Fixing An Aluminum Canoe

May 25, 2014

The local store owner approached me with a little bit of a challenge.  Can I fix his aluminum canoe?  Well, I say I'll give it try and why the hell not?  I worked on my mother's aluminum canoe a few years back but it wasn't holed.  This one was, not bad but enough to make it a pain.

Once I got it here I put it on sawhorses and slowly filled it with water one bucket at a time.  The leaks were due to small pin holes in a patch on the hull and the end of the stern where it had seen a lot of use. There is also a patch from a previous breach in the hull and water was leaking out of there at well. 

Since the holes where so small I thought I'd try out some G-Flex in them.  I had just bought some syringes for this type of work.  I filled each hole with just enough resin so they weren't overflowing.  I then put a layer of Dynel cloth over that to make a tight seal.  I used this link for a guideline:

http://www.westsystem.com/ss/fix-leaking-rivets-in-aluminum-boats-with-g-flex-650/

It's all pretty simple but as usual prep time is what eats up most of the job.  Here's what I used. 

I filled the boat the next day with water and waited for two hours while keeping checking for any leaks.  None so it was a success.  Next on the board was to find a way to fix the decks.  The aluminum had ripped and all one has to do to open an artery is to scrap against it.

I tried to bend the cut back but didn't have a way to seal the cut.  I talked with the owner and said I could probably replace the decks with wood and he was good with that.  I had some luan set aside for just this kind of project and decided to use that.  I drilled out the rivets on the metal decks and used them as a template to cut out the new decks. Four coats of spar varnish and I deemed it good to go.

I used rivets with a washer as a backing to hold them in place but fires smeared a healthy dose of G-Flex to the metal and the wood as an additional holding agent.  I am going to be adding a piece of ash to the wide end of the deck which will tie into the hull for a carry handle and add support. 

Since I was working with resin I decided to add a little weight to make sure of a good bond.  Bricks!

Now one thing I didn't realize until I had already done it was that once the metal decks were off the hull spread some and the wood deck wasn't fitting correctly.  I used my straps to cinch it in so it was a tight fit.  Once I did that I drilled through the wood deck and into the the lip of the hull so the rivets would line up.  I made sure I marked with tape where the old rivet holes were so I could off set the new holes. 

All in all not bad.  I did add a layer of foam to the existing foam bulkhead so the wooden deck has more support.  All I can think is if someone sits on it. 

I added foam to fill the gaps you can see here

A few pictures of the boat.

More To Come.

Aroostook River Maine 2014

This is the account written up by Mike Bussell of the trip on the Aroostook River, Maine 2014.  The players were Mike Bussell, Marshall Moore, and Ken Corbett. 

Aroostook River, Maine 2014

Written by Mike Bussell

After doing 150 miles on the Allagash to Ft. Kent last Sept. and pretty much wrapping up almost all of the 740 mile NFCT in segment's over the past 7-8 years, I thought I had retired from down river canoe camping. I really was, and still am, tired of setting up and tearing down camp every day while covering miles. My canoe camping was going to consist of 'base camping' from now on.
Well, on that drive up to the Allagash back in Sept. We crossed over the Aroostook river way up in Ashland and I took a mental note to 'read up' on it. Now come January this year I'm bored and start throwing around the idea of getting out on a multi-day trip with DougD and maybe two others to have a nice small group of four. I throw the idea out to Doug early in January because it seem's it's alway's too late by time we get around to planning time off together.

So I start researching the trip and looking for shuttle driver possibilities up that way and sending out email invites to my other canoe camping buddy's. One by one my regular crew of guy's couldn't make it for one reason or another. More talk with Doug and we send out invites to a couple of guy's he's traveled with before but I hadn't, but knew they were top notch experienced traveler's, Marshall Moore and Nanook of the Nashwack, aka (Ken), from New Brunswick. Now come March and disaster strikes Doug as we all now know with his house burning down and effectively prying Doug from the trip along with his life's possessions. At this point I had lost some of the excitement of planning and let it slip by for a few week's. Marshall and Ken were still on board and I felt I owed them the time to keep plugging and get the detail's worked out.

Up to this point I hadn't had much luck getting a shuttle for this river. There were plenty of Sporting camp's, and Maine Guides and Outfitters, but none did shuttles and each were pryed for information of the phone number of someone they might know that could do it. Finally I got in touch with a Leo Freeman of Presque Isle, the finishing point on our trip. Leo owns 'Perception of Aroostook a small canoe and kayak shop right across the street from the boat launch ! He told me straight off that that wasn't his usual shuttle service, but yeah, he'd drive us in. He likes long drives on Maine's back logging road's just like everyone else up there. Leo Freeman is a Jack of all trades, he's a Registered Maine Guide, extremely avid road bicyclist, and back country skier, and many more I'm sure I'm not aware of.
O.K., so the day arrives where I get up to Presque Isle on saturday and meet Marshall at the Motel where we split a room for the night and hook up with Ken in the morning. We meet up with Leo Sunday a.m., load up and we're on our way into the headwater's of the Aroostook.

