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DURRETTD

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Everything posted by DURRETTD

  1. You can get flotation bags that have a water-tight opening large enough to store large items. Jeff may not make storage-flotation bags, but they are available elsewhere.
  2. Avoid the heat gun! apparently they get too hot and often melt the fabric. Jeff recommends using an iron. He discusses it in his books and stresses the need to test the iron on a piece of scrap cloth!
  3. Jeff: Just because he's been convinced it's safe, doesn't mean he won't feel better with a little reinforcement for the fabric. He might feel better if he gets a sleeping bag pad or other closed cell foam and cutting out a couple of strips to glue to the fabric under his heels.
  4. I try to avoid approaching any landing - even in a tupperware boat - bow-on. I approach parallel to the shore. I also exit the boat from the side away from the shore, especially in areas with frequent power boat wakes or at the beach; if you're between your kayak and the shore, a wave or wake can bowl you over - sending your boat into your legs with surprising force. This is especially important at the beach with a 60-pound tupperware kayak. Even with a SOF it can be unpleasant. A bow-on landing also makes your boat less stable. When the bow is supported by the beach, it's also lifted a bit, the max beam is shifted aft to a narrower portion of the boat, making it less stable. I rely on rub strips to protect the bow and stern when I'm resting one end on grass or sand while lifting the other end onto a roof rack. Meanwhile, back to Jim's question: I've had good luck with Lexel sticking to everything and anything.
  5. And, don't boil your boat - at least limit boiling to the stringers, unpainted skin, and sinew.
  6. If you paddle a canoe with a double-blade paddle you'll get a lot of strange looks and an occasional question from the uninformed who are certain that you're "supposed" to use a single-blade. You'll also get where you're going with less effort and in greater comfort. I haven't used a single-blade canoe paddle since about 1992 and I don't miss it at all. you'll find that 29-inch beam is no problem at all, even with a shorter double-blade intended for a narrow kayak.
  7. Are the bubbles a separation of one layer of paint from those below or the skin lifting away from the frame? Did you thin your first coat of paint? I'm guessing that thinned paint will penetrate the fabric better and adhere to the frame a bit better than unthinned paint. Maybe an unthinned first coat could allow the skin to separate from the frame when stressed by different shrinkage and expansion rates caused by humidity and temperature changes.
  8. I recommend you buy both of Jeff's books, either from his site or as e-books from Amazon. He discusses fabrics and coatings at length. Look over Jeff's website at: http://www.kudzucraft.com/web/
  9. Yes, everyone needs a canoe or a pirogue, and a couple of kayaks, and a sliding seat row boat, and a sail boat, and ...
  10. Jeff juggles lots of factors when he designs these boats. Strange things happen when you scale a boat up or down. You may find that although cloth will stretch around the boat and conform to the curves, sheet plywood is not likely to bend to fit the frame. Plywood will conform to a cone or cylinder shape, but not to a sphere - it won't stretch. If you decide to do this, I recommend you try fitting kraft paper before you buy and cut plywood, then you can order cloth if the paper won't conform to the frame.
  11. You have an automatic?!!? My old plastic boat has a standard transmission and I keep getting the pedals confused, I gotta' build one of Jeff's boats. Is the auto trans hard to build?
  12. I've used Excel to visualize the lines and dimensions of one of Jeff's boats (a Curlew published in his first book) and for an Iggy. I haven't actually lofted or built either boat. I think it gives a good idea of how the lines flow and can be used to extrapolate some measurements, such as waterline length and beam, deadrise, etc. I would not consider it lofting and would be prepared for surprises while building. I'll also second Robert's hope that you're not borrowing lines from a living, working designer, but maybe rather recreating a historic model.
  13. Lowes carries Rustoleum enamel in "Safety Yellow" and "Safety Red".
  14. PLEASE, use it to make a laminated coaming, finish it bright, and post photos! On second thought, if you use it for a coaming, you'll probably never be able to force yourself to cover it with a spray skirt. Maybe Jeff could convince Seals to make a clear spray skirt?
  15. Congratulations on your choice of an interior designer!
  16. "Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time!" said the cowboy after he jumped in the cactus patch.
