Carry on Camping and Canoe building - Friday

At half eight in the morning we met up with Dan and Kenny from Orca Adventures at the Strickland Arms who we followed up to the farm, that we would never have found otherwise, where we would spend the next four days in a barn building our canoes.

 

After some brief introductions and a brew we began cutting out the various sections of our canoe with what would turn out to be the worlds bluntest saw, a nail file would have made a quicker impression on the plywood than our saw did.

 

After about half an hour or so we got another saw and progress increased dramatically.  If I was doing this course again, I would probably take more of my own tools, for my own comfort and the knowledge that they would do the job I wanted them too.  However, in saying that; only the sharpness of that saw and the countersink bits could really be complained about as the planes and drills were all perfectly usable.

 

 After lots of sawing
 

 

 

And lots of planning and sanding....

We had the sections of wood required to make the sides of the canoe.  Each of these sections was connected to the temporary frame by screwing though the plywood to hold little blocks in place (as can be seen in the photo below left) and the two opposite sections were cable tied together to start to form the shape of the canoe.

 



 As each layer was added to the canoe it became more canoe like and more worrying to look at as each section flopped and wobbled and all we could see was the huge gaps between the panels.

 Once the panels were in place small copper screws were inserted into the top board about half an inch from the top, and (very) roughly ten inches apart.

 

From each screw we ran a cord down and under the hull of the canoe then up the other side.  When this cord was pulled tight and tied the gaps between the boards were dramatically reduced from gaping chasms that a child or dog could fall through, never to be seen again to much smaller chasms that you would only lose something much smaller through.

 

With the reduction in the size gaps there was an equal reduction in the amount of stress that I felt towards the build.

Now we had something that remotely looked like a canoe, it was time to start gluing it together.

 

Firstly Jon and I filled the bow and stern with a mixture of resin and flour to create a strong bond.  Neither end was pretty but it seemed to work.

 

While we were doing this Susan and Aaron initially, and later with the help (hindrance) of Jon and I, began to tape the seams of the canoe.

 

Taping the seams is done by firstly applying a thin layer of resin to the wood across the joint where two planks meet.  Once this has been achieved a ribbon of glass fibre tape is applied to the wet resin.  The wet resin will then begin to bond to both the plywood and the glass tape creating a strong bond that will eventually hold the canoe together.

 

When a few minutes have passed you can see where either there's a bubble in either the resin or the tape, or where not enough/too much resin has been applied.  In each instance this is resolved by taking a brush with some resin on it and stippling or prodding at the affected area till it comes right. 

 

By the time that we had finished taping the seams on the canoe, the day was almost over.  It really is amazing how quickly time fly's when you've having this much fun and working hard.  There wasn't much more we could have done anyway by this point as the canoe was wet with resin and still to floppy to move.

 

Tired and hungry headed back to the campsite where Aaron heated up the chilli that he'd brought and cooked some rice, that we fell upon like starving animals.  Aaron is a great cook but this time he'd even excelled himself; either that or I was starving.

 

Post dinner it was off to "The Crown Inn" for a pint and a heat, as we were all frozen.