Nearing the end of the stems!

Last night was another good night of work. I only got about 5 strips on each side of the hull, but considering the extra effort needed as the come around the bilge and take more compound bends, not too bad. You may notice that I am having to use tape between the station molds to keep the strips tightly together until the glue sets. that increases the time between each strip going on. Also, it gets increasingly more difficult to make those compound curves and twists with only my own two hands.

Ready to start

This picture shows the inside of the hull and how tight the strips are to the station molds

A few more strips
Note the fine entry/exit of the hull and how it curves inward toward the centerline before curving outward toward the center of the hull.
Another shot from the other end showing the entry/exit lines.
This is where I stopped last night.

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the progress. I would like to have the hull completely assembled and almost ready, if not completely ready, for 'glassing by 7 Feb. A tall order, but at this pace, I don't see any problems getting there.

Good night of work!

Last night was pretty productive. I was able to get quite a few strips put on. Progress was fast. I didn't take the first picture until I had already gotten the first few strips on.

This is after the first three strips.

More strips!

Glue on the strip and stem ready for the next strip.

This is the back side. It's kind of difficult to work back there. Maybe I'll clean up the shop!

This is how I left it last night.

I should be able to begin closing the bottom soon. Stay posted!

Making Progress!

I've really been slacking on getting this canoe done. I would really like to have the hull complete and ready to glass by the first week of February. I really Haven't done anything since bending and gluing the stems.

Steaming the stems. Say that 3 times fast!!!

Pulling the stems from the steam.

Let them dry.

So after a week of just noodling around in the workshop, I finally got back in there today and got serious. I was able to complete setup of the mold on the strongback. I also got the stem molds and stems in place and was able to begin shaping the stems. This is something that I should have approached a little more tentatively. I was a little aggressive and cut them to the wrong angle, and had to adjust. Sorry I didn't post a pic, but I was more concerned with correcting the problem at the time than documenting my screw-up!

The completed mold ready for the stems to be shaped and the strips started!

And so, the excitement builds. I was able to attach the first strip to the hull today also. Unfortunately, it's around the low 40s and so my glue isn't setting as quickly as I would like so I have to wait for that to set up in order to place the first strip on the other side. I will try that first thing in the morning before church, but if I don't wake up early enough, then I will get it after the first service.

First strip!!!

Procrastinating!

Do I really need to say more?

Paddling in the Snow!

I Don't think they'll be a problem today.

This is my first ever post. I will follow up with more info about me and what I do later. For today, let's just focus on what I did today.

This is the view from my canoe of Northeast Creek. Beautiful.

My canoe on a coffee stop.

For those that don't know me, I live in Coastal North Carolina near Camp Lejeune. That means I experience mild winters (usually). Today, however, we were the gracious recipients of a winter storm that gave us ice and about 2" of snow. Glorious, wet, sticky, fluffy snow!!! I have always loved the winter and since I live in the south, I don't get enough of it.

I have ice in my beard

So, because of the storm, I got released from work early and on my way home I put my truck into a ditch. (it's been too long since I had to drive in snow). Anyhow, after I got pulled back onto the road, I made it home without further incident and decided to go canoeing for the remainder of the afternoon. Enjoy some pics from that and like I said above, I will tell more about what I do and how I entertain myself later.

Thanks for reading!