We take the logging roads in to the put-in by the Ashland check point. Aptly call the '6 mile' check point, it's 6 miles in. Here you have to sign in and pay a fee to 'North Maine Wood's'. After successfully confusing the woman gate attendant as to the number of day's and camping night's we would be in NMW we succeeded in keeping an extra $24 in our pocket ! NMW manages the campsites and collect's the fee's for the logging companies that own the forest. It's a co-operation that allows public use of the vast forest for camping, canoeing, hunting and fishing, and shared use with the logging company truck's. There are Sporting camp's that have been out there since the 1880's when the only method to get there was a Maine Guide poling up the Aroostook with the 'sport's' into the headwaters and the camp's.

After leaving the check point we were about a mile or two down the road when there was a loud bang and something dragging in the gravel. We stopped in the middle of the road and jumped out, Leo was rushing to check the boat's on the trailer and I bent over and looked under the truck. Well,.. the full gas tank had dropped to the road ! The band's holding the tank had rusted and the obvious jolting of the gravel road did them in. To keep it short, another elderly couple were on their way into their camp and had some 4x4 block's of wood to help leverage the tank up where Leo used some cam-buckle straps and got it seated pretty good and we were back on our way. We still had about 50 miles of gravel road to travel and kept an ear on any noises from underneath, it stayed quiet.
Finally getting into the Chase lake drive-in campsite around 2:30 we unloaded boat's and gear, opened a beer and said our goodbyes to Leo.

The back side of the Chase lake drive-in campsite is a 3 cell area with outhouse a picnic table pavillion at one site and two regular sites with fire ring and table. We had company already set up at the other two sites and we tucked into the smaller site that was still available.

Come morning we broke camp and were paddling out into Chase lake by 8:30 a.m. All the other fisherman camper's at the site were still snoring away as we paddled off down the lake. Chase Lake is about 1 1/2 miles long and there is a open outlet at the end that run's about a quarter mile into Munsungan lake. I took lead at the outlet and ran a sweet quarter mile of CL-I into the next lake.
Munsungan lake is 5 miles long and a Maine gem for fishermen. Considered one of the top 5 in the state for catching native Brook trout and land locked Salmon it's a destination for the truly serious fly fisherman. And also the location of Bradford Camp's. Built around 1880 they are one of the top notch remote fishing camp's. They built a strong reputation over all those years and the current owners are just as friendly and good as any place you could stay.

After crossing Munsungan lake you go through the thoroughfare into Little Munsungan. There is a nice campsite at the thoroughfare that is only canoe accessable and look's like it doesn't see much use (still nice). There is another site on Little Munsungan that we didn't stop at but is also car accessable.
At the outlet to little Munsungan is the beginning of Munsungan stream and another single cabin that is still called the 'Old Timers camp' even though all the old timers have passed away and somebody else has the title now. It too was built around 1880 and is the real deal, still looking great.

Munsungan stream quickly goes on it's way at the outlet and at about 1 1/2 miles the current pick's up as it rushes to Munsungan fall's, a portage. I had been told the beginning of the portage was hard to find in swift current on the left bank. I was in lead and was close to the left bank and there was a serious looking ledge rapid just ahead that had caught my attention. I was just going into my lining up for the rapid when out of the corner of my left eye I saw a faint notch in the river bank woods, the trail ! But I was already at that point and a quick few strokes and I was hugging branches about 15 yards downstream from the path. I made motions to Marshall and Ken where the trail was as they were still above it and would be able to get to it easy enough. Soon enough I was pulled up onto the trail and started humping my gear down the portage trail. A fairly short portage of less than a quarter mile,maybe 2/10th. The put-in being right at the base of the 'fall's'. In my WW boat, or my empty 17' Explorer I would see no problem running this drop as there is a runnable center line over the 3-4 ft. ledge drop. Not sure I'd run it in my loaded Kevlar Prospector though.

Theodore Roosevelt fished for Salmon at the base of Munsungan Fall's when he was a young man on his trip to Maine. It's the farthest he'd gone up river and some say this area is where he got the idea of preserving our nation's resources in later years for our National park's.

Once back in the boat's you cross under the only logging road bridge the entire trip. As you head down river the current pull's you along with nary an blowdown to block your way. The wooded riverbank's also start to steepen into a fir and Cedar lined wilderness and the gradient start's to pick up. Soon we were really flying along a swift, fairly straight river course that I'll alway's remember. CL-I, full river, no bumping bottom, Pines and Eastern Hemlock's and a beautiful forest all around. After several non-stop continuos miles of this we came apon the remain's of the Old Oxbow road crossing, now campsite. (drive-in)
There were a couple of truck's parked and 2 guy's were fishing near the old rock crib remain's of the bridge. After some intro's and small talk they were only there to fish and we would have the sites to ourselves that night. It was a nice evening with the group tarp easily pulled over the decrepid pavillion over the picnic table which kept us dry in the sporatic showers that evening. And another well kept outhouse is located here too.

