Quetico

Builder show and discuss their progress.
rodot
Posts: 205
Joined: Tue Jan 05, 2010 8:56 pm
Type of boat I like: Okwata kayak
Location: South Coast NSW Australia

Re: Quetico

Post by rodot »

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I hate coamings. The fibreglassing is done and fill coats applied and you think bewdy almost there. And then you remember you have all those piddling little bits of ply to cut and fit. GRRRR

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Okwata LC,
Northwind,
Quetico
rodot
Posts: 205
Joined: Tue Jan 05, 2010 8:56 pm
Type of boat I like: Okwata kayak
Location: South Coast NSW Australia

Re: Quetico

Post by rodot »

I have now fitted the first layer of coaming risers. Matt has given the option of a regular or large cockpit in these plans and in deference to my aching bones and allowing easier access I have chosen the larger.

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Okwata LC,
Northwind,
Quetico
rodot
Posts: 205
Joined: Tue Jan 05, 2010 8:56 pm
Type of boat I like: Okwata kayak
Location: South Coast NSW Australia

Re: Quetico

Post by rodot »

Coaming finished and the Quetico is almost ready for a test flight, oops, I mean sea trial.

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Okwata LC,
Northwind,
Quetico
rodot
Posts: 205
Joined: Tue Jan 05, 2010 8:56 pm
Type of boat I like: Okwata kayak
Location: South Coast NSW Australia

Re: Quetico

Post by rodot »

:D :D :D :D :D :D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)
The Quetico has just been taken for a test run. WOW. Dropped it in at a local lake. The wind was blowing at about 50kph gusting to about 60kph. Gave it an initial try out in a sheltered bay and it performed magnificently. Tracked straight and true and yet turned easily. No dramas whatsoever so I took it out in the middle of the main lake where it was a bit choppy with a swell of about 12 inches or so. I tested it by paddling towards all points of the compass. Into the wind, diagonal to the wind and with the wind astern. Weathercocking was virtually non existant. The Quetico performed brilliantly. Into the wind it cut through the water like a hot knife through butter without any spray. Down wind it just sat up on a little wave and surfed straight ahead with no broaching at all. The boat feels quite stable, but the water is still a bit too cold in this part of the world to deliberatly capsize a boat, so I didn't find it's limit.
This boat is fast and glides effortlessly. In my other boats if I push really hard I get flutter in the paddle, but not with the Quetico. It obviously slips through the water so much more easily.
Thanks for the work you have done Matt, this boat is bloody brilliant.

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Okwata LC,
Northwind,
Quetico
BigMal
Posts: 56
Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2012 9:36 pm
Type of boat I like: Wadefish 15-32
Location: Taranaki, New Zealand

Re: Quetico

Post by BigMal »

That is a thing of beauty 8) :D
"Life is measured in achievement, not in years alone" Bruce McLaren
OnkaBob
Posts: 401
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2008 10:12 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: Seaford, South Oz

Re: Quetico

Post by OnkaBob »

Yep, a nice design and a fine job of building - well done all round.

Looks like she'd make a good light tourer - seems to be enough storage fore and aft for a weekends worth of camping gear.
Cheers, Bob

Laker 13 - christened and slimed (just).
Laker accessories underway.
rodot
Posts: 205
Joined: Tue Jan 05, 2010 8:56 pm
Type of boat I like: Okwata kayak
Location: South Coast NSW Australia

Re: Quetico

Post by rodot »

Looks like she'd make a good light tourer - seems to be enough storage fore and aft for a weekends worth of camping gear.


