Building the Canoe



I went to Boston last week with Colleen and Ambiana when I had planned to stay back and fiberglass the hull so until they depart this weekend (for a ReggaeFest somewhere in VT) I have been working on the seat frames. They are made of Red Oak and will be strung. My task this past week has been to measure and cut the wood and then join them by making 8 mortise & tenon joints. To do this I needed to buy a backsaw and a set of chisels as well as a vise to hold the wood while I work. You can see in the picture my tools as well as the tenon (the tounge of wood) and the mortise (the chiseld hole) into which it fits. The joints will then be glued in preparation for the drilling of the holes through which to string the seats. Colleen Sharkey I am sorry to say that due to the fibeglassin' delay there most likely will not be a canoe for us to paddle in when you are here :( We will have our kayak though and you can take her out and explore the channel, the island and the bridge on the Connecticut across the street.




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Colleen & Ambiana had an adventure day in Northampton while I satyed home and applied the fiberglass cloth and resin to the hull of our beloved canoe. I put the first coat on at 8:30am. The temperature was a perfect 70 degrees, optimal for the resin as it has a longer pot life and does not cure so fast. The 1st coat is the trickiest as I have to be sure the cloth lays smoothly and evenly and covers the hull completely. The foam brush i was using was a piece of junk and disintegrated as did my vinyl gloves. Thank goodness for epoxy resin as it is neither toxic nor irritating to my skin. While the 1st coat gelled I took a walk up the hill to Chicopee and bought a bristle brush and a big pack of latex gloves.

For the 2nd coat I doubled up on the gloves and that worked fine. The 2nd coat was easier and I spread the resin mostly with the squeegies. It was done by 2pm and I took a break on the blankie in the backyard. We had slept out the night before because I had to sand the hull and Colleen was worried about toxic dust infiltrating the house. It was a beautiful moon-filled night under the trees and stars and made me realize how much more I like living outdoors than indoors. A year indoors is definatetly damaging to my mental health. Colleen and Ambiana soon came home and took a long nap in the tent out back. I put the 3rd coat on at 6:30pm and by the next morn had a shiny glossy fiberglassed hull. The next task is to remove the canoe from the strongback, turn her over and remove the moulds and then fair up and 'glass the inside. then its gunwales, thwart and deck, finish up the seats and a'canoin' we a go!



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