That morning we were out and loaded up on the river by 9:30 a.m. an easy slow morning. We were headed to the LaPomakeag stream campsite just 8-10 miles downriver. As we headed down river that day (tuesday) we were going to be connecting with several large feeder stream's that are also considered headwater trip's, Millinocket stream, Mooseleuk stream, LaPomekeag, and many smaller stream's. Marshall was interested in the Munsungan Branch NMW campsite at the confluence with Millinocket stream. We found it. It was trashed by lack of use and upkeep and the ravenges of ice-out. It would be hard to describe how wet and overgrown it had become. Just a fire-ring with a wet grassy overgrown area in aldlers that couldn't take more than one small (wet) tent. This was the beginning of many campsite dissapointments as we headed downriver. Next was the Mooseleuk Branch campsite. Not used, overgrown, terrible location. We found the fire-ring and a box toilet. But there were obvious issues with over grown brush, tree's down (a long time) and lack of a landing beach (steep drop off in swift current). The next site was our intended destination for that night, LaPomekeag stream. We found it just down stream from the stream's confluence and it was destroyed by ice-out that year. Although, I tend to believe it was already decrepid and overgrown from lack of use. The ripped up tree's from ice-out laying across the open area's where you would be setting up your tents needed a chainsaw, and the 'rut' that was blocked by tree's to get up into the site needed some serious stair building if you didn't want to break your leg trying to climb up into the site.

We made the decision to move on downriver several more miles to the boat launch at the Oxbow check point. Once at the boat launch we were greeted by a open area with no outhouse or fire-ring and a small brush line to set up tents along the river bank field. (not an official camping area) A muddy, dusty pick-up truck slowly ambled along the gravel road and eventually he drove over to the boat launch to chat with us. We explained about the wasted campsites upriver and he assured us we would be just fine camped there for the night and nobody was going to bother us. He left us and we continued to set up tents. About a half hour later he drives up, jumps in the back of his truck and throws out a fire-ring and more split dry wood than we could use in one night. As he climb's back into his cab he say's "Ain't no fun camping without a good fire. I'll be back in the morning for the fire-ring". And away he went. Thank you, thank you !

Now the next morning (wens), we pack up and are looking at our next night's camping option's because our travel segment's are now out of whack. It was decided to just head down river and keep an eye out for acceptable bootleg camping.There was one more NMW site we could check on but it was only a few short miles down river and it was our intended destination (short day) after the LaPomekeag stream campsite. Once we got to the Houlton brook campsite we were extremely disappointed with how the NMW has done nothing to upkeep the sites along this river. Having talked to quite a few local's on this trip about thing's like the tourism trade and lack of yearly visitors to this area of Maine, there are thing's they need to do to get folk's to visit this area more. I'll stand on my soapbox later.

As we left the Houlton brook campsite (multiple downed tree's, over grown) which was probably the prettiest location the whole trip we were just a few miles outside the first town settlement, Masardis, we stopped at the boat launch for lunch. Our discussion was that we would continue to look for an acceptable bootleg site if nesissary but we also had the option of paddling all the way to Ashland where a couple of old timers I had talked to on the phone week's earlier had said we could stay at the Ashland Hunting and Fishing Club right next to the river. As we continued after lunch the miles flew by and before long we passed the confluence with the Machias (the northern one, not the coastal Machias) river and were in Ashland and pulling up to the Hunting and Fishing club riverbank. After scouting the immediate area we determined we would set up camp behind the club's building and kind of 'tuck-in' and keep a low profile while there. Ken started walking up to town about a mile up the hill to get more beer and Marshall had gone for a walk. I was still messing about setting up and had to walk down to the boat for something. As I crossed the club's gravel road to the back lot, another big pick-up truck had pulled in and up to me and stopped. First thing I did was ask him if he was a member here and he say's "Yup, I'm the Chairman of the board, and I've got no problem with you staying there. There some firewood you can use and the outhouse's are right there too. If anyone ask just tell them Charlie Tucker said it was o.k.". Next he say's to me "You ever hear about that show Mountain Men ?" I tell him yes, I've watched it. He say's" Well I'm the Maine representitive on that show". Of course once I get home I look it up and yup, he's the guy ! So we were good to go for another night with the good Karma getting cashed in some more.

Later that night I was the last to zip into my tent about 9:30 p.m. Not 5 minutes later I hear the crunch of gravel on the driveway and hear voices getting out of the vehicule. So I start unzipping my tent door and here comes the big bright flashlight of two Ashland Police officers."Sooo what's going on here?" is the first thing he say's. I tell him Charlie Tucker said it was o.k. He say's "Oh , you met Charlie ? No problem then" and they immediately turn and start walking away. The one I talked to hesitated and turned and said " If you see Charlie again, tell him Jeffrey said Hi". I said o.k. and thank you for checking in on us, goodnight. Did I also mention that it was a 30 mile day ?

