Mark_Schilling said:
Mike_Jackson said:
When I tried creating the poll, I had plastic and wood in there, but somehow those options did not make it through when I pressed submit. I could not find a way to edit a posting or a poll once submitted.
Some more stuff for Dan to figure out during his free time. :lol: :?
I looked and I can't figure out what the problem is. The polls are set for up to 10 choices -- guess I'll have to take another look.
However, I am not sure I have the time or the manufacturing skill to make my own wood boat...
I'm tentatively planning on attempting such a feat this winter - I'll let you know how it turns out. If I do half as good a job as Dan has done on his Osprey Double I'll be pretty happy - not to say my standards are low; just that his boat looks darn near perfect. I've seen some other Pygmy kits that look like they were thrown together by comparison.
Aw shucks.
It's really not difficult to build your own boat from a kit. In fact, it's embarassingly easy. If you can follow instructions, operate a random orbit sander, and have a bit of patience, you can build one.
I must say that the wooden boat has proven itself to be quite desirable. It's as light and strong as kevlar (my double weighs in at less than 70 lbs, including the rudder and deck hardware!), and has proven to be exceptionally durable. While I'm not hard on my boat and avoid running it up on beaches and rocks, I certainly don't baby it either, as others here can attest to.
The boat is now nearly three years old and has a few scratches on the bottom of the hull but all is superficial. A few short months ago I hit a boomer in English Bay that scared the heck out of me -- in fact, I landed so hard on top of a barnacle encrusted rock that I thought that for sure the boat had sustained considerable damage -- when I got to the shore, there was barely a mark! I suspect that I'll get at least another full season (and maybe two) out of the boat before refinishing it -- and that would only be for minor cosmetic reasons, structurally, there are no problems at all.
I've also decided to build another wood kayak later this year -- I'm seriously considering the Pygmy Arctic Tern, a hard chine greenland style hull. You can see it at
http://www.pygmyboats.com
When I build the new boat, I'll refinish my double but not before making a number of modifications. I've decided to install an extra set of bulkheads and a hatch between the two cockpits, as well as a number of small mods such as underdeck shelves, a compass mount, flattening a small spot on the stern in front of the rudder for mounting my night light, and also install a couple of paddle parks. I don't have perimeter lines on the double so I'll most likely add them as well.
That's one of the more important factors of building your own boat -- you can modify it any way you want -- and it's no big deal to do so.
The only real downside to owning a wooden boat is that you must allow about an extra half hour to get in the water because you always get people coming up and admiring and asking questions about it. But I have to admit that this is a nice downside.
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