A trimming rudder is another option but best to keep it simple if I can. One option is a small skeg to increase the tracking (at the expense of maneuverability). The canoe weathercocks quite badly when paddling into the the wind (what little there was!). Here is a closeup of the cutoff rear cross-beam: You need to acclimatise to the sun or you will get burnt to a crisp!
The down side is that the UV index down here is pretty extreme. Today it was 19 degrees C when I arrived and about 22 degrees C when I left. The weather in Perth Western Australia even in winter is mild the average maximum is about 19 degrees C in June. It will take me a while to get to this speed no doubt. My target is 6 km/hr so I need to do it in 28 minutes. The canoe hull speed 8.5 km/hr (you would need an outboard motor to go any faster!), so plenty of room for improvement. I am far from being a young, fit and an experienced canoeist, took me 39 minutes or 4.3 km/hr. This time I paddled to a near by bridge and back again (2.8 km return). Here an image of a trimaran to give you an idea of what I have in mind (but less one outrigger):Īfter cutting off the rear cross-beam I went for a third test paddle. The bridge(s)/spar(s) will be detachable. I am going to use a 1/2 size mini-version of the canoe. The final issue is that because canoe rides higher in the water (less than 2" displacement) it is less stable. The second issue that there is no foot rest to help move your weight around to maintain balance. The first issue is that because the bottom of the canoe is wide, if you slide to one side you will tip! It would have been better to have a narrower sole that helps center your "seat" like this one: The 6 mm plywood is not strong enough for the middle span so I reinforced it with wooden strips. Here the pieces have been joined, sanded and ready for painting: Here is the finished join (before sanding off the sharp fibre-glass tap edges):Īfter the join has cured, the other side needs to be taped as well.Īfter sanding, marking and cutting out the pieces: The wooden clamp just makes life a bit easier, but it is not the only way: Here is the initial butt join of two sheets of 6 mm plywood. Here is another method that I really like that I have only just discovered:
Not as strong (about 40%) but sure nicer to work with. I hate fibre-glass so for this project I bought a roll of rather expensive dynel tape.
You buy the fibre-glass tap, epoxy and epoxy filler (micro balloons) from a boating shop. The main trick is to use copper wire as it can be removed when heated with a gas blow torch. The canoe uses stick and glue plywood construction.