Next morning we are up and out the door and on the river by 9:30 a.m. again headed for the Beaver brook campsite about15 miles downriver and the last MFS site on the map before Presque Isle. The Aroostook at this point is a pretty big river, high scoured river bank's, fast moving current and still wild outside of Ashland. There is a channel that break's off to the left above where Beaver brook enters the river. I had been told this was a small site by one of the outfitters I had called earlier, who had actually stayed there and wasn't sure what to expect. Well, we found it and you could maybe fit one solo tent and the gear for one guy, and barely have enough room left to get the fire ring of stones rebuilt to be able to sit around. Another big '0' zero for a campsite. We had our lunch there and discussed our option's. Again, we could keep an eye out for an acceptable bootleg site. But it would have to happen soon because in a few miles we would be hitting our first town of Washburn and there were house's along the river from that point on, and our odd's of stealth camping would have been gone. As we pulled out into the main flow of the Aroostook again out of the corner of my eye I see a break on the opposite shore in the thick brush. we ferried over and were getting out to check it out but there was huge amounts of Moose fur all over the river bank floating and just all over. We get up there and it's a very accomdating location. Just one thing, I didn't feel like sharing it with a Moose carcass just off in the woods from the clearing (skeletal). Otherwise we would have just started pulling gear up at that point and staying there. The other guy's were so-so and we decided that we would probably just finnish in Presque Isle that day. (another 30 mile day, back to back) The rest of the miles flew by, we saw many, many folk's wandering the remote shoreline picking Fiddleheads, the river stayed swift to our take-out and we were at the boat launch next to our cars parked up at Leo's by 6 p.m. Problem, Leo had gone home for the night and our cell phones were in our cars. We had given him our car key's for safe keeping and they were locked in the office.

Keeping it short, I was able to borrow a cell phone from a Fiddlehead picker as they got to the boat launch and finally got ahold of Leo who came down and got us our car key's. We loaded up and went back to the Motel we stayed in the first night we got there. Marshall and Ken were gone the next morning before I woke up (single room, they doubled). Overall a great trip. I actually liked it more than the Allagash trip I did back in Sept. I feel it's more remote and prettier than the Allagash. There are no Ranger cabin's every 15-20 miles (none) like on the Allagash. There is a serious issue with the upkeep of the NMW primitive campsites. If they want more tourism dollars they need to make a gem of a river like the Aroostook more people friendly. It cost a daily fee of $12 a day as a user fee, and $12 a night on top of that as a camping fee, $24 a day! Those are the out of state fee's. Maine resident's pay considerably less for both. I do understand the economic's and labor involved. I also believe the NMW attitude is that those are 'primitive' sites and the wilderness traveller is responsible to keep it user worthy. However, when even a seasoned traveller like myself see's a destructed, neglected site, I won't consider it, and will move on. Thus allowing the site to continue to get overgrown. This was a 90 mile trip over 4 day's, originally planned for 5 day's on the water.
NMW was due to have a meeting shortly after we left up north. Leo is going to bring this issue to the board about getting better service (campsite reconstuction) for the money that out of stater's bring in. I may also be getting contacted by a reporter from the Aroostook county news. She will want my view point in story for the paper on what we encountered on our trip. Charlie Tucker (Mountain men) also is interested in what they can do to start getting 'Sport's' to start coming back to the region. We'll see.
Ken and Marshall were great to travel with. I was excited because I'd been traveling in my comfort zone with my NFCT boy's for many years and we all know each others routines. Going with Marshall and Ken was like being out with new classmates.

Leo Freeman is the guy to call for the shuttle if this TR gives anyone the urge to go. His rate is fair. He's the only show in town for this, in the entire area.

I would love to post my pictures but my camera is not responding to the connection to my computer for some reason. Marshall has his pictures posted to his Facebook site and maybe he'll link them up to here. I've yet to see Kens photo's (alot). (Google search- Nanook of the Nashwack) he may have them posted at his personal site.)
AMC Maine guide book is the best reference for this trip.

Saying Goodbye To The Humble Hovel

Burning Down the House

March 14, 2014

For some reason I thought my run of bad luck was behind me.   The year 2013 was one of my worst, loosing my best paddling partner Sadie Dawg, loosing my Grandmother and just the day to day battles that seem to accumulate until it’s an avalanche waiting to drop on your head.  I was so happy to see that year-end and walked into 2014 with an open mind and a better attitude.

Despite a harsh and long winter things were going relatively well!  I had acquired a rare and vintage canoe to rebuild, picked up a skin on frame canoe for after work upstream paddles and was looking forward to warmer weather and getting some more work done on the Humble Hovel.

Now this abode has been a pain like a sharp thorn in my side since we bought it but I have come to love being here.  I know the sounds it makes in the high winds we get, the quirks of the plumbing and electrical systems.  A house to me in many ways is much like a living being, it moves, stretches, breaths.  Since the day we moved in it was and has been nothing more than a going on fourteen-year rehab, which flows like an ebb tide with available cash and time to get each project done.  I was proud of myself on some and completely disappointed on others, the joys of being a homeowner and stubborn enough to insist on DIY! 

