Action Tiger

I will never admit to having too many boats or paddles, so it's got to be the trailers. I have learned if you mention to a teenager they may inherit a boat, they take an immediate interest in the finishing of said boat, if they are the right type of weirdo. I'm looking so forward to playing swallows and amazons with my kids.

Shoot. We drove 8 and some change yesterday getting our boat...

Hello. My name is Robert, and I recently bought the unfinished bare hull of CS 17 #55, and intend to finish her off. There will not be much progress at first, as I have the plans to learn back and front, and another boat building right now... I hope to be able to get after her hot and heavy later this summer, though, and maybe be done before spring. Well, no real deadline exists except making the 2017 mess. Thanks to everyone whose thread I've read as inspiration and education, and a special thanks to Graham, who welcomed me to the flock in an email, already. Very excited to have such an amazing boat and be part of such a cool gang. Action Tiger is an old bike racing nickname, by the by, and is a pretty fair description of what you get... Peace, Robert

Well, here's the blank for my paddle. The thin stick glued on top is to make the loom thick enough, but will also be narrowed and carried down the length of nearly the whole blade. This is a unidirectional paddle. The thin stick is glued to e concave side of the paddle, the convex being the power face, making it a sort of bent paddle. Gluing continues apace on the coaming. And more distractions have arrived in my garage. Ah, well.

Ooh, lots of hubbub in my life. A slight pause here, as I rearrange the garop, then back at it hot and heavy. Meantime, all I'm doing on this boat anyway is fairing seams. I think you need to stop and just look once in a while. Whee, filing and sanding...

Chessie's the train mascot, remember? Or am I dis remembering again? I do get a lot of sun. And, for the record, Chick, it ain't all that far. Compared to the moon. I like to keep things in a positive perspective. If I get my choice of driving partners, it ain't but three easy days. Y'all drive watch and watch, too, right? That's all a LOOONG way away fro me, though.

Chick, I'm doing fine, because I still don't own any motors. That's my justification, anyway. I do have two trailers and 26 paddles now, though. That might be an excessive number or trailers...

Dang it, Dave. I broke six coamings before I was willing to admit I picked a bad piece of wood. No, I ain't hard headed why? I'm gluing up a plywood ring, old school style, but I'm going to fasten it in baidarka style with the cloth over, so it won't bother me all that much. Oh, and the paddle blank is glued up. I'll put a photo on that long suffering thread. It ain't the kayak I was worried about, though. There has been a kayak in progress in my yard for almost 20 years straight. No, not the same kayak, though it feels like it, this time. Harvey Golden and Chris Cunningham ruined my life. Morris just hammered in the last nail. Kudzu is a refreshing find, and cool diversion from all the thinking and guessing I normally do. The pink elephant in the room is the boat in the next stall. I've basically decided to finish the frolic, use it while I polish this gem, then pass along the frolic to my oldest kids. Good thing I like building boats, eh?

Rollover? I thought you said you were having turnovers? Well, I'm not coming if there aren't any pastries! You are doing fine work, Pete. The exciting thing is I just scored my own CS, so there's a chance I may see this thing in person at a Messabout, now that I just HAVE to go. Keep on chugging. Ha. Chugging. Get it? Trains, y'all. Geez, I'm dumb. I'm going to work. Peace, Robert

The other difference is a pro knows how to deal with, um, unexpected events. A pro simply has made enough mistakes to know how to fix or prevent them. Or, at least, the professionalism to not point them out! Putty and paint makes a thing what it ain't, right? Of course, I spent years as the putty and paint guy, trying to make things what they ain't. You sound like you'll be fine. After the first one, you'll relax. I suggest you practice on a scrap, to make yourself familiar, and to give you some comfort. Better to learn on "junk" wood, as it were.

Thanks. I am excited. As near a bare hull as possible, so I'm a long way from launching, but I am so happy.

Don't worry Lon. Paddling is exactly like flying, but totally different. Take a short paddle on your own before you go, just to ease your own nerves. You'll be fine. Interested to see your paint, too. Sounds cool.

Ken, it was a strange day. Sorta sad, sorta happy. For me, pure anxiety and anxiety. The good one and the bad one, dig? Paul, you should know better. I still ain't learnt nothing, man. I just dumbed into more luck. I do, however, know how to do it "right", and I even been caught doing it before. Usually for money work. I always cheap out on myself, which is why I skinned kayaks in canvas for so long. I will not skimp a bit on this one. I'm gonna quit my job to get all this work done. Wait. I ain't got no "job". Well, I'm quit song work for money for a while, finish these boats off. Serially. I'll use the cheap one to goof about while I polish my jewelry box. Just don't expect much bright work, y'all. I do, however, plan to use some nice two pack paint, not poach and flow, so you can all relax.

