2011: Post 44 – The One Hundred

Today Tony and I paddled from St. Philips to Portugal Cove.  The original plan was to paddle in Bay Bulls but it was kind of a miserable weather morning (drizzling, foggy, damp, chilly) so, still wanting to get on the water, we opted to paddle closer to home. 

Today’s short paddle marked the 100^th time Tony has been in a kayak this calendar year. 

I know Tony is retired and us working stiffs tend to think that he has all the time in the world and so all the paddling he does is easy for him.  But the truth is that he is probably just as busy in retirement as when he was working, and sometimes more busy...  My father retired about 8 years ago and he has said to me several times that, looking back, he just doesn’t know when he ever found the time to work…

Anyway, here are a few pics from our short paddle today…

Leaving St. Philips

There was little wind but the swell and waves were coming in from the open ocean from the North so there was lots of places to play as we paddled up to Portugal Cove...

We pulled up on a little beach near the ferry terminal for a break and just as we got back on the water the Flanders was pulling in...

Tony near the  ferry terminal

The Flanders

More places to have a little bit of fun on the way back to St. Philips.... 

Heading into the channel at St. Philips...

There is something fascinating about watching waves crash upon the shore.  It’s even more fascinating to watch them from a kayak…. I took a bunch of pictures on the way trying to get a good one...

Oh yeah, and it finally happened.  I knew it would one day... About halfway back to St. Philips Tony got pulled over by the RCMP!  And here is the proof…

Sir, may we see your license and registration please?

Actually, one of the fellows on board is a kayaker that we have, on occasion, paddled with.  I think he recognized us and got the boys to come over to say ‘hello’….

After we rinsed off in the river and got geared down we went for a late lunch of fish and chips at the nearby By-the-Beach restaurant.  It was a great way to end a fellows 100th time in a kayak for this year... and just think - he still has almost three months left of the year.  The addiction runs deep, me thinks...

2011: Post 43 – The Disko Strongback

Continued from previous post number 42..........

No folks, the Disko Strongback is not a dance from the seventies; I was much too young in the seventies to know about the whole disco thing... Anyway...

Yesterday (Saturday) Sean, Dave, Gary, and myself paddled from St. Philips to about a kilometer past Topsail Beach.  We did not have the wind that was forecasted but there was enough to make paddling against the shore a bit of fun.  I forgot my camera so I don’t have any pictures to share.  But it was a nice paddle into a bit of wind going and a nice following sea coming back.

After I came home I put my gear away, showered, and headed to Home Depot to find something suitable for a strongback.  Dave Gentry’s plans suggest a straight 2x4 is adequate…but I opted for a piece of SPF 2x6 x 12 feet long that looked decently straight to my eye.  I figured there is less chance a 2x6 will warp compared to a 2x4.

After supper I set to work.  I marked the locations of all the frames on the 2x6 and struck a chalkline down the length.  I marked out  and cut out the support for the kayak’s first and last frames and secured them to the 2x6 in their proper locations.  Here are some pictures of the strongback with the frames attached.

...looking from the bow end

Frame 1

other side of Frame 1

That's just a little bit more accomplished...  it's slow progress I know but I am in no particular hurry and I have limited knowledge of what I am actually doing so I have to take my time and think things through to try to do things at least reasonably right...

2011: Post 42 – Continuing onward with the Disko Bay

Continued from previous post number 41..........

The butt joints in the chines and gunwales had 24 hours to cure.  So tonight I decided to put the frames and stringers together with tie-down straps to see the rough shape of my kayak...

Looking toward the stern

The gunwale butt joints will be just in front of the masik frame
(i.e just in front of the cockpit) and the joints in the chine
will sit behind the cockpit 

With the stringers tied to the frames I was able to cut the extra length off after deciding the locations of the joints. 

I had not joined the keel pieces but with the kayak frame laid out like it was I was able to figure out the rough length needed for the keel, decide where the join will be, and cut one of the 10 foot pieces so as to have a more managable length.  I removed the keel pieces and set them aside.  Then I decided to leave everything together and hung it from the floor joists so it is out of the way.

Frame hung from the ceiling (less the keel)

I then joined the pieces of the keel with a butt joint...

The joint in the keel strip will likely sit just in front of frame five
but once I figure out the shape of the bow stem it may end
up behind frame five.

I have to admit that after tying the frames and stringers together and seeing the shape of the kayak take form I am feeling a sense of accomplishment in this early stage of this project... 

2011: Post 41 – Some quenching of the Disko Fever

Continued from previous post number 38..........