On March 14 I watched as all those years of effort came to a one-hour screeching halt as a fire started in the walls and totally destroyed my home.  My better half called me at work and said, “The wall is on fire!”  I asked if she was joking and she screamed no.  As I ran out of the building a co-worker yelled what’s wrong and I yelled back that my house was on fire.  Now I’m six miles from work but by the time I got there the road was blocked off, there were flames shooting into the air from the porch and my better half was standing in the road a trembling mess.  We hugged each other so hard I thought one of us would break the other.

 She explained that she smelled something and going out to the porch where the wood stove was she could see smoke coming from the wall, not the pipe or the stove.  She took a fire extinguisher to it and called 911 and then took the second extinguisher and did the outside wall and that didn’t help.  Flames started and she grabbed Simon the cat and ran out and tried to unlock her truck and put him there but Simon did what all cats do and struggled hard enough to get loose and then ran through the cat door into the now smoke filled house as the flames started.  It was the last Karen saw of him until the firefighters brought him out. 

As I stood there and watched my home burning I was wondering why the firefighters weren’t pumping water on it.  Later I found out they were waiting for tanker trucks from two more towns to show up.  I will say this; those boys are brave and nuts!  They went into that burning mess and starting breaking windows out to get the heat down and to look for Simon.  I wasn’t surprised at how fast the house was burning as I had always said if it caught fire it would be a tinderbox . What I was surprised at was how fast the firefighters got it out once the hoses were pumping water! 

When it was all done with Simon was dead but not burned, most likely the smoke got to him and they gently and respectfully brought him out and put him in the carport for us.  The fire chief was so apologetic and told us they tried like hell to get him out alive.  We walked in with him to access the damage and it was mind-boggling!  Every room was devastated by the heat and smoke.  All of our clothes, even the items in our bureaus were covered in soot. Our computers were totally melted; keys popped off by the heat and melted into a puddle.  Things on our bookshelves were destroyed but the item next to it was fine.  A book had burned but right next to it was a candle that was untouched and looked brand new.  The stench from the smoke was so thick I knew it would be hours maybe days before I would get it out of my throat and nose.  I will never forget that odor!

  Every room was damaged so badly that I knew that all my almost fourteen years of work would have to be redone.  I tried so hard not to start crying right then and there.  From there began the bear part of contacting the insurance company and by the time the fire trucks had left he was on our driveway.  In the meantime the community had heard.  The calls coming in on my phone were non-stop as well as text messages and emails.  Between the insurance agent, the fire chief, the reporter who showed up and the leftover firemen I didn’t have time for the break down I wanted.

Ok, in the midst of our personal tragedy came an angel of mercy.  Our mail carrier is woman who has watched us try to get this Humble Hovel back to a reasonable living habitat and we have become friends with her over the years.  Karen and her have a lot of the same interests and she loved my Sadie Dawg and Simon, treats for Sadie daily on her route!   When Sadie passed she bought a flower for her grave and a card that I saved but now was lost, I had just looked at the card on Thursday night.  I saw her stopped up the road by the police and it was shortly after that Karen got a call from her offering us a spare home she had until we could get our feet back on the ground.  This was just the first offer of generosity that started.  Before I start there though I must mention the  Land Sharks!

To me this is the asshole that makes a living by honing in on the unfortunate while they are the most vulnerable.  The first one arrived minutes after the fire truck left asking if I needed to have the house boarded up and his company would do it tomorrow.  I already had that covered so to speak but he would not leave and was persistent to the point that I asked him to leave.  Next was a world-class asshole!  If I was he I could not look myself in the mirror every morning.   He is one of those guys that says my insurance company is going to screw me and he can do much better by challenging them.  My hackles got up and I had to tell him this was not the time but he drilled in knowing I was at a weak point.  Finally I asked him to leave as well but that took ten minutes.  I knew he would be back because he smelled blood, mine!  I knew he would be back.

So, what came next was amazing.  People showed up.  My friends, Karen’s friends, neighbors, people who knew me but I didn’t know them stopping to offer help.  The word got out fast.  As the night started on us we had to go but there was a stipulation.  Without the house being boarded up one of us would have to stay for the night.  I found my sleeping bags; borrowed some flashlights and then Karen and I drove over to where we would be staying.  She would be staying there.  I headed back to the Humble Hovel and found my neighbor waiting for me.  We walked down to my Canoe Shed where I would be spending the night and had some cans of liquid courage and just talked for a while.  It was comforting as he is the kind of guy that it’s easy to talk to.  I finally had to call it quits and off my neighbor went. 

Thankfully it was a fairly warm night out and I pulled out my winter sleeping bag and my summer bag and put one inside the other knowing I would be warm enough for the night.  As I lay there I realized that I had only had the clothes I was wearing left and that started me off.  I started swearing at everyone and everything and then the tears started.  I cried for all the efforts I put into that house, the lose of my Simon, the lose of all my personal stuff.  It is so hard to put into words seeing something go up in smoke that you have had since you were a child, something that was passed on to you by a parent, a friend and knowing what did survive the flames was completely ruined by the soot and smoke and heat and a living being that loved to sit on you and give kisses and purr.  It was a hard night.  

