New west coast Noob

[Spokaloo]

Just saying hello, wanted to see who is in my region. Im over in Spokane, Wa, (east side of the state in lake country), and have noticed a few members on the Wet (yes, I said wed) side, lucky dogs.

Started boatbuilding in feb, have completed a Glen-L tubby tug, the wacky lassie (love Fritz's design), and a bastardized stepcousin of a 16' cheap canoe/pirogue.

I am starting a Thames rowing skiff in the 17' length with a purpleheart stern. I will have a ton of questions if anyone wants to help a noob!

PMs are always welcome!

E

[JimD]

Welcome to the forum. You don't sound like much of a 'noob'. Who's the designer of the rowing skiff?

[Spokaloo]

The skiff is the Thames Rowing skiff by Paul Selway. He took the 12' and stretched her to 17' but kept the beam at a nice sleek 3'3". Should be very smooth and fast through the water (we live on a dam-controlled lake, 24 mi long, mile wide in some places, narrower others) while allowing my wife to be out there solo safely while Im at the station. Planning on a pair of sliding seats (anyone have experience building their own? I have Paul's design, but its basic) that will be able to alternate from 1-2 rowers.

I know it won't see much extra speed with the sliders in it, but is more of a workout boat than outright speed, so fighting the bow wave will just create a little more sweat! Oar length will have to be addressed as well, so I will search the forum. It seems everyone has a great deal of input and information already out there, but its a BIG forum to get through, be patient if I repost or reask.

Also, here is a photo of the current fleet, be gentle, I just started this stuff:

On the dock:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70/fighterama1/harbor.jpg

Paddling the hodgepodge CC/pirogue 16' with friend's kid:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70/fighterama1/green_boat.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70/fighterama1/green_boat2.jpg

On launch day (has had some trim work and finish work since):
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b65/fighterama2/launchday025.jpg
Thanks!

E

[JimD]

Nice assortment of boats you have there. As good as anything I've built. The Thames design looks like a good one. Five plywood planks per side ought to give her a really nice shape. Why not start a thread in Building/Repair? I'm a big fan of Selway-Fisher. The designer's name is Paul Fisher, by the way, not Paul Selway. There. You've been corrected already and haven't even started building yet :)

[Spokaloo]

I guess when he signs this way, I can't really figure that out:

Regards,
Paul
SFDesign

Ah well, we must all make asses out of ourselves at some point, unfortunately for me its frequent!

[JimD]

Are you going to try to finish the new boat bright or paint it? I'm working on a plywood stitch and glue kayak at the moment that I'm building 'stitchless'. The hull panels were held together with masking tape while I epoxy filleted the inside of the seams. It seriously beats drilling a couple hundred holes in the boat and wiring everything. It's ready for decking now which I hope to have done by the end of this week.

[Spokaloo]

Very interesting! Id love to know what plans your working from that the seams have so little stress. I haven't found a boat that would stay together with just tape (even the cheap canoe needs a stitch or two here and there), so that has my curiosity up.

I am anticipating a paint inside/bright above the waterline/paint below outside for the time being as its a bit hard to hide 5 fillet seams against the BS1088. Unless the fine feathered forum dwellers here have a way that is.

I also have a perdicament on my transom. Its impossible to find a piece of purpleheart big enough to cut the transom in one piece. I have 2 pieces which one is within 2" of being big enough, so Im trying to find out whether I can edge glue it with epoxy, or if I need to do a rabbet/lap/pin or other joint. It will obviously be relatively low stress as its the transom and will never carry a motor.

I definitely want to see some pics of this kayak!

Is there a photos thread on this forum to post up your projects?

E

[JimD]

The trick is to build a cradle to rest the panels in so they don't flop around while taping them. As long as the panels are faired properly it's no problem. I'd imagine it gets a little trickier the more chines you have and your boat will have quite a few more but it might be worth a try. Nothing lost as you can always revert to the standard wire twist tie method. Also, epoxy does not stick to the gluey side of the masking tape so even if there is some minor epoxy leak through to the outside the tape peels off effortlessly after the epoxy has set

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid206/p071687a9179d8e758d976c68806f77dd/eed98c78.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid206/p90a5bc3c6179cd2c645f72eb6fba7400/eed98c73.jpg

It's a Shearwater Merganser 17.

[JimD]

I am anticipating a paint inside/bright above the waterline/paint below outside for the time being as its a bit hard to hide 5 fillet seams against the BS1088. Unless the fine feathered forum dwellers here have a way that is.

Making the fillet putty with silica and a very light wood flour ought to match the okoume fairly well. I just used silica on mine as with a decked kayak you see virtually none of the fillet anyway.

I also have a perdicament on my transom. Its impossible to find a piece of purpleheart big enough to cut the transom in one piece. I have 2 pieces which one is within 2" of being big enough, so Im trying to find out whether I can edge glue it with epoxy, or if I need to do a rabbet/lap/pin or other joint. It will obviously be relatively low stress as its the transom and will never carry a motor.

I've never used purple heart. Does it like epoxy? If so I have read in our host's magazine that many builders are making extra work for themselves by over designing joints with laps or dowel pins, etc. Simply gluing the edges should do. Others may disagree.