Freedom 17 Strip build

[wysedav]

Officially done!! Now i just need to get it in the water. WT. 40# on the nose as setup in the pictures. A few observations for the next person building one, the gunwales are a little light, the boat is more flexible than i would like. I used redwood about 1 1/8" across the top and about 7/8" deep. My center thwart was too wimpy as well. It was made from 1 1/8" x 1" redwood. I had to reinforce with fiberglass to improve the stiffness. The sides are made with 1/8"+ strips, which I think I'd bump to 3/16" just so I won't have to worry about it, probably OK as is though.

Here are the final pictures..

 

[gerrit]

Wysedav, did you have this beauty out on the water already? Very impressive build, looks great. I am really curious about your impressions!

 

[Alan Gage]

Looks fantastic and nice weight. Those contrasting decks are sharp! Curious to hear how it performs on the water.

Very nice work.

Alan

 

[wysedav]

Thanks, i did take it out for an hour or so last weekend. I went out with my wife and threw two of my kids in as ballast. Wife was scared to death as it's a little twitchy especially with my daughter who has a hard time keeping still. For me it felt a little twitchy also but I think it was because I was afraid of what would happen f we tipped. I'm used to sea kayaks with hard chines which have really good initial stability so I'm guessing that's really why I think it feels twitchy. Seems to turn well but that could be because the bow was running a little high (wife needs to put on some wt). I'll give a better report after I put in some more paddling time.

The water based top coat I was using doesn't seem to be such a good idea. It turned a chalky white after I used it. I think it should cleanup easy and then I'll just recoat with spar varnish.

 

[Alan Gage]

The water based top coat I was using doesn't seem to be such a good idea. It turned a chalky white after I used it. I think it should cleanup easy and then I'll just recoat with spar varnish.

That's good to know. Did it stay white or go back to normal after drying out? The water based spar I put on 'Bloodvein' still turns that milky color when it gets really wet but apparently the varnish is still there as it still changes color. Within 15 minutes of drying off it's back to clear again.

System 3 WR-LPU is another water based option that seems to be doing well for others. I used it on the outside of one boat but have hardly paddled it since so can't comment on how it holds up. It's sprayable and dries quickly. I'll be giving it another shot.

Alan

 

[gerrit]

Wife was scared to death as it's a little twitchy especially with my daughter who has a hard time keeping still..

Did you sit or kneel? If you prefer sitting, lowering the seats a bit might help.

 

[wysedav]

my wife and I took another short trip today and although the bow is riding a little high we both agree that it felt much more comfortable. I think it might have been my daughter that caused the twitches. I think the boat paddles really well. I have very good control from the back. Easy to keep it straight or turn whatever I want. With a full sweep I can get the boat to turn more than 90 degrees. And it's so much faster than what I've used in the past. Pretty happy except that I have to refinish it.

 

[wysedav]

I put the seats about as low as I could I have about an 8" gap below the frame.

 

[wysedav]

No Title

 

[wysedav]

With the great December weather we've been having I've been trying nag to get out on the water. Well the stars aligned and last Sunday my brother and I got out in our local river. It all was going beautifully when disaster struck.

My brother was in the back, I was in the front and we were cruising along the twists and turns of this river when we crashed pretty hard head on into a stump. The canoe stopped instantly and I didn't. My inertia carried my load forward hard and I broke the seat which in turn broke the mounting cleat. The hull survived without any damage other than the cleat.

Being cheap I tend to use whatever I have on hand when building. The seats were made out of Rdwood, not a great idea! Anyways for future reference, 1 1/4 x 1" for a 30" span isn't good enough. Here's a picture of the damage.

 

[memaquay]

Beautiful canoe! Too bad about the seat, but it looks like an easy fix.

 

[wysedav]

If Rippy had finished my knife I would have been able to carve a new seat on site!

 

[memaquay]

Ha Ha, or you could have brought some Spam and used it as an impromptu glue!

 

[stripperguy]

I think nothing changes, except for the pages on the calendar...
Here's MDB in 1985, showing off my "superior" design efforts. This was the maiden voyage in my future favorite tandem (17 ft, 38 lbs, fast). And we didn't even hit a stump!! She was leaning back to grab the binoculars and SNAP!

 

[wysedav]

That's funny. I always end up trying building my way and at least half the time I realize it would have been a lot easier/cheaper/smarter just building the normal way. Oh well, the more mistakes I make the smarter I get!

 

[Alan Gage]

I always end up trying building my way and at least half the time I realize it would have been a lot easier/cheaper/smarter just building the normal way.

Where's the fun in that?

Alan

 

[Jim Dodd]

I think nothing changes, except for the pages on the calendar...
Here's MDB in 1985, showing off my "superior" design efforts. This was the maiden voyage in my future favorite tandem (17 ft, 38 lbs, fast). And we didn't even hit a stump!! She was leaning back to grab the binoculars and SNAP!



At least the snow shoe cord held up !
I over build my frames out of ash, as I've seen that happen to a friends Cherry seat, in the BWCA.

Jim

 

[wysedav]

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Well for a while I've been surviving with my front canoe seat being a milk crate. Since I finally finished my 15' solo and I have some time to rebuild the seat. First thing is to peel off the old broken cleats. I stark with a chisel and once I get close to the hull I switched to heat and a scraper.

 

[wysedav]

I also have another repair to do. The scarf failed over the winter. I plan to just glue it back up with titebond and cover with some 4 oz cloth.

 

[wysedav]

No Title

The last thing is to sand and revarnish. I sprayed on some water based finish and it turned white when I got it wet.