Friday, March 19, 2010

Maybe I Will Build a Boat











Have you ever gotten the urge to do something off the wall or completely foreign to you? I am not a craftsman by any means even though I have built a few storage sheds and other odd things. I have even assembled some black powder gun kits and knapped a few replica points. I have never taken on a major project that takes long-term dedication and some skill. For many years I have had the urge to build a boat. Somewhere close to twenty years ago I bought the plans, bow stem, stern stem and ribs pieces for a Cajun pirogue or canoe. It has been in my garage all this time waiting for me to get the tools, time and desire to give it a whirl. I recently saw an ad for a boat building class being taught in Austin in which each student will build a canoe for their very own. If I can work it out I want to take that class before starting my boat just to learn some tricks and skills. Either way I believe this is the year I will finally build my boat. I hope each of you does something this year that you have always wanted to do. Take the time, Wild Ed

PS: I am headed out to buy a router and hand plane today.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

I am also in austin
where did you see this boat building class? I am about to start on a boat project also.

Wild Ed said...

There are two places to learn. One is Arrowheadboats.com and the other is Michael Bull. I saw an advertisement on Craigslist.

Albert A Rasch said...

Hey Wild Ed!

I've been thinking about doing the same thing. After last years pirogue, I thought maybe a dory might be fun. Course, I'll have to wait till I get back again!

Best regards!
Albert

Eric The Cleric said...

I've been tinkering with this idea for a while as well. I've been in love the eureka canoe that you have in the last picture and have been meaning to make the jump to purchase the plans. One of the issues I have is it seems like all the plans call for marine grade plywood which I cant seem to find for a reasonable price in the Midwest (available mostly on the coasts shipping is big$$$). Do you know what your going to use for wood etc. yet?
Keep up the good work.

Wild Ed said...

Believe it or not there are two grades of marine plywood available here in Austin. (Expensive and Unbelievably Expensive) The sheets are only available in 4x8 sheets so I will have to scarf or butt the joints. I wish I could find someone to cut the scarf joints for a decent fee or teach a newbie some easy way to cut them. You might check with the lumber yards in your area that handle trim and hardwoods and see if they have marine plywood or might order a few sheets for you. I am trying to find some clear cedar so I can cut strips to use on the sides instead of plywood but have not had any luck so far. Most of the cedar around here is very knotty. You can buy the kits from some of the boat building places with all the lumber or even precut pieces but the cost is very expensive and the shipping is terrible also. Let us know when you start your canoe. ET

Anonymous said...

Boomer Lad contribution:

Friend of mine wasn't happy with his tore made boats and got around to it and this happened

http://flhippy.livesaildie.com/

He survived and he's gotten a lot of fish with it :-)

Talked about it for a long time fishing from his kayak before he finally put his hands to wood.