Here are som photos of my canoe launch this last Saturday. I am working on some video will post it when it is finished. It paddles like a dream, very quiet and almost no wake. :)
(http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff296/Sonshine777_Canoes/ReadyforLaunch.jpg)
Ready for Launch
(http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff296/Sonshine777_Canoes/Wereoff.jpg)
We're Off
(http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff296/Sonshine777_Canoes/RunSilentRunSmooth.jpg)
Run Silent Run Smooth.
These were form eariler.
(http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff296/Sonshine777_Canoes/Matisse.jpg)
(http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff296/Sonshine777_Canoes/CanoeReflection.jpg)
Beautiful! That is one canoe, and it looks like it's worth every minute and every ounce of energy you put into it. I feel deprived now, because the only canoe I've ever used extensively was this hulking metal beast up at the old cabin in Minnesota ;).
My other canoe is an 18' aluminum Grumman, which I have had for 20+ years. So I know what you are talking about, the difference between the two is like night and day.
55lbs as opposed to 80lbs
Quiet (silent) as opposed to hearing everything around through the hull
Turns on a dime as opposed to turning like a barge.
I am anticipating many good trips in this one
Oh! I forgot Beautiful as opposed to ugly.
Looks beautiful! I wish I could be there now. So calm and silent.
O my gosh! How beautiful is that! Great job on the canoe and looks like fun.
Wonderful job, I'm really happy it work out. Did you make it from scratch or was it part of a kit? (might have missed it from the old thread)
Quote from: Will on August 28, 2007, 03:01:44 PM
Wonderful job, I'm really happy it work out. Did you make it from scratch or was it part of a kit? (might have missed it from the old thread)
Thanks, I made it from scratch using a set of plans bought from Bear Mountain Boats http://www.bearmountainboats.com/15-0ProspectorRanger.htm
I did make some changes in the deck area because I wanted to have some dry storage in the bow and stern.
Beautiful craftsmanship there, you have a fine craft and a great skill. :)
Happy canoing
Richard
Its a masterpiece! Very nice!
That's beautiful!
So I can't help but notice a certain look of ... apprehension? on your passengers face in the 3rd pic.
;D
Quote from: Harvey Birdman on August 29, 2007, 03:44:32 AM
That's beautiful!
So I can't help but notice a certain look of ... apprehension? on your passengers face in the 3rd pic.
;D
She actually has her hands on her knees which is how she sits when not paddling. But I see what you mean.
Heres the video of the maiden voyage. I gave my wife Denise and her parents rides, and then took my daughter Heidi for a spin up Lacamas creek a ways.
(http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff296/Sonshine777_Canoes/th_Canoe_Launch2.jpg) (http://s236.photobucket.com/albums/ff296/Sonshine777_Canoes/?action=view¤t=Canoe_Launch2.flv)
Enjoy
Hi Sonshine,
That's a really nice looking canoe. Before I became a software developer I was actually a boatbuilder, it's what I trained in after school aside from the fact I'd been building and working on my own boats for years. I was particularly interested in traditional wooden boatbuilding, and wood/epoxy, and worked in that for a bit but I ended up working on "high tech" composite performance yachts. I haven't built a canoe as such, but I have built a strip cedar plug for a composite kayak mould. Basically similar to your canoe except I didn't have to clean up the inside and the outside ended up covered in bog and high build primer, so not quite to the same standard of finish :-). I had to leave the boatbuilding industry due to health problems, which has also prevented me from finishing building my two racing dinghies.
I've actually bought a couple of sit-on-top kayaks recently. They're just plastic ones, but that's the most practical for my needs. I've already hit one rock in a river so hard broadsides I would have holed a wooden one :-). I also have some pictures from the launching day, but it isn't quite the same feeling when it's not something you built :-). I've attached one of the shots, one of the few extant pictures of me on the internet ;-).
Happy paddling :-).
Regards,
Jo
I though the idea of sitting in the back was so that the person in front couldn't see that you not paddling ;) That's one very nice canoe
I drag my seak kayak places where it's not always supposed to go...
http://www.path.unimelb.edu.au/~bernardk/victoria/virtual/vr/barmah.html (http://www.path.unimelb.edu.au/~bernardk/victoria/virtual/vr/barmah.html)
Got snagged once between 3 trees trying to squeeze through a narrow gap... and at 5.2m it doesn't turn too well in grade 2 rapids ;)
Jo- Tanks for the compliment, its always interesting to see how peoples passions, professions and hobbies cross
sometimes.
Ben- Love your panoramas, and yes I do most of the paddling, for me it is part of the fun of having a canoe, and
also a great way to get some exercise while I'm at it.
Hi Ben,
Quote from: bigben on August 29, 2007, 09:35:35 PM
Got snagged once between 3 trees trying to squeeze through a narrow gap... and at 5.2m it doesn't turn too well in grade 2 rapids ;)
First day I took mine out on a river ( also a grade 2 but very tame at this time of the year ) I came down through a riffle, didn't quite steer hard enough to port and ended up wedged in a willow. It had these three branches sticking out into the river, I managed to slot in between them so I had two branches underneath and one on top. It was gripping me sort of like one of those claw things you use to hold test tubes :-). It took a fair bit of gymnastics to get out. My brother was having fits of laughter, but I thought I did pretty well to extricate myself without going in :-). My kayak is only 4m, but it isn't super maneuverable.
Regards,
Jo
jo - Any pictures?
Hi Calico,
Quote from: calico on August 30, 2007, 08:32:57 AM
jo - Any pictures?
Any pictures of me stuck in the branches? Happily not ;-). My brother says he wish he had a video camera so he could have posted it on the web...
Regards,
Jo
Most excelent. It looks beautiful. You must be so pleased especially after having built it yourself. I love wood... and from the pics in this thread it just makes you want to run your hands over it.... ;D
Quote from: mr-miley on September 04, 2007, 10:22:16 AM
Most excelent. It looks beautiful. You must be so pleased especially after having built it yourself. I love wood... and from the pics in this thread it just makes you want to run your hands over it.... ;D
I does bring on a sense of accomplishment, and most people who have looked at it, do run their hands over it. :)