trying to apply even pressure the strap just slides about and squeegees out, managed to get some pressure on it and in place, went for a pint but it still had not cured, the edges were still sticky, I have only done one strap in case it goes wrong and have left it overnight, I am really apprehensive now that I have knackered two planks, I may have to email Selway Fisher for advice
In the pictures you will see that I have extended the bench so that I can get multiple planks across the width of the bench and stack them several high meaning they will all be done in one go (with any luck)

Butt Straps and Lasers

2006-05-31T22:38:00.000+01:00

Been thinking about the butt-straps, I don’t want them to look like a horrible joint down the middle of the boat.
I thought about shaping them but cant waste too much time on a design that may be over-the-top for this craft.

Decided to stencil a design in wood stain instead, I am quite pleased with the result.
I intended to scribe a line to stop the stain running but when discussing this earlier Dave said that it may weaken the joint, so I dabbed off any excess stain before applying it to the strap to avoid it running too far, it worked pretty well,

I can now section the length of strap to the plank sizes and place a slight bevel on the edges for the chines,

note that I used a cheap laser to align the planks

the plans call for the straps to be fixed with glue and brass nails, by glue I presume they mean epoxy resin. I cant find brass nails small enough so I got some small copper nails and will cut them to 6.5 or 7mm I can use the stencil design to place the nails,

all in all not a very productive evening but I am satisfied with what I did

2006-05-31T22:18:00.000+01:00

Received help from a mate yesterday, he also lent me some working lights so we can now work into the night.

Managed to complete all of the planks, when using a plane or spokeshave on the ply's end-grain the blades blunt quickly so a good stone to sharpen them is essential, my mate Dave demonstrated it is easier to plane down to the line with the board laid flat and the plane side on as you can see the line better but you need a lighter plane i.e. a block plane, a smoothing plane becomes too heavy for this job. We laid out both halves of the first two planks and the canoe starts to take shape.

2006-05-30T12:30:00.000+01:00

All planks have now been cut out, resorted to the jigsaw for all of the long cuts but you have to leave a fair bit of waste as the saw can rip the ply, loads of work with the plane and shaving done, loads to do! I have left the ends of the planks until last so that plane does not split them out or round the corner off (you are meant to plane into and end to avoid splitting) then the ends can be trimmed with a Stanley knife

My improvised bench is only 2 feet wide but I want to complete all of the butt-straps at the same time so I am going to make a three tiered clamp using studding bolted through the bench and several 4x2’s with more 4x2 bearers along the length of the planks, I also intend to shape the butt-straps so it doesn’t just look like a joint in the middle of the canoe

No photos this time, all the planks look similar!

Transition Rig

2006-05-27T17:20:00.000+01:00

As I stated before my rig is a prototype built by Dr Richard Dryden,

the rig is designed to be unfolded first using both hands and then dropped into position in the craft but I want it to be fully attached and easily detached. One of Dr Dryden’s other designs has a cast ali hub / rotating base that the rig pivots on, I like the idea but the hub is large and bolted to the craft.

I have been looking for a universal joint that rotates, the only way I can see this working without a bearing is if a ball and socket joint is used, I only want the mast to fold one way (toward the bow) so a slot in the socket would be ideal.

I do have a mateial called Polymorph that I could mould a joint out of, its like nylon but it melts at 60degC so it can be made into practically anything but this is the last resort.

I keep coming back to windsurfing joints but they bend in every direction so a piece of tubing over the joint may be the answer.

The diagram below shows a fixed tube in the canoe which the mast locates into and is held with pin and R clip, above this is the UJ allowing rotation and folding, this is covered by a tube which holds the mast upright, the tube could be raised with a strap and on its upward movement it could disengage the mast pin allowing the rig to fold.

