Saturday, May 15, 2010

I Finished the Boat And It Floats



Today my wife and I took my finished boat to the Texas Kayak Fisherman’s boat builder round-up at the Inks Lake State Park.
We had the pleasure of meeting a great group of people and making new friends with a common interest. We even found out one of the families in attendance today lives just a few blocks away. That is all I need, someone close to encourage me to build more boats.

Back to the boat I have been building and how it turned out. I made a few minor mistakes in finish-out but learned a lot so my next one will be even better. Best of all the boat floats, doesn’t leak at all and paddles very well. It turns on a dime so I am considering a keel or skeg for straighter tracking. I borrowed a canoe chair to try out and it works well. I do need to adjust where I can place the chair in the boat to level it out in the water. My wife took the boat out and went to the far side of the lake and back. The boat rode very well for her and paddled easily. I mentioned that I would be building her a boat in the future and she corrected me by letting me know this boat was hers and I would need to build me a boat in the near future.

We had a beautiful day even though it was storming early as we prepared for the trip. I ran into several people that are interested in building their own boats. For those that want to learn more about boat building I recommend the following sites. First is Bulwarks which is the boat building class given by Mike Bull in Austin. http://www.bulwarks.us/ I built my boat in the class taught by Mike so if I can do it anybody can build their own boat.
You can also reach Mike by phone 512-769-2553

The second is the Brazos Boat Works and The Texas Paddler owned by Gerald Kennedy. www.texaspaddler.com
Gerald has boats, designs, plans, Kayak equipment and other supplies. Both of these guys are top notch and will steer you straight on watercraft.

Here are a few pictures of the day and some of the beautiful boats that were in attendance. Hope you enjoy these and maybe we will see you at the next round-up.
Wild Ed







































































Remember to click on comments below to leave a comment or read the comments from other readers

11 comments:

Z@X said...

Great work, Ed. Happy paddling!

Unknown said...

Ed...

This is Oldsparkey and it is nice to see someone who has made a wood boat with there own hands out enjoying it.
I'm sure it will offer you a lot more pleasure as time goes by.

Wild Ed said...

This is addictive as I am already planning boat two and three. :)

Matt said...

Matt from JEM Watercraft. May I use the picture of the 2 Wye 13-6's sitting side by side? I designed that hull.

Wild Ed said...

Sure you are welcome to use the picture Matt. Nice to have you stop by the blog. I am on your site drooling often. Ed

Matt said...

Much appreciated!!

Stephen Olner said...

That is pretty impressive. I wouldnt know where to begin !But it is something i would def like to do in the future

sysadmn said...

Ed - beautiful boat!

From the looks of the blog, you're leading a life well lived. Interesting pursuits, good friends, and time to enjoy both. May we all be so lucky.

Graybeard

Unknown said...

Ed - Mike Bull here. Well done. Your boat looks so good and it's great to see you out in it. I wish you lots of fun and enjoyment with it in the future!

Albert A Rasch said...

I know, I know... 5 months later and I finally get to it!

That's a real beauty!

Best Regards,
Albert A Rasch
A Chronicles' project: Building a Pirogue

Wild Ed said...

You should see the one I am building now. ET