Look What We Did to Our Nice Canoes

Boys Trip 2006 035
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

Per our tradition, we took our boys trip over Memorial Day weekend. For several years we have been travelling staying in Nicolette Forest in northease Wisconsin, for a few days of whitewater kayaking. This year, we decided to get back to our roots and do some canoeing. Greg and I took things a step further, and rigged up the Nice Canoes we built a couple of years ago as a makeshift catamaran. Greg, being engineer-boy, calculated the dimensions, measured the sail, and determined where to put the various parts. It worked surprisingly well -- for one day. The boat was structurally sound, but anything that directly related to the sailing aspect was woefully under-engineered. Stay tuned for the complete story... its quite a ride.

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Quick Heating and Quick Cooling

Heating the Glass Close-Up
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

As mentioned in the last entry, we used a heat gun to heat up the stiff fiberglass, and soften the epoxy. Immediately upon softening, we laid a cool metal weight on top of the newly-softened fiberglass. This helped the fiberglass lay flat as it should.

As we went, we learned that we could run the heat gun in front of the weight, which would heat the fiberglass and epoxy, and we could immediately slide a weight behind the heated area. this would ensure the area would lay flat. Ive gotta say, it was a pretty clever trick.

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An Answer to our Glassing Problem

Heating the Glass I
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

We ("we" being Greg for the most part) thought about possible solutions for our problem on how to get the partially-wetted fiberglass to properly adhere to the hull. After a week or so, Greg found the answer. We used a heat gun and softened the epoxy in the areas where the fiberglass was bubbled up from the hull.

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Our Annual Diversion

You may recall from a post I made around this time last year that a couple of friends and I make a yearly boys trip, which consists of canoeing, kayaking, camping and whatnot. (Whatnot = drinking) Last weekend we had our 2007 trip.

This years trip took place on the Namekagon River in Western Wisconsin, and it was one of the best trips yet. The current was smooth but fast in the beginning, with a surface so calm that you could see reflections of the foliage off of the river in certain places. The air temperature was a few degrees cooler than in my neck of the woods, but it was still comfortable. The water temperature was also cool, but not frigid. We had a short downpour the first day... a warm spring rain. The water was clear enough to see the bottom and we had some mild rapids on our last day. 2007 will undoubtedly go down in history as one of our best trips ever. Over the next few days, Ill post some of the highlights.

For those of you who cant wait, heres a slideshow of the trip.

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The Outside of the Hull is Glassed!

We reached another major milestone yesterday... we finished glassing the exterior of the hull. Now were on to the long task of fairing and sanding. Based on our current pace, I expect this to take about three months.

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How We Did It

Boys Trip 2006 055
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

Our construction process was precise yet simple. Engineer-boy took the measurements and did the conversion mainly with things he already had laying around his garage... plywood, 2x4s, wooden dowels, ratchet straps, hose clamps, lag bolts and so forth. About the only parts he needed to buy were the flagpole that we used for the mast, and the tarp that he cut to the shape of a sail.

When we got to the reservoir, we spent the first two hours or so assembling the catamaran. By the time we finished the construction, got to camp, set up the tent and ate, it was time to go to bed. Additionally, the maiden voyage from the landing to the island occurred on a day with almost no wind. We were able to make our way to the island, but it was slow going. Our real test would have to wait for another day.

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Back to our Regularly Scheduled Program

We laid some more glass yesterday, but Im going to digress a bit.

You may remember in an earlier post that we had a couple of spots where the fiberglass didnt adhere to the plywood. Our initial plan was to drill small holes in these areas and fill them with epoxy. Greg changed his mind. Instead, he cut out these areas with a knife, and filled it with a mixture of epoxy and fiberglass filler. My camera batteries were dead, so I dont have any pics of this, but I will attempt to get some pics posted soon.

After the fiberglass filling, we did a little last-minute sanding, and laid fiberglass on one side. Weve now got about two-thirds of the exterior completely fiberglassed. We still have one side, and both transoms to do, but that should go relatively quick. Of course Ill post pictures.

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A Significant Setback on our way to a Major Milestone

Glassing the Hull 012
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

We ran out of epoxy. Between applying the base coat to the bare wood, and the bonding coat that bonds the glass cloth to the hull, we went through well over three gallons of epoxy.

This could have some major unintended side effects for us, but Im not sure yet.

The front half of the boat is fine. Im not so sure about the back half. Greg thinks that we can just get more epoxy and continue where we left off. Im concerned that well need to rip up the cloth that didnt get bonded and reapply the cloth. Heres what Im thinking...

Weve got the base layer of epoxy applied to the bare wood. Its also ever-so-slightly bonding the fiberglass cloth to the hull. But Im concerned that its not quite right. Im going to ask Jacques over at the boat forum and get his input. Ill let you know when I get the answer.

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We Re Interrupt this Program

Shower Repair 8
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

For an update on my shower repair. You may notice that my last update on this was in Mid-December. Since then I have had precious little time to work on the shower, and when I did work on it, the progress was slower for various reasons...

The patch job still isnt re-grouted and re-sealed, but thatll come in the next couple of days. And of course, its not perfect, but its designed to be a semi-permanent patch job, not a total reworking.

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A Stroke of Luck

Heres the answer from bateau about our epoxy problem.

---Begin Original Text---
If you can get it to wet out, there should not be any problems. The larger white areas are going to be easy, its the spots that have been half way wetted out that will be diffucult to make right - you will have to really work the epoxy into the glass to wet out the dry fibers.
---End Original Text---

They asked for some close-up pics of the area where we had run out of epoxy, (here are links to the pictures 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) they talked among themselves, and the concensus was that we could probably do it, but it would take work.
Note: These pics are very large. Theyll take a minute or so with broadband. If youre using dial-up, make lunch while you wait for the downloads.

Hey, I can handle a little extra work. I was concerned that wed have to cut the cloth, toss out the stuff that wasnt epoxied thoroughly, sand down the transition area, and relay the back section; which would have cost us several extra hours of work and about $50 to $100 in extra fiberglass.

Greg came to the conclusion that we really did have enough epoxy for the job, but we used a grout float instead of a squeegee when we applied the epoxy. After looking at the boat, theres little doubt in my mind that hes right. I agreed with his assessment when I saw how much epoxy had run down the side of the boat. Using a squeegee was easier and faster, but it cost us extra in the long run. Greg had to buy more epoxy than originally anticipated, and its going to cost us a little extra work. I wouldnt disrecommend using a grout float for the big jobs; in fact Id still recommend it. But I would also highly suggest that you double your estimate when you consider how much epoxy youll need for the job. The worst that will happen is that you end up with extra epoxy, which can be used on your next job.

As usual, Ill take more pictures (heck, maybe Ill do a video... were about due for one) and update you on the progress.

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