  17. Has anyone used full-length rub-strips? It sounds like they might make collisions with rocks a little more survivable. I'm assuming half-inch wood rub strips, bedded in a flexible compound with lots of small, countersunk flat head screws.
  18. The one review I've read of the Nimrod says it tracks exceptionally well and turns easily: http://messing-about.com/forums/topic/9720-nimrod-launch/
  19. I should warn you that my first Seals spray skirt only lasted 25 years. After that the shock cord had to be replaced and water started seeping through the nylon. Great products!
  20. That's the sort of expertise that explains why Jeff makes the big bucks ... or should make the big bucks. Dan
  21. For those who boil their boats: Kayak Soup one kayak two ounces of salt 100 bullion cubes 40 pounds potatoes 10 pounds onions two ounces wooden paddle zest, finely shaved 20 gallons of water fresh ground pepper to taste Remove skin and any non-wooden internal parts Boil kayak for 12 hours Add additional ingredients (except paddle zest, potatoes, and onions) and boil 12 more hours Remove kayak frame and boil to reduce volume to five gallons Add potatoes and onions and boil for 30 minutes Add paddle zest and boil for five minutes Serve hot Call poision control hot line
  22. Much better! I'm an IT guy, so I naturally I used a computer for mine. You'd think a computer guy could get a picture to load on this forum, but ...
  23. I don't know what commercial lifts cost, but it isn't terribly expensive to build your own: Lay your kayak/canoe on the garage/carport floor directly below where you intend to hang the boat. Make two loops of rope (or strap) around the boat at the points at which you want it suspended. I spaced mine about eight feet apart for a seventeen-foot kayak. Screw three lag screw eyes into garage ceiling joists: one directly above each loop around the boat and one half-way between the first two. ("Half-way" is just for illustration. I'll comment later about other placement for the "turning pulleys".) Attach one 1 1/2" to 2" pulley to each of the end lag screw eyes and two pulleys to the center one. Or, use a double block. Tie a pulley to each of the loops around the boat. Tie the end of a 40' line to the eye at one end of the boat. (I'm assuming a 9' ceiling.) Run the free end of the line down to and through the pulley you previously tied to the loop directly below the eye, run the line through the pulley tied to the eye next to where you tied the end of the line, run the free end of the line through one of the pulleys tied to the eye near the center then down to a cleat attached to the wall. Repeat the previous process on the other end of the boat. Grab the two lines and pull to hoist the boat. Cleat both lines to hold the boat in place. Parts: 2, 40-foot lengths of 1/2" polypropylene line. Lowes sells 50-foot hanks of suitable rope. The excess can make loops around the boat and provide line to tie the pulleys to the eyes. I used some old rock climbing carabiners to attach the pulleys. 6, 1 1/2 to 2-inch pulleys. I'm saying "pulleys" not "blocks" because "block" implies marine hardware. Lowes sells suitable pulleys. 3, 3/8-inch lag screw eyes. If your garage does not have a ceiling, you can tie the pulleys directly to the trusses. 1, cleat to tie off the lines. The two pulleys on the standing part of the line give a two-to-one mechanical advantage; you'll only be exerting twenty pounds of force to lift a forty-pound boat. If your boat is a Kudzu design you can throw some sand in to get it up to forty pounds. I have three boats suspended under my carport using this system: one against each wall and one 2 1/2 feet out from one wall. For the one hanging away from the wall, the line from the upper pulley to the turning pulley runs diagonally across the ceiling and does not interfere with the lines for the one against the wall. The turning pulley does not have to be at the center. To avoid interfering with a door, one turning pulley is near one end of the boat. Measure to be sure you don't cut your rope too short if your ceiling is not nine feet or if you run lines horizontally across the ceiling. Had a drawing, but can't get it to load. Here's a rough illustration of one end of the lift. line tied to lag screw eye or hook | _________________________ | |pulley pulley | | |tied tied to | | |to same second | | |eye or hook eye or | | | hook | | | | | | | | | cleat | | | | | | | | |pulley| tied to loop around boat
  24. Storage space! Every silver lining has a cloud, doesn't it? I calculate that I have room for one more kayak, then I either have to add on to my house, buy a warehouse, or get rid of a boat. Get rid of a boat? Who am I kidding? Wait! We don't use the living room much ...
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