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20 foot freighter canoe

Well people, it's been a while and no progress. Went to Mexico at the beginning of February, and when I got back, I got a free helicopter ride from the Canadian government to the big city of Thunder Bay, where a very nice man put a long skinny thing in my arm and drove it all the way up to my heart and proceeded to inflate my arteries and stick a variety of stents into them so that I could continue this canoe build. Going back on Monday for some more "stenting", and then the build will continue.

Problem is I'm off work for a while, so I am going to attempt to bring the project home to my garage. Have to figure out how to heat the thing first. I wasn't really happy with the alignment of the forms anyway, so taking them off and reassembling them with a laser level will do my heart wonders.

Biggest concern is I've been ordered off the Spam, and bacon, and the magic elixir, Bud Lite. Building canoes is a pile of fun, but it is usually accompanied by some of the former vices, so I'll just have to be content drinking water and listening to CBC radio.

Hope to have the beast home in a couple of weeks, and then will start in ernest. I have recalculated the launch date now, thinking maybe the middle of July.
 
memaquay said:
Well people, it's been a while and no progress. Went to Mexico at the beginning of February, and when I got back, I got a free helicopter ride from the Canadian government to the big city of Thunder Bay, where a very nice man put a long skinny thing in my arm and drove it all the way up to my heart and proceeded to inflate my arteries and stick a variety of stents into them so that I could continue this canoe build. Going back on Monday for some more "stenting", and then the build will continue.

Problem is I'm off work for a while, so I am going to attempt to bring the project home to my garage. Have to figure out how to heat the thing first. I wasn't really happy with the alignment of the forms anyway, so taking them off and reassembling them with a laser level will do my heart wonders.

Biggest concern is I've been ordered off the Spam, and bacon, and the magic elixir, Bud Lite. Building canoes is a pile of fun, but it is usually accompanied by some of the former vices, so I'll just have to be content drinking water and listening to CBC radio.

Hope to have the beast home in a couple of weeks, and then will start in ernest. I have recalculated the launch date now, thinking maybe the middle of July.
Click to expand...

There might be worse places for doctors to stick things, but let's not get into that. Glad they're doing an A-1 patch job on your worrisome wood and canvas body Memequay. Heal well my friend. The 20 footer can wait. And don't worry about all that Spam, bacon and "beer" going to waste. It doesn't spoil, does it? It'll keep for when some friends come by to help you with all that lard in the larder. (Meaning me.) What are friends for anyway? And sipping water listening to CBC is an acquired taste I highly recommend, although you really should get into tea. A friend just brought back some from his trip to Borneo. Great stuff, though I don't have the heart to tell him it tastes like Red Rose. A connoisseur I am not.
Anyway, relax, practise being a good boy for a change, and get better. July will take care of itself. Don't make me come up there and sort things out.
 
Stapling strips again !
North West canoe sells those Plastic staples, and the gun to use. With your thicker strips, they might be the ticket ! The staples are broken, when you tap on the forms, and your holes are filled with the left over staple.

And then an idea I was told about years ago, was to cut strips of plastic from gallon milk jugs, hold these in place over where you intend to drive the staple. The idea was that you could lift up the plastic strips, and pull out the staples. I never tried, but an idea . Probably won't work in your case.

It might save a lot of strip bruising if you used a much longer staple, and adjusted the driving force of the gun, to leave the top of the staple way proud of the strip ! No bruising, and easier to get a hold of to pull out !

Glad someone is back building canoes !!!

Jim
 
That's pretty tough luck there, Mem. At least your heart was kind enough to wait until you got back from Mexico. But it makes me wonder what you saw and did down there?

Brad's right. Sitting around listening to CBC is just fine but you need to do it with tea, and not the Long Island variety either. Bonus points if you wear a cardigan.

I hope your recovery period goes well and that you're able to transition into your new diet. It's gotta be tough but soon your taste buds will adjust. There's a lot of good tasting healthy food out there. Sure hope to see you come out of this a lean mean canoeing machine.

Will be thinking of you.

Alan
 
WHOA I missed your post Mem !

Definitely take care ! !

Some guys will do anything to get a little Building Time !