2006-05-27T16:41:00.000+01:00

All four "plank 1" sections are cut using a jigsaw and individually planed down to the line using a smoothing plane and a spokeshave, then I placed them together in the workmate and gave them a once over with the plane to make sure they are all the same, two workmates would be much better here

All four planks laid out, I am going to need a bigger workbench

Cut and shaped all "plank 2" sections, all eight bottom sections of the canoe laid out

Space is really going to be an issue

2006-05-25T23:01:00.000+01:00

Spent a couple of hours on the project last night, used a Stanley knife to cut out the first panel, although it gives a nice edge that requires no trimming it takes ages and gives you Carpal Tunnel, there is also a chance of slipping and doing the plank some damage (not to mention yourself) so I am going to use a fret or coping saw, or may get a very fine blade for my jigsaw

Note I have used chalk to mark the planks (the template is marked in pencil)

Plank 1 or the bottom plank has a fine point one end and care has to be taken when cutting and handling it

We have had two months rain in a week (hence the GRP grating on the grass in the pics) but the tent has not leaked, even so I have covered my work with plastic just in case, interestingly though a bird crapped on my templates which were on the bench! How it got into and out of a closed tent is a mystery

2006-05-25T11:50:00.000+01:00

The plans from Selway Fisher are comprehensive and explain pretty much everything I need for the construction.

The dimensions are down to the millimetre so a good tape measure and sharp pencil were called for.

The other tools I used were a square, a hard straight edge of 4 foot or more, a length of beading or scotia (curtain rail was advised) to get a nice curve along the panels and a shorted flexible length of similar material for the curved ends of the planks, a handful of panel pins and pin hammer, in addition to a tape a ruler was useful.

I placed a couple of trestle tables out in my front drive and placed an 8x2 flooring board on them, this supported the 8x4 MDF sheet nicely.

Stations are marked across the width of the board at regular intervals; I used one edge only to mark of the stations using a square and straight edge and the same edge to take the measurements from so that everything is square and true.

When transferring the measurements I found it useful to circle the marks made on the templates so they were easily spotted when drawing the final line of the panel, I also circled the measurements on the plan in pencil to avoid any errors.

If I had one slight criticism of the plans it would be that the measurements are given in both imperial and metric which make it a little hard to read due to the sheer volume of numbers on them.

I worked on one panel at a time so as not to confuse myself and when one was marked off I put panel pins in or very near the marks so that as I lay my beading against them to obtain a fair curve my pencil line would go through the mark, the use of paint pots is handy here to hold the beading in place otherwise you end up with panel pins pinging off everywhere.

After all the panels were marked off I transferred the mould positions and any other markings to the panels including plank number and chines etc, as these are templates it does not matter how many marking are on them but marking directly onto a ply panel may require a fair bit of sanding to remove them.

Next I cut out the templates with a jigsaw.

I intend to lay them onto the ply with as little wastage as possible, mark them with pencil and cut them out with a Stanley knife, that way avoiding too much edge finishing.

I intend to used ply butt-straps to join the two halves of the planks together and will bevel the edges of the butts for a nice finish, it may even be easier to run a router over the edges to put a bull nose on it, I will have to try it out on a scrap and see.
Before any butt-straps or fillets are applied the plans / instructions state that the ply must be primed with catalysed resin, I am toying with the idea of completely priming every plank before I butt them together including the edges, this I thought would have the following pros:

· They final canoe has to have a coating of resin and its easier to run a roller over a plank than when it is stitched into a form or a complete canoe
· It would provide a nice even finish rather than patchy bits that have been primed and coated compared to other areas that have only had one coat (I hope to have a varnished wood finish)
· It would protect the wood from marks and knocks, all marking out can be made onto the hard resin surface and wiped off rather than sanded off the wood

And the following cons:
This may not be an economical use of resin and consumables i.e. brushes
It may alter the flexibility of the planks restricting their ability to form the correct shapes at the chines
More time and space may be required in the long run to enable separate planks to be primed

I may have to just suck it and see
I am thinking that a varnished wood finish wont look as good as I am hoping for and I half wish that I had opted for a strip construction to obtain a truly beautiful craft but I will persevere and pay as much attention to detail as possible to obtain the best results, I can always build a strip canoe next time.