Plenty of storage space front and rear. Matt's suggestion of a large Cobra A hatch at the rear would be ideal. However I will only ever be using this boat on day trips and, apart from a camera, the most I am likelly to carry is probably a couple of sandwiches and a drink. This is why I am only fitting a 6inch inspection port in the front bulkhead and a 10 inch hatch on the back deck.
Okwata LC,
Northwind,
Quetico
rodot
Posts: 205
Joined: Tue Jan 05, 2010 8:56 pm
Type of boat I like: Okwata kayak
Location: South Coast NSW Australia

Re: Quetico

Post by rodot »

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Basically the construction of the Quetico is all but complete. I have sanded back the hull and will now leave it for a few days or more for the epoxy to fully cure before varnishing and rigging. For the seat I am thinking of just using a Skwoosh gel pad and a SOT backrest. I’ll fit a couple of “Hairy Handles” (refer Mick’s Okwata build) and some bungy cord for a paddle float recovery.
To say that I am impressed with this boat is a complete understatement. As a boat for sheer paddling enjoyment it is simply brilliant.
On reflection, there are a few things I should mention about the build. Firstly, I used 3mm Gaboon (Okoume) plywood. The best I could find here in Australia is pretty ordinary, but none the less acceptable. Using the skinny ply is more difficult. It is hard to keep from having wavy panels, and there is not a lot of thickness in the outer laminations which poses problems with sanding. The fact that I took a lot of care with the accuracy of the panels and spaced the stitching reasonably close probably helped me achieve a pretty good result. In hindsight however, the boat has come out weighing in at only about 13.7 kgs. without fittings. The additional weight of 4mm ply would be not be all that great.
The stitching was at about 8 inch centres except for the bow and the stern where I reduced them down to about every 2 inches. I used copper wire because
a) the smaller holes are less noticeable than those needed for plastic tie wraps and
b) the copper wire is easier to bend and does less damage to the ply than steel tie wire and
c) with a number of the stitches around the bow and the stern it is easier just to run the thickened epoxy over them and then just cut them off and leave them in place.
If I was to build this boat again I would seriously consider using butt blocks to join the panels. I think it would give a neater finish on the hull exterior.
Attaching the deck was just a tad fiddly. Not difficult, but requiring a little patience. A commodity I am afraid I lack. It probably would have been really easy if I had have built the boat with the No. 5 panels as part of the hull, but that would have meant fibreglassing inside a hull with tumblehome panels. That was not a job I enjoyed on the Northwind.
The main problem that I experienced on this build is that it all went together too easily. As a believer that Murphy was an optimist, I kept on expecting something to go wrong, but nothing ever really did.
When the Quetico is finished and all tarted up I’ll post more pictures and hopefully a more detailed test report.
Once again I would like to offer my thanks to Matt. I know he had a lot of better things to do at the time he designed this boat. But as he said at the time, he is a design junkie and gee I’m glad. Matt’s assistance, as always was fantastic and the plans were clear, accurate and easy to read.
Okwata LC,
Northwind,
Quetico
Mick
Posts: 141
Joined: Fri Feb 25, 2011 4:26 am
Type of boat I like: Kayaks and canoes
Location: Fraser Coast, Queensland, Australia

Re: Quetico

Post by Mick »

G'day Roger,

Mate, that was as fine a boat review as I have ever read. Your build is as magnificent as the boat design.

As my home renovations are nearing completion, there are a couple of other boats I need to build but I am thinking the very lovely Miss Evie would really enjoy paddling a boat such as yours. :D

I am soooo over building cupboards, kitchens, bathrooms and various other stuff that is square, I really need to get back into building things with gracefull elegent curves.
rodot
Posts: 205
Joined: Tue Jan 05, 2010 8:56 pm
Type of boat I like: Okwata kayak
Location: South Coast NSW Australia

Re: Quetico

Post by rodot »

I am soooo over building cupboards, kitchens, bathrooms and various other stuff that is square, I really need to get back into building things with gracefull elegent curves.


Been ther done that mate. Guess it doesn't really matter what you build. At the end of the day if you can sit back with a can of beer in your hand and take a look at what you have achieved with a bit of pride, it really makes it all worthwhile. Just cant understand these turkeys who come home from work and just sit in front of that damn idiot box.

PS. Miss Evie would love this boat. It is a joy to paddle.
Okwata LC,
Northwind,
Quetico
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