olsnappa's Cape Fear

Builder show and discuss their progress.
olsnappa
Posts: 300
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:03 am
Type of boat I like: <-- Please read instructions to the left and delete this text. Then, tell us what type boat you like! :-)
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Post by olsnappa »

Melbourne Cup Day project........ Rod holders fitted :D

Image

Image

Image

Still have to clean up and fill the screw countersink holes.
Thwart is glued as well as screwed.
John.
1 Cape Fear Sit In....a couple more planned
2 Laker 14's
1 Paddle board

"People who don't make mistakes don't make anything"
hairymick
Design Reviewer
Posts: 1965
Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2006 8:54 am
Type of boat I like: <-- Please read instructions to the left and delete this text. Then, tell us what type boat you like! :-)
Location: Queensland, Australia
Contact:

Post by hairymick »

Ooooh Snaps,

I love ya work mate.

Didja pick a winner?

Guys,

The "Melbourne Cup" is Australias biggest horse race and is the only one that littorally stops the nation. an Aussie Icon. :D :lol:
Regards,
Mick

JEMWATERCRAFT Swampgirl; Wadefish;Touring Pirogue;South Wind; P5 ;
Laker X 2, Sasquatch 16.5 T-V 15 Okwata 15:
Cobia 15 (under construction)
olsnappa
Posts: 300
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:03 am
Type of boat I like: <-- Please read instructions to the left and delete this text. Then, tell us what type boat you like! :-)
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Post by olsnappa »

G'day Mick......No mate. My horse is still running..... :roll:
John.
1 Cape Fear Sit In....a couple more planned
2 Laker 14's
1 Paddle board

"People who don't make mistakes don't make anything"
olsnappa
Posts: 300
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:03 am
Type of boat I like: <-- Please read instructions to the left and delete this text. Then, tell us what type boat you like! :-)
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Post by olsnappa »

Installed an anchor trolley today
I found these nifty little eyelets at a local chandlery
Image
Image
The anchor can be locked off fore or aft with this cleat.
Image
Image
Image
Image
Last edited by olsnappa on Wed Nov 12, 2008 12:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
John.
1 Cape Fear Sit In....a couple more planned
2 Laker 14's
1 Paddle board

"People who don't make mistakes don't make anything"
olsnappa
Posts: 300
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:03 am
Type of boat I like: <-- Please read instructions to the left and delete this text. Then, tell us what type boat you like! :-)
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: olsnappa's Cape Fear

Post by olsnappa »

I wrote: I found these nifty little eyelets at a local chandlery
Padeyes....!! :D My knowledge of boaty type terminology expands a little more...... Thanks "Homemade".......You know who you are. :wink:.......... (Bemm 52 :) )
Last edited by olsnappa on Thu Nov 27, 2008 3:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
John.
1 Cape Fear Sit In....a couple more planned
2 Laker 14's
1 Paddle board

"People who don't make mistakes don't make anything"
Kayak Jack
Design Reviewer
Posts: 1186
Joined: Sun Jun 20, 2004 8:03 pm
Type of boat I like: <-- Please read instructions to the left and delete this text. Then, tell us what type boat you like! :-)
Location: South-central Michigan

Re: olsnappa's Cape Fear

Post by Kayak Jack »

You're going to enjoy that rig a LOT! And, envious folks who see it will enjoy it too. Nice job.
Kayak Jack
Doing what you like is FREEDOM
Liking what you do is HAPPINESS
I spent most of my money on whiskey and women - and I'm afraid I just wasted the rest.
olsnappa
Posts: 300
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:03 am
Type of boat I like: <-- Please read instructions to the left and delete this text. Then, tell us what type boat you like! :-)
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: olsnappa's Cape Fear

Post by olsnappa »

It’s about 2 months now, since I finished the Cape Fear…(still some fitting out to do though)……. So having had time for a bit of a paddle and to reflect on the building process, I thought it might be worth briefly summarising what I learned and my initial impressions of her on the water.
I’m a relatively novice builder and paddler so it might be of some use to new builders and particularly anyone thinking of building the Cape Fear.