2006-05-24T10:44:00.000+01:00

Now I have the plans and most of the materials I suppose it’s about time to start the build otherwise I may miss the summer and the best conditions to paddle.

I have a double length garage but it is full of work benches and tools so I have had to erect our family tent in the back garden to act as a temporary workshop, it’s a bit of a tight squeeze as you can see and the 16 foot workbench I have built only just fits in it but it will suffice (although I am under pressure now to complete the canoe in the shortest possible time as my wife wants her washing line put back up!

Workshop!

16-foot scaffold workbench

When my timber was delivered they left an 8x4 sheet of 1/4inch MDF that was used as protection for the ply so I have used this to mark out templates from the plans, this reduces the risk of making errors in the marking out and cutting the ply directly, it also enables all of the panels to be cut from 3 sheets of ply rather than 4 which is not a lot of use to me as I ordered 4 because I did not know they would leave the packing! Still I now have a spare sheet should something go wrong.

WEST systems fibreglass materials

An improvised sanding table to take my rough-cut templates down to the line

2006-05-24T09:26:00.000+01:00

I had been looking for a boat of some kind that I could use for sea fishing (in particular Saltwater Fly Fishing) and to get back into sailing. I also wanted something small, easily transported, cheap, versatile and it had to be safe for my kids, most of all it must be fun!
As a kid I used to paddle a fair bit, mostly in kayaks, eventually taking my BCU 2 star at Bewl Water, I have even paddled a Canadian canoe down the Youghiogheny River in Pennsylvania. A surfing session on the web happened upon some open canoes that used a fixed sail. The more I thought about it the more it suited my needs, to reduce costs and make it interesting I decided on a self build so this blog has been created to keep a record of my project to build a 15'8" Prospector open Canoe

The plans were purchased from Selway Fisher the original Prospectors were originally designed in Canada and known as the "workhorse of the North". They had to have a good carrying capacity for all of the Prospector's gear and they had to work well through white water and wilderness. The bow and stern are relatively full and it has good freeboard amidships to keep its crew dry. The well-rockered keel line makes it highly manoeuvrable and the tumblehome in the topsides makes it both stable and easy to paddle. It is constructed using simple stitch and tape techniques and has 5 planks per side giving it a well-rounded and graceful appearance. LOA 15'8" (4.76m); Beam 2'11" (0.88m); Depth amidships 14.5" (0.36m); approx. weight 65 lbs. (30 kg). The plans were £41 (incl. VAT)

The Timber cost about £120 and I opted to use 4mm marine ply, I purchased WEST Systems fibreglass materials including 1.2kg of resin a set of dispensers pumps, 50m of 50mm fibreglass tape and a small tub of filleting compound, this cost approx £45 but I think I may need additional resin to complete the project

I intend to have the outside left as varnished wood but this will depend on the finish, if it’s not too good I will coat the whole outside in a fibreglass sheet and paint it aiming for a smooth mirror finish

As this can be used as a sailing canoe the plans suggest a Gunter Rig sail, this looks very traditional and would probably prove to be quite effective but as I have only sailed a few times I do not want the hassle of all of the rigging etc, plus stowing the rig would take a fair bit of space when paddling, I was again surfing on the web when I found this website http://www.transitionrig.com/
I contacted Dr Richard Dryden regarding his sailing rig, it seemed to fit my needs so we met up and I purchased one of his prototype rigs, although it is only half the area of the suggested Gunter Rig in the plans it should be more than enough for a novice like me. Its unique design allows it to fold and unfold swiftly with a minimum of rigging and I have had some ideas on how to secure it to the canoe which would enable the sail to be hoisted with the pull of a strap but more of that later