chazwell

Just out of warranty (ouch!). Order was completed on 5/12/2015. Order number was 1430929229-244 if that helps. On the other hand these have only been used a couple of times as it took (much) longer to complete the boat and get it on the water than I expected (see my post from December showing the finished R'Wood under my Christmas tree ) Anything you can do to help me out or suggestions on how to proceed? Thanks.

I seem to have developed a seam leak in each of my Kudzu flotation bags. Any recommendations on how to seal them up again? Heat? Glue?

I can just barely get a Seals basic skirt in their size '1.7' to stretch onto my Ravenswood with the plywood coaming. Haven't really tried paddling with it so I don't know if would just pop off with movement. It's a very tight fit so I can understand why they wouldn't be happy with them that way. I'm interested mostly in the splash deck to start. Looking at the Seals web site it looks like the basic model will fit a wide range of sizes from '1.2' to '4.2' so it must be very adjustable. I haven't physically seen one so is this your understanding of their fit? Would a custom size of this be necessary? In any case I would think you could move a few of these.

This is my first SOF boat (so I know where all the glaring flaws are). It's a standard Ravenswood built from plans with 11 oz polyester fabric coated with "traditional" Rustoleum (in the white cans). It's been in construction off and on since spring. Basically I wanted a reasonably performing boat to keep at our camp in Maine rather than having to haul one back and forth whenever we go. I wanted the red deck to aid visibility on the water but didn't realize how 'Christmas-y' it would look until I pulled the masking tape off. Almost like a candy cane. . Given the season I thought pictures under the tree would be fun but it had to leave the living room after the photo shoot.

Finally 'done' ..... It's behind schedule but just in time for a Christmas present to myself . It doesn't seem to fit too well under the tree. Unfortunately December in New England is no time to be testing out a new boat. How long until spring?

Finally!!! My Ravenswood is ready for paint. The fabric is the 11 oz poly and my plan is to use Rustoleum. Any info on how many coats might be required to seal things up and also how far does the paint go on the fabric (should I be buying quarts or gallons?). Thanks.

Ravenswood. I got the plans this past February. I remember seeing a small frame piece on them that was labeled 'no longer needed' or 'not used' or something like that. Therefore this piece was never cut and now the paper scraps from the plans are long gone. Is that the piece you're referring to? Did I miss something?

In the second video in the 'Skinning With Polyester' series brief reference is made to having support brackets on the sides of the lower plywood coaming ring to prevent breakage while skinning. Nothing more is said as the video progresses with a laminated one. Also no reference is made to these supports in the instruction manual. Are these really necessary? If so any suggestions on their shape or exact placement? With the 11 oz fabric any thoughts about how to ensure it gets pulled tight enough when installing a plywood coaming (since the fabric reputedly doesn't shrink much)? BTW I'm OK if the answer is 'it shrinks enough to pull tight there' Thanks

Getting back to my Ravenswood build after a brief hiatus and two questions have come to mind: 1. The instructions suggest temporarily lashing the plywood coaming lower ring to the frame while skinning with the lashes to be cut at some later point. This would seem to leave the coaming finally held in place only by the tension of the skin. Is the skin's shape such that it pulls the rings down against the deck stringers to provide vertical support? Is the skin tension enough to really hold it in place? Anyone leave the lower ring lashed in permanently (after the upper rings are attached) for a little extra support? 2. Given the forward cockpit height it appears that a paddler's heels will be resting on the back side of the fabric skin. Does this become a substantial wear point? Does the inevitable small bulge in the hull bottom cause problems? I was experimenting last night with heel rests made of scrap 1/8" okume but decided there wasn't enough vertical room for my feet after lashing them in about midway up the keel stringer (much lower would impinge on the skin). Has anyone looked at other methods of addressing this? Thanks

Here's where I am so far (an IFRIC, that's Intermediate Frame in Cellar, photo perhaps) on a Ravenswood. Should start doing the real lashings soon. Seems like a good time to think about ordering fabric, but how much Fabric? I'm sure it's discussed somewhere here and I recall seeing something about getting a length a foot longer than the boat. Is that a good recommendation? If so it would seem that, rounding up, 17 feet should do for the R'wood.

I've got the cross frames cut and sanded and the stringers cut, scarfed, and ready to go. Now as a first time builder I'm agonizing over next steps so I'd like to gather some opinions on how others have proceeded. - I've seen some discussion here about oiling the frames and stringers before assembly vs after hoping to get the joining surfaces more completely oiled. It seems that it probably doesn't make too much difference and at least one post says the oil will seep adequately into the joints after assembly. What are folks' experiences with this issue? - At the risk of reigniting the philosophical discussion of whether to use boiled linseed or tung oils (or some other coating) and what the various available products really are made of is there any feeling as to what is in more common use for these boats now? BLO has the availability and price advantage while in my location it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to find some real tung oil. Then there are the questions of whether or not to thin whichever is used and how many coats and drying times and...... . Any observations are welcome. - Even further down the road I'm sort of leaning towards the 11 oz fabric for durability reasons but wonder about any difficulty working with it to get a smooth finished product. I welcome comments about what others are using and why. Of course after getting people's views on all this I may be more confused but that's when you say "just go with it" Thanks.

I've been working on a Ravenswood from plans for about a week now, basically just cutting the frames at this point. A couple of questions have come up that I'd be interested in guidance on. - On the 13' 6" frame the lower inside angle of the cutouts for the gunwale stringers is drawn less than 90 degrees while the corresponding angles on the other frames is 90 degrees. Is this correct/expected? If so then the stringer needs to be shaped in that area to fit snugly. If not then which leg of the drawn angle should be moved to bring it to 90? - The bow and stern extension pieces are drawn to a quite sharp point at their respective ends. This would seem to cause a puncture problem skinning the boat when working the fabric up from the bottom to the top at the very ends. Looking at the pictures of the Ravenswood model featured on the website the bow (and I assume the stern as well) is clearly cut off round. Although it's not explicitly stated is it expected that these ends should be rounded somewhat? If so is there a recommended radius that makes skinning easier or is the "that looks about right" method good here? Thanks for any information.