THE BUILD……
The build went smoothly overall. Much like any others described in the Builder Log of this forum.
Such is the detail and plain language of the plans that the steps, when understood and followed, take you through the process easily.
The few glitches along the way came from my own mistakes. Mainly not planning ahead enough and learning how to handle the materials properly through trial and error. Apart from a small blow out in cost through wastage, the price payed for these errors is extra time and effort in correcting them……but the satisfaction of realising your mistake and learning from it….and knowing that you will avoid it on the next build makes up for it ten fold……. (And there will ALWAYS be a next build! :D

MY MISTAKES AND WHAT I LEARNED
1/ Probably the dumbest one of all…..And right at the beginning too!....Simply not thinking enough about what I wanted as the finished look in terms of natural wood, stained wood or painted surfaces.
In my rush to get started I didn’t adequately check what the ply colour would be after the resin coatings, making the assumption that it would darken far more than it did.
I used a stain on the deck panels and was much happier with the colour….but it was too late to do anything about the hull as it was fully glassed.
I tried to convince myself that the light hull looked ok with the contrasting decks……but I wasn’t really satisfied. Obviously I could have just painted the hull but I really wanted a wood finish.
Fortunately I discovered the epoxy stain and another option presented itself……One which I think worked out pretty well. But I could have saved myself a lot of muttering and head scratching if I’d thought about it more at the very beginning.

2/ The second one was in aligning the panels properly at the stitching stage. Not length wise but edge to edge. It was really just that I tightened the cable ties too much initially rather than leaving a bit of lee way. The panel edges started off ok but at some point began climbing up on each other. I’d got about 50 or 60 ties into the stitching before I realised I’d cocked it up and had to cut them out and start again. Keeping the ties looser until they are all in allows you to come back and make adjustments as you tighten and keep everything true…… I think I’d read this advice somewhere…..It may have even been in the CF instructions but this is the sort of thing that can be forgotten in the enthusiasm of getting the panels together, so just thought I’d reinforce it here

3/ Umm..Eerrr…….unexplained weird angle on transom. I never quite worked out what caused that. Of course I only noticed it after it was well and truly glued up.
I had to cut back along the seams a bit, clean up the edges and re-stitch. It came together properly after that so I can only assume the sanding in the clean up must have corrected a slightly wayward cut on part of a panel.

4/ Dog hair under the fibreglass…….which of course only became visible to me after I’d wet it out!!! Arghh!!!. Resulted in a frantic lifting of what had been a very nicely laid down section of fibreglass……. And you can imagine what a mess I got in trying to hook the offending hair out from the resin and off the cloth. Re-working the saturated fibreglass into place was a nightmare……the dogs slept peacefully through all the commotion...
Note to self: Carefully check cloth for any foreign objects before wetting out.

5/ Clumsy use of the resin/wood flour mix….
In gluing down the forward deck I had a fair bit of the glue mixture run down the inside of the hull….. A very messy look and I found it almost impossible to clean up properly beyond my reach….And the deck was already stuck down of course!!!
One advantage of changing the interior colour was that I had to paint over it anyway (using a roller on an extension handle) so was able to disguise it a bit…..but its still looks lumpy. Anyway, it’s out of site for the most part.
The only way to avoid this is to be more careful with the glue….. I have a better understanding of what is the minimum to use to secure the deck without there being too much to run off. So another lesson learnt.

Well that about covers the specific things I remember. There was a bit of fumbling around with quantities of resin needed for different stages. I’m more accurate now so there should be less wastage next time.
I also learnt I’m shocking at keeping the work space tidy so there’s room for improvement there too……Funny how you’ll be using a tool or some thing and put it down for a minute…..and then not be able to find it again for all the mess around….. Well, not so funny really…..just bloody frustrating.
Next I’ll briefly describe how she feels on the water after the first few outings I’ve had with her……will hopefully get to that soon.
John.
1 Cape Fear Sit In....a couple more planned
2 Laker 14's
1 Paddle board

"People who don't make mistakes don't make anything"
olsnappa
Posts: 300
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:03 am
Type of boat I like: <-- Please read instructions to the left and delete this text. Then, tell us what type boat you like! :-)
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: olsnappa's Cape Fear

Post by olsnappa »

The first outing I had in the Cape Fear was in the calmest conditions imaginable. I really enjoyed the paddle and got her up to quite a good speed despite my unrefined paddling style. At 16 feet, I was expecting to have a bit of a battle turning her but it responded quite well in those conditions.