Last weekend I made a trip to Home Depot to see if I could find some suitable pieces of cedar to use for stringers for my Disko bay SOF kayak.  After more than an hour of picking through the piles I found some pretty decent pieces that did not have many knots. I picked out a piece of 2x4x10 ft long to use for the gunwales and floor boards.  Then picked out one piece of 1-1/4x6 x 10 ft long to use for the chines, keel, and deck boards; this piece had very few knots and the ones it had were small.  For good measure I also picked up a piece of 1-1/4x6 x 8 ft long in case the 10 ft piece did not yield what I thought it might.

I had previously lined up Sean to rip my stringers for me.  Thanks Sean, but I was talking to my niece’s husband, Todd, who offered to rip my cedar for me on his table saw.  So yesterday I went to my nieces and in a very short amount of time Todd had cut my cedar for me.

Turned out the pieces I picked out worked out very well.  I sized everything up after the two ten foot pieces were ripped and it looked like I could get everything I needed out of them.  So I kept the 8 foot piece intact and brought it back home.  If I have not sized things up right I will just use it as needed and if I have figured things up right it will come in handy to use to make a laminated Greenland Paddle later.

Last night I laid out all the pieces of cedar and sized things up better with a measuring tape.  I decided which pieces to join for the stringers and marked them.

I had thought about scarfing the pieces together to make the lengths needed for the stringers but then decided against it.  I did some reading on the internet about scarfing and decided it was a lot easier (for me) to just butt join the pieces together.   Most things I read suggested using a 6 inch length of wood for the join, epoxy, and stainless steel screws or dowels.  I have a bottle of Gorilla glue on hand and decided to use that and I opted to use 8 inch lengths of wood for the join.

I have also been thinking that I may just lash the stringers to the frames.  I have been reading that this is quite sufficient (if done correctly) and that adding screws or dowels through the stringers into the frames is just adding bells and whistles.  Once everything is lashed than I will decide if I will add screws or dowels.  I have been thinking that if I decide to just go with the lashing I can put some lashing around the butt joins for extra strength; but I am thinking at the very least I will end up adding screws to the butt joints.  But all of that can be decided before the polyester skin goes on.

Speaking of polyester… I ordered some today from Kudzu Crafts along with a spool of 50# artificial sinew and a backband.  I expect I could make up a backband or back support but it was only $27.00 and it did not add anything to the cost of shipping.  While I am waiting for this stuff to show up I will pick away at things.   I have to make a strongback and secure frames one and six to it.  Then I can temporarily tie the stringers on and cut them to proper length.

Well, that’s a little more accomplished... actually it feels like a lot more accomplished.  I am now viewing this as a full blown project and not just an idea I have been toying with…

2011: Post 40 – How to solve a problem like Hurricane Maria

Hurricane Maria came through Newfoundland yesterday.  We figured the day after would not be fit for paddling but it would produce some fun at St. Philips.  The weather channel was calling for 55 km westerly wind, gusting to 70 km, for the morning.  So myself and Tony met before 10 am this morning and hit the water.

I took a bunch of pictures but since Tony was the only one there, other than myself, this blog entry will seem like a 'Homage to Tony'... Well, if he is the only one that would come along this morning than perhaps he deserves one... Yee haw, buddy!!

After our fun, while we were packing up our gear, three older ladies came over to us and told us how concerned they were for us out there.  They had been watching us and became worried when they lost site of us (I think we had paddled back in at that point) and so they all walked down to check on us.  I asked if they had planned to swim out to save us... They laughed, but they were not sure what they were gonna do, but I guess they felt they needed to see if we were okay.  It was very sweet of them, but kind of funny...

2011: Post 39 – A moonlight paddle

Last night the conditions were right for a moonlight paddle from St. Philips to Topsail Beach.  A healthy crew of ten paddlers showed up for the paddle but the main attraction - the moon - decided to not partake; it stayed hidden behind a cover of cloud.  But moon or not, we were intent on paddling...

I have paddled in the dark several times in the past and I have paddled from St. Philips to Topsail Beach many times, but for me paddling it at night was a first.  We had a good bit of fun and it was good to see a few paddlers show up that I have not paddled with, or even seen, for a while.

It's hard to get good pictures in the dark.  But here are some of the ones I took...

Stan

Sue

The last of the sun

Derrick and Gerard

Tony

Gary

Sean

Hazen

Gerard

Brian

I think it was about 10:30 pm when we got off the water... maybe just a little too late for some paddlers....

Thanks to all who showed up for this paddle.  It was great to see those of you that I have not paddled with for a while, and just as great to see those of you whom I paddle with on a frequent basis.