Sunday 15 April 2018

Home stretch - seat, footbraces and paint

Close to paddling, boat is almost ready for the water and 2018 trips. Seat has arrived, wood is shaped and footbraces purchased


Everything is in place and ready to be assembled

Decks dry fit, to be taken apart, epoxy sealed and reassembled. Holes left in either end to allow water to drain after use when boat is turned over

Fit and ready to be completed


Lift handles to keep from lifting boat by decks and to provide a better grip
 Center thwarts serve only to hold boat to shape. Slight gaps in rails due to uneven thickness of fiberglass - this is no showpiece so we wont stress over them


Lots of room for tripping gear


More room in the bows even after paddler is in place

 Tons of room





Grey Owl Scirocco paddle, just needs light refinishing. 240cm to get over the rails for comfortable paddling

Nicely made paddles, with blades laminated from basswood and butternut
 Shaft is ash, with a carbon fibre ferrule
.

Seat arrived 3 days ahead of schedule,  and was dropped on the porch. Luckily no 'porch pirates' took it, no signature required it was just left

Super comfortable, just needs to be fit and attachments bonded it

Foot braces to be fastened, more than comfortable they assist when pulling hard on the paddle to keep the paddler in the seat and the boat moving forward


Final paint next and we get it wet.  Once the ice storm is over, that is!