Hey Old Sparkey: Swamp Girl Question

[Mullet_Key]

Chuck, I'm fixing to buy my okoume for building Swamp Girl. what ply thickness did you use for yours? thanks, Chris

[jem]

ok before Chuck gets his thrills with bragging how much different he did it from what I prescribed.....

You are, of course, free to build the plans anyay way you wish. My official recommendation is what is stated in the plans.

Ok let me see...is my butt all covered now? Yep. good.

[Oldsparkey]

Chris

Much to Matt's dislike I made it from 1/8 Th. inch wood and not the 1/4 inch as he suggested.
Matt and I did discuss this before I started construction because I wanted to see how light I could make the Swamp Girl and I had been doing it with pirogues , canoes and even a Coho from Pygmy Kayaks. So this was a challenge to see how light I could make her.

Doing it the way I did does require a lot more work.

The bottom with the thin wood wants to oil can on you so the center has to built up and I used left over wood for that, it was cut into 1 inch strips and long enough to cover the center part of the bottom.

Then I had to make a center rib for more reinforcement along with two thwarts placed at the 1/3 way point from the bow and stern.

Because it is paddled as a solo boat then for me to sit just back from center (partly over the center rib) I made one of my chairs for that.

Then I glassed it with 3.25 oz tight woven glass on the outside and some 2 oz on the inside. The bottom was epoxyed and graphited from the waterline down for more protection.

All of that is avoided if you follow Matt's instructions and use the heaver / thicker wood which would make the boat weigh in the 50 pound area , which is still light for a boat.

Click on this for some pictures and a better explination.

http://www.neilbank.com/phpBB2/viewtopi ... 431aaea7c9

Chuck.