March 15, 2014

It was a little after one in the morning when I awoke knowing I wouldn’t be sleeping again.  My mind was racing with everything that had happened and what was coming up.  I lay there for a while and then decided it was time to make some coffee so went to the barn where my camping gear is and got the Almighty Coffee Pot, the one burner stove and then up to the charred remains of my house thinking that there was some coffee left.   Ok, maybe I was dreaming, but I wasn’t.  The new can of coffee was just a burned out mess.  More heavy cursing and admittedly kicking of stuff, what the hell it felt good and it was all ruined anyways!  Suddenly it dawned on me we kept some shit coffee in the freezer, that stuff that you bought thinking it be good but made you gag!  Well, it was that or nothing and goddamn it was cold now. 

Earlier in the day I had to pry the refrigerator door open where it had melted to get to some cans of liquid courage I knew were there and by God despite the fire they were still cold!  I pried the freezer door open and got out the bag of what we call shit back up coffee and went back to the Canoe Shed where I got the coffee going.  The jug of water I pulled off the floor of the kitchen stunk of soot but it was either that or melt snow.  I was getting cold and needed something hot to drink so opted for the water jug.  Hell, I was filthy anyways from being in the burned out mess anyways.  While the Almighty was perking I warmed my hands by the flames and started thinking again.  I knew that this community would be hearing of my lose, I knew my friends and neighbors would be coming in to help.  My conundrum was and is that as much as I like to help others I don’t like getting help unless I’m backed against the wall and need it.  My better half says that is my biggest weakness and I’m stubborn about it.  I just feel I can do it on my own, I don’t need others.  Not sure why I am this way but I is what I is like Popeye the Sailor Man!   I knew I was going to have to take offers of help despite my dislike of doing so. 

Somewhere around five I decided I needed more than the swill I was drinking and headed into town for a real cup of Joe.  Heading back home with a cup of Newman’s real coffee Karen called me.  She was at the house wondering where I was.  We met at one of the schools I work for so she could check her emails and then went back to Micky D’s for some food and another cup of joe.  We both had only the clothes on our backs and needed more so we headed into Concord to Wally World and bought a couple of sets of clothes to get us through the next few days. 

When we got back to the house my neighbor, the contractor, was there.  Today we had to get the windows boarded up.  He took off to pick up materials and then folks began showing up.  For the rest of the day people were stopping in with kind words, and offers of help.  One woman stopped and told me I didn’t know her but she knew me through someone at work and she offered to let us stay with her as she had a large home.  Others stopped and asked what we needed and left us their numbers.  Others just stopped to give us a hug, a handshake and moral support.  And our phones were ringing non-stop. 

In the midst of all of this madness someone called and said he was on his way.  My brother who I hadn’t seen or heard from in almost three years was on coming over.   It was a pretty damned good reunion.  In the end he promised to be better about being in touch.  There was more but that there be personal.

By somewhere around five we finished and Karen and I headed out to the new digs.  I hadn’t eaten since Thursday night, was living off adrenaline and emotions, pretty much a raw nerve.  The house we were offered is beautiful and it would take too much time to describe it.   I smelled of sweat and soot and headed for a hot shower after which I basically passed out. 

March 16, 2014

I woke up at an ungodly hour and made some coffee.  It was only in the single digits out and was so angry about how cold and long this winter has been.  The dreaded thoughts I had been trying to hide from since this started finally found me and I began to cry, not hard but long.  I hate crying for probably all the typical male reasons but I couldn’t stop.  What really got me going was thinking that Simon and my Sadie were back together again sitting on a step somewhere like they used to at the Humble Hovel, Simon cleaning Sadie’s face and ears and just watching over her.  He was always her protector.  I just could not get that image out of my head and probably never will. 

Now in the meantime the district I work for rallied.  We are a close-knit community, not just the schools the entire community.  At the local store someone set up a one hundred dollar tab, which started to grow, the staff of the schools started collecting money for us and the offers started coming in for clothes, food, places to move into, and more.  From an email that was forwarded to me:

“Doug’s services are invaluable to our district, let show our support in this time of need. “

I am nervous about going back to work; I work in the shadows and do not like being in the limelight but know it is going to happen.  It is the nature of this type of event.  I will have to grin and bear it and pray I don’t break down in front of folks.  My biggest worry is I just don’t know how I will be able to pay back all of the people who stepped up to the plate on my behalf.  

Now in the midst of all of the carnage humor has to make it's way in.  When I opened up the new undees and socks it was one of those moments that just has to make you laugh a little.  I bought the wrong size underwear, too big, and the frigging socks were those ankle high ones which I count as just about useless!  Yeah, we laughed hard about that only to find that Karen had bought the wrong size undees as well!   