Jim
 
I've been doing some thinking about stapling, etc. I think I will use part of Jim's idea, and pre-cut a bunch of plastic pieces from laundry detergent jugs (our milk comes in Bags, it's an Ontario thing), and pre-drill a small hole in them. Then I'm going to try a very small wood screw, like a number 4 or something. If the holes look to big afterwards, I'll just fill them. That's the plan for now, but I'm still probably a month of from starting. I'll play with a few different things once I start. I like the idea of screws because they will be very easy and fast to take out, and after I strip up a little ways, I can just unscrew them and use them again.
 
this is a slow way to do it but it does work. When you make your forms, use the router to cut a slot about a half in inch in from the edge all the way round. When you lay a strip on the form you use a little sping clamp, in the groove, to hold the strip down to the form. One per station. It takes a while to dry so you can put the next one on but it is actually not all that tedious. In the past we have used chunks of dowel in the cove and masking tape to the previous strip with a few clamps to hold them down. You can put like 2-3 strips on that way and use the dowel and tape on the last one to hold them all together then some clamps to hold it to the form.

That is how we did the Bruiser.
 
Having spent the last 3 decades or so filling holes and sanding etc I really like the idea of a stapleless build. That would mean slow days listening to the radio and a steaming cuppa tea, one strip fiddley fitted at a time...but that may suit your new lifestyle. No tongue in cheek intended, I really like that kinda slow news day myself. You'll get used to it. Maybe you'll let your hair grow long like me, tune out and turn on to...a slower pace of life. Best wishes. Show us occasional photo reminders of where this build has and hasn't got to so far. It'll all be good. Not a lot has to happen to stay in touch. I love Shop Reports.
 
Ha ha, only time I drink Guinness is as an ingredient in an Irish Car Bomb, which I would probably be drinking tonight as a tribute to my Irish roots, except I'm too busy making sure half my plate is full of vegetables, and the other half full of regret, lol.

I like the way they thought in the 50's and 60's, you could eat, drink and smoke yourself to death with no worries. When I first arrived in Geraldton around 30 years ago, it was like I had been transported back to the 50's. Kids played freely all over town, parents weren't worried about Satanistic abduction cults, everyone smoked, we even smoked in the staff lounge at school, lol.

In this modern age, the thought of a stapleless build is as appealing as the oatmeal I have eaten every morning for the last month.

Bring back bacon and eggs, cigarettes and whiskey, fast canoe builds and fast women, gosh darnit! I'm gonna build this canoe so fast and so ugly, that I'm gonna change its name to Fugly, and me and my mighty six horse are going to blaze off into the sunset, with a cigarette burning and an Irish Car Bomb scorching down my throat.

P.S. Anyone got any good recipes for broccoli?
 
I'm gonna build this canoe so fast and so ugly, that I'm gonna change its name to Fugly,
Click to expand...

heck yeah! Over compensation is the only way to go.

I wasn't really worried about you going stapleless but, just in case, I was already working on getting a new passport to hold an intervention.

This is a good, hearty, and easy recipe: https://smittenkitchen.com/2013/07/one-pan-farro-with-tomatoes/

Farro can be tough to find in the sticks but sometimes wheat berries aren't. Essentially the same thing. Wheat berries often have longer cooking times (just read the package).

I like farro because it keeps its texture and adds some chew to a dish.

Alan
 
Ok Alan, never having been in G Town, you get a pass for submitting that recipe. Broccoli is an exotic vegetable in G Town, and although I have heard that it is green, most of ours is an off brown. The only ancient grains we have around here are found at the legion, under the carpet, in the form of 70 year old spilled beer. So Farro is a no go, plus I'm off the carbs, except for oatmeal. When I post a picture of myself in the new freighter, you guys are gonna wonder how I got Brad Pitt to pose in my canoe (I hear he's a relative of Paddlin Pitt).

Well, I'm gonna pour a big glass of perrier water and snack on some snap peas, and look on line for a new walking companion, of the four legged variety, even though my wife says no, I figure now is the time to get a new Rover for my new boat.

What's that farro stuff taste like anyway? Dirt? Can you buy it on amazon?
 
Mem, It's really about achieving balance in life. You can eat all the bacon and spam you want. You just have to run a marathon once a day to burn it off. Keep that heart pumping so that grease gets pumped on through. I also recommend lots of salt to keep the blood pressure up. It's like pressure washing from the inside. Find balance and you'll be fine. Dave
 
, Mem Dude, I'm tellin' ya. Green tea and CBC.

cbcdude&tea.jpg - Click image for larger version Name: cbcdude&tea.jpg Views: 1 Size: 72.3 KB ID: 90877

Save all the bacon, broccoli and beer for the "fishing trips".
 
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Mem, something just occurred to me as I was making an ice cream run to the convenience store. You were all kinds of fit and trim and even svelte. Yes folks,,, svelte. That is till you started motoring around the lakes in your square stern. Maybe you need to build a portage yolk for the 20 footer and start porting and paddling again. heck, make it square on both ends, you'll get a better workout. Glad I could help. Dave
 
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