There she is. Right in front of door number two, where she will go stay until her rebirth.

The only tip on scarfs is to make them straight. And if your using TBIII, be careful, it sticks to EVERYTHING. Your plan sounds fine. You can just oil the whole frame together. It will loose into all the crannies, and it will make the wood feel creepy if you oil it first.

Someone is afraid of the lash! You are doing a fine job, sir. Color chosen, yet?

Well, I waited because I didn't want to jinx anything, but I took an 8 hour drive today. Round trip. And someone rode my bumper the whole way home! That's right, y'all, ACTION TIGER GOT HIM A CS17! Some of you know I'm already building some boats (hush, I get bored and can't sit still, and sometimes stuff needs to dry...), so I'm gonna finish them both so I can really focus here. I am just beyond the moon, though I feel like I picked up a book and started on chapter 7. The hull is together and glooped up inside, so I'll be starting from a bare hull. It is so beautiful still, just bare ply, I must have gotten 10 thumbs ups on the road home. The best part, to me, is Tony lives right up the road, and I already promised him a sail. Shoot, he can have 100 rides! I will have her launched before next summer, and you can watch me muck it up on a thread I'll start. That was a joke, y'all. I know my way around a squeegee, I just got shake the rust off. Luckily I've been glooping for practice, lately. Don't breathe a word in the garop, or you'll jinx her, but she's to be called Phoenix. Did I mention my excitement? Beyond. The. Moon. Oh, Southern Appalachian Messers. I am announcing now I WILL NOT make your mess again next year. Shooting for the B&B, now... :) Peace, Robert

Oh, I could never work there. Too clean, too many clamps. This is amazing to watch happen. Looks like you work hard and have a good time doing it. Thanks for sharing, I'm enjoying. Peace, Robert

You should eat their unborn babies. Delicious. I like Raniers...(they are pinkish blonde, and sweet, not very tart, though a good Bing is hard to pass up. Thanks, Ah!) Then, you should build one of Kudzu's canoe type boats, and trim it with that dead cherry tree. Beautiful, fairly tough wood. Lots of guys trim canoes and such like small boats with it. Or, as Dave suggested, a coaming would a be very sharp. That stuff is plenty bendy to make a coaming from. You can either steam (pick green wood, if you can, and check the grain carefully, because any runout is liable to crack, no explode...trust me) it, or slice it fairly thin. With Kudzu's thin slice/heat gun/glue method, cherry should be fine. And, it's pretty. But, you probably already know that. Every tree is different, though, so generalizations about wood are hard. Tight grain is one quality desirable in any wood... Good luck, and let us know what happens.

In another thread, we were joking about how to "punish" those who don't post FROG photos. I jokingly suggested a lash. Some of you may know already I am a large (and old) kid with time to burn and tools at my disposal. And not much brain. The FROG lash. Oh, yeah, that's an authentic broom handle, and authentic knotted artificial sinew...

Apple turnover? Just keep swimming, brother, you're getting close!

You know, I'm not far from where all the Rutan hubbub occurred/occurs. I remember the first home built composite push prop weirdo thing I saw. Geez, does that age me? I just looked up when their plane flew around the world non-stop! What happened to all that time? I think I would really enjoy building a plane. I know I would not enjoy one millisecond of being airborne in it. Lost my nerve for planes years ago. Not even a 777. Can't do it. Suffice to say, we, all here who are married, found AMAZING women (or men, hey...), found saints. Here's to great mates and never growing up! Man I'll have to dig up and old photo of us in our bug or bus. It will be a picture of a photo, but I'll look. I really do love "hanging" out with like minds.

Tony, I sent you a PM. Well, two. Ignore the first one. Peace, Robert

ok- so I have been reviewing some pictures.... my new mantra when sailing the CS.... "it's a sprit, not a boom, it's a sprit, not a boom", I think I figured out what my issue was.... Hahahahaha! My first sharpie sail lesson, too. I look forward to seeing all both your boats in pics, thanks! Peace, Robert

Use whichever method you feel you can make the best joint with. I been running hand tools for a loooong time, so I feel VERY comfortable with a slick, chisel, and plane. And hatchet me draw knife. And I can still sorta muster an adze. A little coopers adze, I mean, not the big daddy. Been about 20 years since I touched a table saw, though. I would be very, very nervous to use a tables saw for anything anymore. I'm old, and scared.