Oh yeah, I did get to buy some new boots!  Now that was kind of nice but I'm still aching to get a set of Muck Boots soon as I use those for so many different environments and  rely on them for how well they are made.  In all this insanity, especially shopping this tune came to mind!  Made me smile!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmbUNF1Q4R8&ob=av2e

So this tale is far from over, it is in its infancy.  I know that the battle will be long and hard before I am back to my Humble Hovel.  We’ll have a new house when it’s done and over with, I am praying.  We’ll have a new grave for Simon the Wonder Cat, and I have a new appreciation for my community and friends.

Week of March 17 – 22

It has been a week of total madness and I can’t believe I have lived through it.  I can’t write about the day to day stuff, it is just to mind numbing.  Meeting with this person and that, worrying about scumbags trying to break in to the burned out Humble Hovel for scrap metal, that is a whole different story.  The running around to get clothes, food and other essentials.  I can only thank the blessing of Tara to let us stay with a warm and comfortable shelter on a beautiful lake to stay on.  It was the only sigh of relief.

Today is the 22^nd of March and the snow pack is so thick that we can walk on it like concrete.  We have a mobile home for temporary shelter coming Monday so I had to hire my neighbor who is a contractor to move about three of snow and ice off a section of our field so the home can be put into place.  Now in the meantime my poor Simon needed to be buried and with the thick layer of snow and ice I just didn’t think I could dig a grave for him.  What I did not know is that my contractor neighbor had just bought an excavator, a big honking machine and he had told Karen he would bring it over and dig Simon’s resting place.  So he did by driving that bad boy through the woods, across two fields and up to where we wanted the final resting place to be.  Holy crap!  The snow pack was so solid that that tonnage never broke through more than a couple of inches.  In the end we had to laugh about this as Simon was a unique character that was revered by many.  Hell, how many cats get buried by an excavator?

March 28, 2014

It has been two weeks since the Humble Hovel burned and in that time Karen and I decided we could wallow in our lose, our pity, our emotions but choose to move forward and we did at a furious pace.  We got done in one day with the help of many friends the cleaning out of the burned out hulk of the Hovel, got a mobile home delivered to the property and started shopping for new items.  It was a mind numbing experience and every day ended in us being in an exhausted state knowing we would have to do it all over again! 

Today was a pivotal day.  The mobile home finally got power so electrical and water was soon flowing!  Tomorrow we start moving back in so we will be on our land again and the stresses of not being there will end. 

March 29, 2014

Today we started moving from the lake house back to the new home, the mobile home!  When we arrived at the lake house we had only the clothes on our backs literally.  The generosity of so many people and some dreaded shopping saw us taking several trips to get our modest belongings into the mobile home which I have decided to call The Camp!   I'll take a moment here to describe The Camp.  It is 12' x 44' with a "master bedroom" at one end and two small bedrooms at the other.  From the master bedroom the bathroom, washer and dryer and closet live and then the rest of the area is an open area with a kitchen and living room area.  Ya don't want to have a party in here!

March 30 - April 4, 2014

It has been a whirlwind.  Between getting cable hooked up, computers, kitchen stuff, more clothes bought and going to work I am having trouble remembering what I did each day.  On top of that the hook up for water started leaking in the basement and of course my sump pump decided to shit the bed so I had go buy a new one and deal with that for four hours or so.  The plumber finally arrived and fixed the problem but I was so wiped out by then that I couldn't do much more than sit down.  I think I had finally hit my wall.  If you asked me what day that was I wouldn't be able to tell you.

Between the last two weeks of trying to stay as positive as I could, putting on a happy face at work, burying my cat, dealing with insurance, dealing with the scum that kept stopping to ask for scrap or the remains of my woodpile and worrying about break ins on my out buildings found I couldn't move.  I finally laid back and fell into a long and deep sleep, maybe nine hours worth. 

It was dark when I got up and meandered my way down to one of my sheds where I work on my boats, this is my therapy place.  From the doorway I have a good view of the Humble Hovel and just stood there for a long while staring at the burned hulk wondering why all this shit was happening to me, to us?  I like to think that I'm a good guy, that I do good for my friends and community!  I am not a church goer but do have my conversations with what I believe in and had to ask what have I done to have this happen?  One of my thoughts was that we were in year thirteen of owning this house and as I've mentioned I thought 2013 was a shit year and was over it.  Maybe in my fogged mind the number thirteen was really as unlucky as its reputation and I still had four more months before we were into fourteen years of living here and maybe then my luck would change.  It is truly amazing what blazes through your mind.

More To Come.

April 5, 2014

Today's lecture begins with the insurance stuff.  We were lucky to have a great company who has stood behind us every step of this difficult way.  They got us money right off to live off of, they were there an hour after the fire was out.  But now came the difficult part and you may want to pay attention to this if you have read this far.  You have to inventory everything!  This means clothing, TVs, electronics, personal belongings from underwear to pictures.  This means knickknacks, kitchen stuff, cleaning stuff, mops, everything in your home.  Please keep this in mind.  The agent counted my shirts as I pulled them off the hangers and then he asked me how many hangers I had in total.  I said they were junk but his point was that they cost money to replace and so we counted them and put them on the inventory sheet.  This is how detailed one has to be in this situation!

