Day 8: Row/sail canoe, version 2. Build time: 4hrs.
With 8 coats of varnish on I brought the spars out of the basement to get some real world measurements for the mast partners. One thing I’ve always liked about historic small boats is the generous use of sheet copper, sometimes to protect the mast. It’s not actually a great idea and led to deterioration at the highest stress point in the mast, but it also looks really neat and I’ve always wanted to do it, so I did.
Built a little ash step which I shouldn’t actually use because the grain almost guarantees it will break, likely when I’m hiked way out and in the middle of a big choppy waterway.
Started on the partners which I’ve decided to make removable like the last one. I’d rather not do this but unfortunately the partner would be right in my leg area for canoe paddle mode, so it’s a compromise. At least I have the option.
Measured and drilled for the pinned oarlocks and discovered the oar length is a problem for this boat. These are the 7’2” oars I made for the last boat (to replace the too long 7’6”’s) but didn’t install because I was hoping to use them on this boat. The problem is that I REALLY want to be able to swing them inside the boat while in the rear oarlock position, and I thought I had clearance for that but a small change in the center seat location combined with a small change in boat length combined with a small change in width (which changes the pin location) all conspired to eat up my breathing room and now they just barely fit which means the won’t drop in effortlessly in real life. I’m sure this seems trivial but it’s exactly stuff like that that puts you in the water when you have to make rapid changes to your situation to deal with a tack or a rapid. You can’t really push a small boat unless every control is something you can do one handed without thinking about it. If I keep the boat I’ll probably replace them.
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