2011: Post 55 – Skinning of the Disko Bay

Continued from post 53…

It was windy today.  Not really fit to get on the water but might have been a good day to play in St. Philips.  I decided to spent the day skinning my Disko frame. 

I  started at about 9 am this morning.  First I turned the frame over and draped the polyester over it...

I added a few clamps to keep the polyester in place...

Then flipped her back over...

I was going to buy a couple hemostats but decided to be Sean-ish and made up a couple with some needle nose pliers and some bungee.  It worked very well.  I also ran a string from bow to stern to use as a guide to help me keep the stitching straight... 

I decided to stitch the back first for the practice.  I figured by the time I finished stitching the back I would be able to do a better job on the front...  I think the back worked out pretty well just the same, except the string did not help as my stitch was off centered....

There is some wrinkling in the bow and stern but this should come out once I use an iron to shrink the polyester...

stern

bow

It was hard to keep the stitching centered and straight, but all things considered, I was pleased with how things turned out...

In the above picture you can see I had previously cut away most of the extra fabric as I was doing the stitching.  But I still needed to cut the excess off.  I clamped a couple pieces of 1.5 inch wide pieces of leftover wood strips.  They served as a guide as I trimmed off the excess with a utility knife.  Before removing the clamps and wood strips I used a Bic lighter to melt the polyester strands.  This seems to have worked well enough, but I would have liked to of had a hot-knife to do a neat job of it...

At about 8 pm I finished the trimming.  I had been at it all day, off and on, and my fingers were sore so I decided to give it up for the day.  

This is how I left things with the stitching...

looking toward the stern

looking toward the bow

Sally, our cat, was hanging around at this point and I did not like the way she was sizing up the skinned Disko sitting on the floor.  I think she was just waiting for me to leave so she could use it as a scratch-board, or maybe crawl inside for a nap in the bow or stern!!  So I decided to hang it up from the floor joists again until I can finish the stitching next week.... we are planning a little paddle tomorrow...

2011: Post 54 – Remembering

Today is Remembrance Day.   I do not have a strong affiliation with the military but I have had some friends and family members who served for a time.  I do take some time to try to think about people who died in long ago wars and those who have died in recent times.  The question always comes to my mind if these people died in vain or if there was purpose to their death.  And then there are those who served and suffered injuries of the body, while others are inflicted with injuries of the mind from seeing things many of us cannot imagine.  It must be difficult to have witnessed battle horrors and then to have to live with the memories every day for the rest of your life.   I do not have the answers and I do not try to find the answers, but I do take time to remember and to think about these things not just on this day, but especially on this day...

Tony and I left St. Philips, paddled to Topsail Beach, had a little break, and then returned with the wind in our back.

Here are some pics from this morning’s remembrance paddle…

Today we remember and today we paddled.  I know that some may think that paddling, or doing other things, today is disrespectful.   But to me paddling is a quasi-religious experience.  It allows me to get closer to what I perceive my God to be.  So for me paddling in remembrance of our soldiers, fallen or living, is the best way for me to show reverence...

I hope everyone took a little time today to remember.

2011: Post 53 – Sparring with my Disko

Continued from Post 51….

This past week my efforts on the Disko were to get a couple coats of protection on the wood.   Originally I was going to use Danish oil but I did not want to use it in the house after reading the warnings on the can.  I had talked to Sean and he told me he used something called spar urethane on his.  I made a trip to Home Depot to see what they had there.  I found the spar urethane (Minwax brand) and I checked the can; it said it had UV protection and oils in it that would allow it to expand and contract with the wood from temperature changes… seemed like good stuff for the purpose. 

So each night I did a little bit at a time and over the week I had applied two coats to everything.  I did the application in the storage room… I closed the door and opened the window.  I turned on a little ceramic heater to get the air temp up to help with the drying time.  I also set up a fan to force the movement of air toward the window in order to minimize the fumes from coming into the house.  I would have preferred to do this outside but this time of year it is just about dark by the time I get home and it is cooler now.

I just finished putting the last of the urethane on the frame itself and a third coat on the coaming and toggles as these will be more exposed to the elements....

the wood really darkens up with the urethane...

floor boards...

coaming and toggles with a third coat....

