paxtonm

Any recommendations? I prefer an all neoprene skirt (water is cold around here!). My coming is on Jeff's laminated template, and it has a circumference of 87 inches. Thanks!

Sorry, but no pictures yet. But, I have to let you all know that my Vardo and I took our maiden voyage today,and the boat is a winner! I've paddled other boats, but this one is superb. I felt pretty comfortable within a minute or three, and our trip was great. We launched in Elkhorn Slough, a tidal estuary in Monterey Cty. CA. It was overcast, and relatively calm to start, with a westerly on our nose at about 12-15 knots coming back. The boat tracks and turns beautifully! No troubles going wherever I wanted, and it just slides through the water. I got several compliments, and a couple of questions, but the real stares came when I snatched it up with one hand to carry it around. It comes in at 28 pounds! The slough is part of the Monterey Marine sanctuary, and it is full of life. We watched sea otters, harbor seals and sea lions up close, along with an astounding amount of bird life. Jeff, I cannot begin to thank you enough, but if you are ever out in this part of God's creation, please know you have a home with us.

Thanks everyone. That helps. It looks good. I should be able to get the rest of the small wrinkles out tonight. Thinking about it after I posted the original, I got to thinking about skin boats, and how, going from wet to dry constantly, they likely weren't drum tight, either.

Greetings, Time's been in short supply lately, with weekends devoted to work and (less important) chores. Finally started shrinking the 8 oz. poly skin on the Vardo tonight, and naturally picked the hottest day of the year so far. I'm about done for the night -- too hot -- but I'd like to finish tomorrow. How tight should the skin be upon completion? Drum tight? Any deformity under pressure at all? I couldn't find anything about that in the manual, but my guess is pretty darn tight is right.

Lip is 18 mm and the bottom part is 8 mm. As I said, it's a strong one.

I'll measure it when I get home, but mine's pretty darn stiff. Way I see it, that's a good thing. The way Jeff shows to do it is to horse down on the thing with a ratcheting strap. I'm going to give it a go Saturday. Mark

So Jeff, you're saying that the brackets in the Vardo plans are probably unnecessary? I've laminated my coaming out of maple, and it's getting stitched in tomorrow. Then I was gonna install the brackets, using stainless screws and nyloc nuts with washers to distribute the load. My weight teeters between 200 and 210, depending on ... well, you know.

I hope to start stitching on the skin (8 oz. poly) tonight. The plan was Spectra, 65 lb. test. Has anybody else used it? It is so small in diameter, that I'm worried about big pull holes, even if I do follow the loose weave instructions to the letter. Jeff, as long as you're adding to the store, spools of thead would be great. I couldn't find white, so my stuff is moss green. Should be ok with the stain I plan to add to the Zar.

Used a coat of tung oil before lashing, and went back and recoated after lashing. Since the idea is not to leave the boat parked in the water 24/7, it should have plenty of dry time unless you live in a very, very wet environment.

Unless I'm mistaken, a mute swan drowned a guy in the Boston area some years ago. They are very aggressive in defending their turf while nesting. As non-natives to North America, the fewer mute swans in the U.S. the better, in my book.

Looks like I've got to use an online photo service, like picasa or photobucket, to link a url for a photo on this site. I've been meaning to move a bunch of pix to the cloud, but haven't gotten to it. That's on the to-do list, I guess. Won't happen today, because I'm at work until 9 p.m. or later.

If any of you are inclined to go in a different direction, Jamestown Distributors has brass half round, and the 3/8ths size comes in at about $2 a foot. I'm probably going to try that myself.

Vardo is coming along nicely, thanks to all of you, but mostly, to Jeff. My 84 year old dad comes by most Sundays for dinner, and the project is really fascinating him. It's great to listen to his comments and questions. The reason for this post is just to thank Jeff for great designs, incredible customer service (placed an order Monday night, added to it Tuesday morning, got it Friday) and patient advice. The foot brace brackets went in today, and the design of his brackets is perfect -- simple and elegant. The skin is next, and I can't wait. I've never enjoyed a woodworking project more. I think it will be floating soon. I'm already thinking about the next one...

Woodman, I am curious about your advice on screws. Won't the slots rub off and make replacement a huge pain?

I like navy and khaki a lot, too. I have to order some fabric, line, bungee, foot pedals and a back band in a bit, so I'm hoping I'll be able to place an advance T-shirt order when I do. Really look nice, Jeff.