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Long Shot is dead * Long live Long Shot!


Kudzu

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Lots of photos today and a good bit of progress too. I have started skinning the boat using the 8 oz polyester as I use on most of my boats.

 

I started sewing the skin around the boat, pulling it snug as I stitch. The one trick I learned when I skinned the first Firefly was to start at the cockpit and sew toward the bow. STOP, before you get to the bow and sew the Bifid bow first! Just trust me on this.

 

Sewing the Bifid is always tricky and my first attempt didn't go to well. I had to remove a lot of my stitches and try again. Second time around looked much better. I ended up with a couple of puckered spots but I expected that and they will (should) pull tight once I shrink the skin.

 

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Another thing I am doing different is I am using Heat N Bond tape on the front of the bow to hold the skin in place. It is heat activated adhesive tape and you literally iron it on to the wood. Then peel off the paper backing, stretch the fabric tight and iron the fabric to bond it to the tap. I found it fairly easy to work with has a really good bond in one direction.

 

If I lift the fabric I can peel it off easy enough. But when pulling across the bonded area and not lifting it has a really good grip. So in this application it works really well. But it is not a permanent solution.

 

Once the boat is painted, I will be adding a bronze rub strip, screwed in place over it to finish it off. That will hide the exposed edges of the fabric and provide a very durable rub strip in the most damage prone area of the boat. And I think it will look better than stitching does.

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WOOPS! This is the stern and I used the tape there too. When I was trimming the excess fabric I stood on the wrong side of the boat and couldn't see that I was hitting the corner with my hot knife and melting the fabric. If this were a clients boat I would have started over, but since it was mine I decided to repair it instead.

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Using a curved needle I ran several stitches close together though the fabric behind the melted edge.

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Once it is pulled tight and the thread trimmed close you can barely eve see it. After it is painted and the brass rub strip is in place, I think it will take a sharp eye to ever spot it.

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I did something a little different on the sewn seams this time. I usually just do a whip stitch and pull it tight. That makes it resemble 3 braid rope. This time I did 2 whip stitches from opposite sides and I only pulled the thread snug so that it did collapse the rolled fabric. This leaves me with a smooth bead down the center and it will give the boat a cleaner look.

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Here is the stern after I shrunk the fabric a little. If you remember I really struggled with the design for the stern and now I couldn't be happier with this. It still looks traditional but it has a little flair and is not just squared off like many were. I never liked  the squared off corners but I love this!

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Check out those straight seams! Yea, I am bragging just a little bit.  I need to install the coaming and finish the seam around the Bifid bow, which I am not looking forward too! That is going to be hardest part of the sewing.

The white coaming is a first for me, I usually varnish them but this will has a 'special' paint job so I decided to paint it to match. And that's the only hint you going to get on paint job.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I got a little behind while I was sick but know now I feel I am making good progress. The (unnamed) boat is now skinned and the base coat is on. At this point it could go to the water actually. But I am not done. I want to work on the rigging and get my holes in place and the lines installed temporarily.

Once I have everything located I am going to remove it and layout the paint the rest of the boat.  These are probably the last photos till I finish it. To you traditionalists, beware.......

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I did not plan on posting again till it was ready to go to the water, but I hit a little snag and decided to go ahead. I think I am at about 98% finished I just have a few details to take care of and I don't think I will finish today. I hit my head yesterday and I still have a bit of dull  headache, so I am taking it easy and not pushing to get done.  I decided to go ahead with the 'Big Reveal' today anyway.

 

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Like it or not, I love the paint job. I have been thinking of this since I did 'Nemo', the orange and white Curlew. I played around with colors when I painted Nemo and Nemo was almost painted these colors!

 

But I wanted to surprise John Redmond who gave me the idea.  John had posted a photo of a Clown fish and said 'Jeff, why don't you paint one like this?" Had it not been for that I would have used these colors.

 

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I used toggles and polyester rope instead of bungee. Toggles have the advantage of being able to  slide your paddle under them, spread the toggles apart and they will tighten, wedging your paddle across the boat. With the blade in the water it makes a big difference in the stability of the boat. It dampens the boats movements so it doesn't roll nearly as fast on you. It is great for wet entries and much faster to deploy than a paddle float since there is nothing to find nor inflate. I put them front and back on this boat since the rear ones would get in the way during a cowboy scramble style of reentry.

 

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I put a singe white bungee right in front of the cockpit so I have a place to put gloves or a hat or something small and I don't have to fiddle with tightening the toggles. Since I rarely carry anything other than a spare paddle on the deck the  single bungee is perfect for my needs.

 

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I am well pleased the way the stern turned out.  I wrapped it with a brass stemband using  #4 bronze screws to anchor it in place. There is a bead of caulking underneath it to bed it and seal the screw holes.

 

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The bow is my favorite part of the boat. I have always wondered if the Bifid bow wasn't inspired by the mouth of something the Inuits hunted. Maybe a way to pay tribute to the animal or animals.This style of Bifid always made me think of the Salmons appearance once it changes during the breeding run up the rivers. That is a large part of why I wanted eyes on this boat.

 

I am not quite finished painting the eye. I need to add some white highlights to it but the black was still wet when I took this photo. It will be tomorrow before it's dry enough to paint those.

 

I wrapped the bow with stemband too. I let it run about  30" down the bottom of the bow.  That should provide a lot of protection to the most abused part of the a skin boat. I never liked the stitching on very front of a Baidarka and that was a large part of my motivation to try this. Using the Heat-N-bond tape with the stem band turned out very well with only some very minor issues. This method would be perfect on a Stonefly or the Tangerine canoe and it would eliminate all the sewing on those two boats.

 

Now, I just need to tie up a couple of odds and ends and it will be finished. Once I get it on the water, probably next week, I will post launching photos and wrap this up. Thanks for following along!

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THAT IS AWESOME!!  When I saw you had added to this thread, I couldn't wait to get it open and hoped to see the paint job.  You certainly didn't disappoint me.  I love it.  I also agree with you, I think the bow resembles a salmon.  Can't wait to see pictures of it in the water.

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......did you use the "critter sprayer" to spray it?

 

Just the dye on the frame. I was going to but due to the Chris Craft being in the shop and pieces scattered all over the shop I decided against spraying. I wasn't sure how much overspray I would get so I just rolled it on.

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  • 8 months later...

Chris, I never named it and I am not planning on offering plans for it. Anyone interested in a Baidarka I would steer them toward the Firefly plans. I actually like it better.

 

This one doesn't have enough rocker in it and therefore doesn't turn very quickly. It's fine out on the lake in moderate water, covering some distance. But when it starts to gets rough and you want to turn the boat quickly doesn't. It handles the waves well but I didn't like the slowish turns. I am thinking about selling it and building a new one for myself.

 

I have been toying with the idea of designing a more serious Firefly. Narrower, smaller and more rocker.  I am thinking about finding one of the old designs and using its hull shape as a model. I have just about finalized the design of the Iggy and I want to finish that up first. Then I will probably start looking at Baidarkas.

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Thanks Jeff.

 

I don't know if people appreciate just how good you are. You build your "boats", test them and give people your honest opinion both pros and cons.

 

Also your plans are dead-on and if there is a confusion you always seem to jump in.

 

I contrast this with some plans I bought involving a more traditional kayak which was made into "fuselage". The plans were about $10 less but even though I am sure the individual meant well the plans came on something which looked like a brown grocery bad and they had taken a black sharpee and somewhat traced them from a mold. There was no plans or drawing for the stem and stern as they claimed these just needed to be fit.

 

Anyway thanks for being the professional that you are.

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