​Shop Visitors

[Guest]

I had the pleasure of hosting Chip and Willie in the shop a few days ago. Chip all too briefly; his allergy to things that looks like work kicked in and he had to vacate the premises. I had even cleaned and dusted the shop, just for him.

Willie brought up the oddest Mad River canoe ever made. A Legend 15.



What’s so weird about a Legend 15?

It isn’t actually a Legend, it’s a Horizon. Close, but a little shorter, a little shallower and a little less rocker. Close but no cigar. Apparently the guys at Mad River were having an off day back when they concurrently built both those two similar RX models (’06 – ’09), mistakenly slapped Legend decals on a Horizon and shipped it out that way.

But it gets weirder. It has IQII gunwales. It’s a one of a kind Legend-badged IQII Horizon. A mythical best, an allegedly Legendry Horizon. Bill was planning to drill the hull for float bag lacing, but I had some IQ stuff around that would eliminate that holey installation.

An IQ lash-in system. A boltroped length of webbing and daisy chain loops that slides into the IQ inwale channel, probably the simplest and handiest of the IQ accessories. That takes care of float bag and topside gear lashing on one stem.



An enclosed end bag that likewise slips into the inwale channel, and zips open to hold a float bag or gear. It needs zipper repair or adaptation, but it makes it really easy to insert a covered float bag

That takes care of the Legendary Horizon’s float bag outfitting. I like having covers over the float bags to keep out UV and debris, and even to leave the bags in place for local transport.



A partial spray cover that slides into the outwale channel. Fits either stem, tandem or bow backwards. That piece needed a little adaptation to make it fit securely at the tip of the deck plates for plunging into standing waves. I had previously added female snap rivets on that IQ spray cover, so it was a five minute job to install three male snap rivets at each stem. Plus an hour for Willie to mark and drill three 1/8 inch snap rivet holes. And then re-drill some of them correctly.





MRC was really having an off day sometime back in ’06-09. One inwale was missing two of the mid-ships channel openings to slide the boltrope accessories into place. I eventually found the long unused IQ spreader tool (hanging on the pegboard in plain sight) and sent that home with Willie for future use.

While we had the Legendary Horizon on the racks we added drain holes and painter bungies to the decks. That was another adventure in Willie Drilling, and his preferred methodology for stretching bungee and tying knots under a deck plate involved a pair of hemostats, three (yes a Goldilocks too big, too small, just right three) pairs of vice grips, two screwdrivers, a Handi-cut tool, multiple pliers and a request for a Marlinspike.

Looking at the tool selection I thought he was rebuilding a ’68 VW engine.



Willie wanted to install a couple Northwater Double D-rings. He had one back at Slacker Boatworx, I had one in the shop. Neither of us would be installing just one, and BMO is 600 miles less of a road trip for me. I’ll nab a couple more next trip for shop stock.

While I was purging stuff I sent the Mark 1.5 folding blue barrel tabletop home with Willie. I had him in mind when I built that one, and I know he’s a table guy. He did bring three tables on a Green River trip. heck, I’ll bet he had at least three along in his truck this visit.

This was not mere gifting from the altruistic goodness of my heart, some horse trading was in effect. Willie had a nice composite paddle he didn’t use anymore and I needed just one more to complete family decked canoe outfitting. Willie is a tough negotiator, and I had to throw in a replacement back up paddle (with custom carbon fiber tow and G/flex edging)

Good to see that paddle put to possible use; it was #5 on our family 4-pack selection and hadn’t been out of the basement in a few years.

That paddle trade provided opportunity for an experiment. The golf club labels as paddle and gear ID’s was a Willie idea. One of his best. Maybe his only.

http://www.canoetripping.net/forums...afety/32680-​contact-info-on-paddles-and-gear

My new stick sports a Willie lost-paddle ID. Nuh uh. I’ve never actually tried to remove one of those, and this seems like a fine time.

Willie opted for full contact info; name, address, two phone numbers; four lines of text on a full size label. Garish and gauche.



OK, that was worth the removal experiment. Those golf club labels are tenacious as heck and not coming off without some effort. A fresh razor blade and some acetone to clean the residue worked well. The labels on my new paddle are small and discrete, just my name and e-mail address, neither of which is likely to change.



While I had Willie’s barrel here we band sawed an inset minicel circle to cover that uncomfortable raised ridge on the lid top. That minicel piece brings the inset flush with the rim of the lid. The center circle leftover from the 30L tabletop under-ring donut will fit perfectly atop that for some extra lip raised cushion. More comfy and level than a naked barrel lid with a raised rim and center circle ridge.

This:



Or this:



I felt bad about Chip leaving empty handed, so I gave him a trash bag for the road. No reflection on the relative value of those two friendships.

 

[Guest]

Beverage holders.

While we were screwing around in the shop we made Willie a replacement coffee cup/canteen/beverage holder from a chunk of Wal-Mart yoga block. To replace the antique Mark 1 all wood version I gave him that floated off in a recent river ooops. That one was 30 years old, one of two ever made that way.

Center hole drilled and custom Dragonskinned to accommodate Willie’s preferred canteen or coffee cup.



Those were a good day trip accessory concept, even 30 years ago, before I discovered the wonders of minicel and made them out of solid wood.



