Okay, I am back and I have been working on my boat a little at a time. I flipped it over and applied another layer of fiber glass plus a 3rd layer on the bottom only. So that means I have 3 layers of glass on the bottom and 2 layers on the sides plus one layer on the inside. Probably a little bit excessive but I am hoping that the glass will never be compromised no matter how rough the terrain. Here I am applying the additional layers of glass.
Finally I have the bottom all layered up and now it is time to apply the graphite epoxy coat. I masked off what I wanted.
Here I am applying the black goo. I put down three layers sanding between each layer with 220 wet/dry sand paper. The wet dry sand paper really works great and takes it down fast. You have to be careful with that stuff. The final results were great.
While I was working on that I went ahead and made up the seat. I borrowed Mick’s idea as he suggested and I really like this. This particular seat however was made from some scrap pine boards that I had laying around so I will make a better seat later. In the mean time it let me test the design and the boat.
Getting ready for the water test. I put the battery in the front and the seat and I also took my paddle and push pole to try out. I am planning on making a compartment for the battery that will double as a seat and I wanted to see how it floated with the proper load on board. There are some thins missing like the motor and the cooler but this should give me a good idea on the set up.
K-Splash! Okay, she floats! And very well too.
A little more ballast, I am about 5’ 9” tall and weigh about 185#, this set up looks like it will work just fine. It floats very high and drafts nothing, less than my 12’ plastic kayak does.
Very stable when standing. I am very pleased.
Poling will take a little getting used to and I found that if I moved as far back as possible it was easier to control while poling. That is another plus for the seat not being fastened down in one place. I can easily shift my weight as needed. The rounded bottom does allow the boat to be pushed sideways when poling and that was why moving to the back helped.
The boat paddled easily and maintained a straight line with no effort and seemed to be very fast too, must be the graphite. It would also turn on a dime very easily.
I also tried a little drifting in the breeze although there was only a very slight breeze while I was testing the boat it is obvious that like any canoe there is a high profile and the wind will blow me around a bit. But that was to be expected. For the little bit that I had the boat in the water it appeared to sit in one position very well. A motor on the stern will probably change a lot of things like the way it drifts but so far I am very pleased with the way it performs. Now I am working on the front seat/battery box. The other problem is will it fit in the back of my truck? This is my father in laws truck but he has the same size bed as mine it is 6' with the tailgate down it measures 8'. I have a tool box in my truck that I am going to have to raise a little in order to get the boat to fit but it will fit. Thank goodness. I also have to work on a dolly to get it from the truck to the water.
Hopefully the next time she hits the water she will be loaded with fishing gear and there will be plenty of fish to show for it. This is typical of the areas I like to fish.
Thanks for looking.