The next couple of times the conditions were completely different from the first paddle. Winds ranging from about 15 – 25 knots and sharp choppy waves of about 3 – 4 feet.
Not exactly relaxing paddling but it was a great opportunity to test both myself and the Cape Fear. I had a ball!! And it was a great learning curve for me.

So how did she go?
Paddling across the wind and waves was heavy going. I could feel the wind take her nose off course as she crested the waves but one or two firm strokes on the lee side at the crest brought her back around. I suppose, on kayaks of this length, a rudder system would help but I really didn’t find it that hard………well actually, it was a fair workout but I managed to get to where I was going and back without one so…….I’ll see. I’ll think about putting one in.

Straight into the waves, the water shed off the front deck nicely. Even with a few that were right on the point of breaking (the CF digging her nose in about a foot below the crest) very little water spilled into the cockpit…… With such a large open space on this boat I was surprised that, in these conditions, there were no more than between 1 and 2 litres (2 – 4 pints) of water on board at the end. I certainly got wet, but it was mostly from sea spray and water off the paddles.
The Cape Fear felt very stable through out all this. My concerns about ending up in the drink came only from my inexperience in anything but quiet, flat water and the fact that I was paddling a craft I was still getting used to……I was anticipating a few surprises as the waves were quite unpredictable, I didn’t expect to have time or skill enough to react…….I didn’t need to worry because quite frankly the CF took care of me. She took it all in her stride and once I started to trust her capabilities, I was having a lot of fun….
I’m unlikely to paddle in this sort of water again, but it was great to see how she went… and it’s nice to know what to expect if I’m ever caught by a rapid change of conditions.

Earlier this week, I was back on flat water in calm conditions. I paddled on a small lake, quietly exploring along the overgrow banks, bird watching and enjoying the peace and quiet. I was able to appreciate how well she glides. Stealthily slipping along with just an occasional paddle, I got a close up look at a pair of Dusky Moorhens escorting their three fluffy little offspring across some water lilies and coaxing them into the water….. This is what it’s all about for me……Pure joy!
I played around with setting up seating positions for two people on board…..The CF was nicely balanced with my seat moved back to the furthest position and the passenger seat just ahead of the rod holder thwart. My passenger on board was about 60kg
In this photo, you can see the two seats installed.
Image
Back out in the centre of the lake I did some paddling practice, trying to refine my turning technique. Confident about the stability of the Cape Fear, I was practicing how far I can lean back and into a turn to increase efficiency….. I also switched between double and single paddles…….I think I prefer the single…..

Matt, you’ve designed a boat that I’m really enjoying. I’m not familiar with any of your other designs (yet) so can’t make a direct comparison with them as far as manoeuvrability, stability etc goes, but she fits the bill for me. I wanted a boat that had good on board capacity ( I’m not a small bloke at about 115 kg ((about 250lbs)), that I can paddle reasonably easily, is stable enough to fish from, big enough to load up with some camping gear, can accommodate two people occasionally and can be lifted onto the car roof solo,…….She’s all that. The fact that she’s such an elegant design is the icing on the cake!
Oh…..and having built the 16 footer and realising the tolerances she has, I reckon the 12 or 14 foot versions would be a peach!!!
Below is the Cape Fear and yours truly……Note the silly and satisfied grin! :D
Image
John.
1 Cape Fear Sit In....a couple more planned
2 Laker 14's
1 Paddle board

"People who don't make mistakes don't make anything"
jem
Site Admin
Posts: 4915
Joined: Fri Jun 18, 2004 8:14 pm
Type of boat I like: Wooden
Location: Greensboro, NC
Contact:

Re: olsnappa's Cape Fear

Post by jem »

John,

I'm tickled pink as this report. :D You've described it what I intended the Cape Fear to be a few years ago. A multi purpose, easy to build, stable platform. Not exactly specialized at one task, but pretty good at many.

Well done!
-Matt. Designer.
Post Reply