The side slot is for a coffee cup handle. But those were way too heavy and way too much work to make. A minicel surround adds bocoup heat or cold retention and weighs much less, even with a stabilizing wood base and anti-slid rubber or neoprene glued on the bottom.

OK, I admit it, Willie has had two good ideas, those 3x6x9 inch blocks of minicel are right dang handy to have around. Where else can you buy that much 3 inch minicel for that price? Even if it smells like Grape soda.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Calm-Yoga-Blocks/55111267

What’ll ya have? Water, beer, coffee or Teflon Non-stick dry film lubricant?

 

[Chip]

Mike: Thanks for hosting the impromptu, in-lieu-of-paddling, shop day, or half-day as it turned out for me. A visit to Mike's shop is kind of like a trip on your local water. You've been there before, but it's always a little different. And, I'll treasure that trash bag!

I never knew what IQ gunwales were about, and always thought they sounded sort of unnecessary. But I really liked that float bag holder, the caging accessory, and the spray covers. Without knowing how they may have performed in the field, that system for holding on the spray cover looks unbeatable, and the covers go on in what? Two minutes. So, that was cool to see.

Where else you can buy mini cell at that price is Sweet Composites, but only if you can go down to Bethesda and get it, as the shipping is unreasonable. Eight dollars a square foot (and less if you buy more) beats Walmart's $10 for a 6"x9"--a third of a square foot--meaning you're paying $30 a square foot. Geez, after doing the arithmatic, maybe Sweet is cheaper even with the shipping. But, Willie being a Ravens fan and all, he'd probably gladly pay more for that purple foam.

I hear Willie picked up a boat in Pa. Perhaps another shop day when he is on the way south?

 

[Will Derness]

Willie opted for full contact info; name, address, two phone numbers; four lines of text on a full size label. Garish and gauche.................

The labels on my new paddle are small and discrete, just my name and e-mail address, neither of which is likely to change.



.

Looking at some of my paddles with golf labels that have been on for awhile, some of them get nicked over time. Lose a letter(s) or number(s) on a line and that may render the label useless.

My sense is that it is a false economy to save money on relatively inexpensive labels that serve as insurance for the honest guy to return your expensive paddle to you. Garish and gauche they may be, but there are multiple ways to get in touch with me on my label.

 

[Will Derness]

Oh, and many thanks for those IQ accessories, they are quite a nice addition.

 

[Guest]

Looking at some of my paddles with golf labels that have been on for awhile, some of them get nicked over time. Lose a letter(s) or number(s) on a line and that may render the label useless.

Good point. The two paddles I use most often, a carbon double and a wood single, show no wear on the labels. Some of the second and third choice paddles, despite less use, have a few nicks.

Ah ha, in the initial application experiment:

For experimental purposes I top coated one label each on a single and double half with clear enamel and left the other two blades with labels simply press and applied.

The two sticks I coated with clear enamel spray were fortuitously (or farsightedly) my two favorites.

I should have taken a second to phsisst some clear enamel on the other paddles when I labeled them, but once again I’m not as smart as I look.

I’m not pulling all those paddles out of the basement to clear spray the labels, but when I grab one to use that isn’t topcoat protected it only takes a second to grab mister bottle of alcohol and the can of clear enamel spray.

 

[Guest]

I never knew what IQ gunwales were about, and always thought they sounded sort of unnecessary. But I really liked that float bag holder, the caging accessory, and the spray covers. Without knowing how they may have performed in the field, that system for holding on the spray cover looks unbeatable, and the covers go on in what? Two minutes. So, that was cool to see.

Those pieces are the best of the IQ stuff, and I used them on a couple boats (hence some preexisting adaptation and snap rivets). They work very well in the field and I was happy to see Willie’s Legendary Horizon depart well dressed. The spray covers, slid for most of its length into the outwale channel, is pretty dang secure & watertight in place.

The waterproof zippered chine bag is a nice idea, but it will only fit in the (if not already occupied) inwale bow slot of a tandem. Which is good ‘cause it takes a bowman using both hands to open that waterproof zipper.

A lot of the IQ stuff was cunning, and useful. Some was cunning and not so useful. The IQ seat was really comfortable, one of the most ergonomic bucket seats ever, adjustable up/down and fore/aft, but kind of a PITA for a variety of reasons. I modified those seat attachments on one IQ canoe for better performance. Love the seat, but not how it was hung.

The initial version of the spray covers did not have a zipper like the later version Willie has. Those early covers were beyond a PITA to install in the outwale channel; a feat best accomplished by three people, one on each side of the hull to struggle at feeding & sliding the boltrope in, and one to hold the canoe in position. Adding the side zipper so the boltropes could be easily slid into place separately and then zipped closed made the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] generation cover much easier to install. To say nothing of unzipping the covers to extract gear from underneath.

The IQ stuff was a useful system, especially for folks who didn’t want to do traditional DIY outfitting, or who wanted the easy ability to switch from solo to tandem, float bags to gear or etc between trips.

I think the idea failed because the IQ accessory parts were pricey. That old MRC accessory program product binder we looked in listed the wholesale cost, retail at a 50% markup was a little ca-ching.

I like Willie’s idea of DIY sewing some additional boltroped lash-in daisy chains. Those things are awesome with an IQ system.