greybeard canoes & kayaks

A little update before the weekend’s fiberglassing activities.

I’ve been busy sanding the inside of the hull (by far my least favorite part of the build). Concave shapes are a bugger to sand.

At any rate, I thought I’d share the following picture as it captures several facets of the build. You’ll notice dark splotches at the far end of the canoe. These splotches are thickened epoxy (aka dookie schmutz) used to fill in the inevitable gaps between strips. When sanded down, these splotches will disappear, leaving only a slightly darker line where the gap is filled.

Then, the clamped business on top of the hull will eventually be two decks. For this build, I’m using a strip of oak sandwiched between lengths of walnut. It all needs to be planed smooth. You’ll also notice how canoe forms provide a handy work surface.

In the foreground, you’ll notice holes drilled in the hull. These are guides to tell me how the inner and outer gunwale will lie. To back up a little, the forms have notches at the bow and stern that indicate where the sheer is. Before removing the hull from the forms, I marked the location of these notches. Because sanding would remove these marks, I drilled holes. When I set the gunwales, I’ll place them just shy of these holes. The material above the gunwales will then be planed off.