JEM Watercraft

Oh....Mate!!! That's heartbreaking!!
Can I suggest?......Don't give up on the idea...
Step back....take a deep breath..... Clean up and salvage what you can and when you're ready, start again.
You're right, she was a beautiful looking boat. And you'd clearly done a great job to the stage you'd got her.
You can do it again. Learn from the experience and feel the satisfaction once she's finished. You won't regret it..

Yep, Ditto to what Snapps said mate.

When I first read your post, I was lost as to how best to reply. Many of us here have broken panels, though probably not to the extent you have.

Is there a deadline that you need to complete your build by? Do you have room to store the various panels for a while? I wouldn't be in to much of a hurry to trash all your hard work so far. It is only wood and can be repaired or replaced.

Only you know the extent of the damage but I would very respectfully urge you to let the damaged panels sit for a while, to give you time to think about your options.

If all else fails mate, try following the build instructions. I actually tried that once and found things went much better for me. Every time I deviated from them is when I have encountered problems.

Don't give up.
Broken panels can be fixed, wont make the boat paddle any different. Usually almost un-noticeable by 98% of the people who see the boat, trust me on that one. You will know and be able to see it (and soon forget about it), another boat builder may see it (maybe not) and understand.

There is a wealth of knowledge here available, discuss the fixes and issues on a back channel with certain folks if you want.

DM
(If you are really, really, really, really giving up, I will come over and reluctantly take it off your hands. The other side of this state isnt so far)

Shawn,
Take a break, and after that fix what you can and go on.
You can do this boat.

I'm with the rest on this , you have the hard work done and the canoe is almost together. Let it sit for a few days while you mull around the idea of tossing in the towel or going on and repairing the damage. If you don't fix it then you will always wounder if you could of done it.

Since you are here in Florida you don't need the firewood because of the weather warming up and paddling is limited due to the drought so there is plenty of time to fix it and have a canoe you made.

A picture or two of the damage would be helpful to fully understand the damage , right now we are guessing about that. Only you know the full extent of what damage was occurred.

Chuck.

i thought about trying to salvage what was there, and regretfully, i didn't take any pictures of the chaos. it was beyond repair though. only one panel stayed intact and that was a top panel that i had a gunwale installed on. that one was bullet proof! all of the others were broken. and i mean right in half in one or more places. to save them would have been tough. i did keep the temp frames though. one day i may have another crack at her. i'm trying (was) to be finished by the end of the month. i wanted to get some camping trips in before the weather here gets too hot to camp. camping is no fun when it's 90* and humid as all get out! then throw mosquitos in that make a humming bird seem small....

i have to start on a new roof for my house next month and that will take a ton of my free time. another reason i was trying to finish a canoe this month. after the new roof, i'm putting my house on the market in an attempt to move to east tennessee. i miss the country but don't want to go back to pennsylvania and face the cold, so TN is a nice compromise i think. i've just had enough of this florida concrete jungle and want to raise my daughters in the country.

If it was that bad .. That is what we call firewood. I can understand you thoughts about the heat , it does get rather nasty down here in the summer. Guess that is why I bale out and go the Smokes for some R an R Camping.

As far as the mosquitoes when out camping , a shotgun kills the big ones but the smaller ones can still drag you into the bushes as a Slurpee or them , normally only takes three or four of them to do that. .

Chuck.

ok. i decided that i may have enough time to get this done. i bought more ply and started again. right now, it's all stitched up and the tacks are done. when that sets, i'll do the gunwales. that will be done before i remove any stitches. then i'll flip her over and glass the outside. i have the hull as fair as i like it, and can possibly get it, so i'm moving forward now. i'll post pics up as i progress. right now, it's right where i left off with my last pics.

shawnkfl wrote:ok. i decided that i may have enough time to get this done. i bought more ply and started again. right now, it's all stitched up and the tacks are done. when that sets, i'll do the gunwales.

You might have meant to say this, but be sure to fill in all the seams, inside and out, before you attempt working with the gunwales.

well...i would like to say i did that. but i didn't. this time, i did it my way. not to say my way ir the right way, but it works for me anyway. this time, i didn't even splice the panels together. i stitched them. then i placed them on the form and played around with them getting them just right. i stitched everything up securely, and by that, i mean i can pick up the hull and no twisting occurs anywhere, and that is with no epoxy at all. now i'm happy with the shape, i layed on the gunwales. one side is done now. the other side should be done tomorrow evening. after that, i'll ensure that the tacks are sufficient, and pull the stitches. then i'll sand the outside and glass cloth it. then i can get on the inside and do my fillets and finish the interior off. i know it's quite different than designed, but this is how i normally do them, and it works for me. straying away from what i know, seems to cause me grief!