I’ll let things dry for a full day now… maybe I’ll get to start skinning next week… 

2011: Post 52 – Another play day

We had a good bit of wind again this weekend so we did not paddle.  But this afternoon the wind was forecasted to be 45 kilometers from the west – the same as last weekend when Tony, Des, and I played in St. Philips (see post 50). 

We did a repeat of last weekend but this time Tony, Des, and I had a lot more company.  It was a lot of fun and I was glad to see such a good turnout considering it was windy, the water temperature was 6 C (Tony brought his thermometer to check), and the air temperature was about the same as the water per the gauge on my car…

When I pulled into the cove, about a half-hour early, our old buddy Stan was already on the water.  He must have been busting with excitement and had to get on the water early… He later told me the last time he paddled was when we did a night paddle from St. Philips to Topsail Beach; I checked my log book and that was September 13!  Des showed up before I got on the water and helped me with my kayak.  I hit the water and then other people started showing up, paddling out to join in the fun of the wind and waves….  We had a total of nine participants this afternoon.

I have to admit that kayak playtime, and paddling in general, is a whole lot more fun with a bunch of paddlers…

Some pics to share….

Most of us went to the near-by restaurant for coffee after.  The lady there had it ready when we came in, as is usually the case when she sees us playing in the cove.

Thanks to those who came out.  It was great fun and great to see those I have not seen in a little while.

2011: Post 51 – Freedom for the Disko Bay

Continued from Post 49…

Sean had suggested some time ago that I remove the frame from the strongback to ensure that the keel was not hogging (see Post 46).  But I just had faith that it would not hog and had left it on the strongback until I had all the deck stringers in place and had epoxied the bottom ring of the cockpit in place.  Early this past week I decided it was time to set the Disko free.

While singing (in my mind only) snippets of “I want to break free” I removed the screws holding the first and last frames in place and set the frame on the basement floor. 

I checked the bow… 

I checked the stern…

Yeah!  Positive rocker.

Later, I set to work drilling holes through the gunwales and backer plates.  Then I did a dry-run of putting the lines in place in front and behind the cockpit.  I draped a towel over the frame to simulate the skin being in place and then inserted and pulled the lines through the holes from inside the kayak.  It worked out pretty well. 

I am using ¼ inch bungee cord in front of the cockpit...

...and ¼ inch reflective deck line behind the cockpit and, of course, for the bow and stern...

I had earlier screwed the backband to the coaming to try it for fit.  I think it will work out just fine with some adjusting and am glad I made the decision to spend the few extra dollars for it…

I sawed off the excess plywood sticking below the keel and sanded things smooth and I made some wood toggles that the deck lines will run through... 

I wanted to put a couple coats of Danish oil on the frame before this weekend.  Someone had given me a can of it a while ago and I checked the warnings on the label…   do not breathe fumes… wear an organic vapour respirator… After reading the can I decided this was not something I wanted to do in the house.  I would have to wait for a decent day on a weekend to do it outside.  This might not happen in November, not around here anyway.  I will have to wait and see.

So I decided to hang the frame from the joists.  At least now it is up out of the way…

Well that is where things sit, or hang, for the time being... 

2011: Post 50 – A play day

Yesterday the wind was forcasted to be 45 kilometers from the west, gusting higher at times, temperature 6 or 7 C.  So we headed to St. Philips to play in the waves and wind.  I got there a little early but Tony soon joined me on the water.  Then Des showed up another little while later to round us out to three...

In my mind, three kayakers is the minimum number that I like to see on a paddle or when just playing around in the waves.  When there are only two paddlers each has to completely depend on the other if they swim or the need arises to have to be towed, or something else goes awry.  But a third person, especially when the third person is a very experienced paddler, adds a much higher level of safety...

Anyway, here are a few pics from yesterday...

Lookinf toward Bell Island

Des

Tony

Towards the end of our play time we seen Stan standing at the end of the pier taking a few pictures of us; we haven't seen much of him this year as he has been busy with other things in life...  you can check out his blog here.

Of course, as is usually the case, we all went for coffee afterwards.