pbuckner

Thank you Jeff, for your commitment to this issue. Years ago I had a friend who lost two sons to this. They were both in their early 20's excellent physical shape, strong swimmers and had been around boats all their lives. For some reason they got out of the boat and could not get back to it. the coast guard estimated from the winds and tide that they were at least a mile off shore in Lake Huron it was early June. Nether was wearing a life jacket and they both drowned. There were no witnesses so we will never know what happened. The boat was found undamaged with the motor turned off and the anchor stowed. The coast Guard figured they lost something overboard and went in after it, succumbing to the cold water before they could get back to the drifting boat. Again, thank you for keeping this in our minds.

I would not advise it for the following reasons. 1. I almost guarantee you are going to split a frame edge nailing the plywood. 2. Unless your joinery is very precise you will have to use thickened epoxy to fill the gaps. epoxy is messy and a pain to work with. 3. If you find a frame that needs a little nudge into place after the epoxy has cured there is nothing you can do. either build a crooked boat or start over. 4 if you are set on not lashing Use screws instead of ring shanked nails so you can remove if needed, for either one make sure you drill pilot holes first. Before you do watch Jeff's you tube video on lashing, its easy.

you might as well buy a couple of them, because you know you will build another boat!

A double paddle for a canoe just needs to be a little longer than your average kayak paddle to eliminate a lot of the leaning. There is also an aid to the kneeling paddler called a tuffet which supports your butt and shins, taking the wieght off your knees. you can make one out of foam. If you can get ahold of "building Sweet Dream " by Marc Pettingill you can see a good picture of one.

Has anyone building stonefly or tangerine used coppper tacks instead of staples? I know staples are alot faster, probably cheaper and wont be seen anyway, but some things just seem right to me and are worth doing just for the experience.

If you are using a double paddle you would not need to kneel in the stonefly. I believe Jeff designed it to be double paddled ffrom a low seat.