Take a few minutes to walk through your home and just do a visual inventory of what you JUST see, not the stuff in closets or other hidden places.  You will need to make an account for ever single item so it can be claimed.  This process is hard, you suddenly realize just what you lost.  What hit me hardest was all of my caoneing journals from each trip, those are so much a part of me and I spent the time each day to enter my thoughts into my notebook.

Yes I did have most of them on line but the one that I lost that I thought was safe dated back to 1974 right after my father died and I was still fresh off those feelings and we were way up in the Canadian wilderness in some not to nice conditions.  At fourteen years of age it was a hard go but one that made it a life changer for how I guess I've turned out.  To lose that journal was truly a tear jerker for me and I had to walk out back and give myself a few minutes.  I think I mentioned I am not a true patriot of crying but I do have my moments.

Today also was a banner day for both Karen and myself.  We had her daughter, our grandson, and her new beau come down from VT for a visit.  It almost brought me to tears to see a mother and daughter hug each other so hard and long, I finally had to call a time out and then break out the tissues.  I think the best part was our grandson seeing the emotion going on and starting hugging them both.  This was a moment where I fell in love with this family all over again, a moment I will always have in my mind. 

So that is my triad for this moment.  Since I can't work on the Hovel I'm going back to work on the boats, hopefully!

More To Come.

April 6, 2014

Well neither of us wanted to do this but we had to go back into the house and try to finish off the inventory shit.  It's just plain nasty.  It's dark despite the spotlights I have in there, it stinks so bad you have the taste in your mouth and almost burns the back of your mouth and you just know you will have that oder on you for a while.

http://picasaweb.google.com/115656493558573181332/HouseAfterTheBurn

We got the kitchen done and boxed so the agent can take a look before we haul it to the dumpster.  It was really difficult to see all our stuff go into the trash heap.  My bread cooking pans and bowls that my mother gave me, the first cook book I every bought that had years of recipes written in the blank pages, yes, I do love to cook but what really set me off yet again was my Sadie Dawgs bowls and her camping mattress now bound for the trash.  It was not the stink in my throat is was my heart breaking and I did something I never do, I hit the charred remains of the wall hard as hard as I could and tried to fight off the tears that I knew were coming.  It just hurt me so bad.!  I had to walk out back yet again to get control. What I love about Karen is when I do get like this, not often, she gives me some room to breath and then comes to me to see how I am doing, a hug, a kiss, reassurance so I can move on.  And so we did, the kitchen got done and so what is left is her stuff.  A friend came over to help her with her business stuff and I'm taking a break.

I keep asking myself why I am putting this stuff out there but I got an email from someone who I respect and admire despite the fact I've never met him.  He told me:

"Keep on writing.  In catharsis lies salvation"

These are fine words and I am going to follow them.

More To Come.

April 6 - 11, 2014

Things are starting to settle down despite knowing the real shit storm will be coming down the road.  The contractors/inspectors came out a second time and stayed for over four hours to take measurements, more pictures of the foundation and asking questions about the double roof and especially the foundation.  We are hoping for the report early next week to see where all stands with the rebuild.  Delay upon delay is eating me up. My biggest fear is being stuck in the Camp when next winter hits.

Now in the meantime another act of kindness came in, yet another on top of all the others.  All the teachers at one school collected scarves for Karen as all sixty-four of hers were ruined.  Now how the hell someone collects that many is a mystery to me and hell it was my house as well but I never knew, probably typical ignorant male stuff!  Every teacher in that school wrote a personal note to add to the scarf and there were a good amount of them.  The one that was the most heart touching was from a teacher who gave Karen her sister's scarf who had passed five years earlier.  Let's just say there wasn't a dry eye for a bit.  How do you repay that kind of kindness and personal sacrifice?

A basket of scarves

It was a very nice and personal touch to the end of another long and difficult day.

More To Come.


April 26, 2014

We are in a lull.  Bureaucratic stuff while insurance and contractors/inspectors get their shit together so they can tell us where to go from here.  Frustrating and despite my calls there is always a delay.  Don't the bastards know I'm not sitting here with my thumbs up my ass because I want to?  It is because of their delays.  So I'm sitting here in limbo which is like feeling as useless as I have ever felt.

On this cold and rainy April day I spent most of it in my canoe shed just staring up at my house and it was memories.  I miss so many things outside of being in it.  I raised and loved my dawg in that abode.  It was all she knew and let us know it was her abode that we provided just for her!  Same for our slew of cats we had over the years.  I recalled the massive amount of renovations we did, the hours of time put into rehabbing this hovel, the money and blood and sweat into each room.  It was close to a tear jerker day but my skin has gotten thicker and will need to do so down the road when we finally get a determination about the status of the house and then dealing with those who rebuild for us.

All I can say is that I am spent.  I look forward to falling into the bed every night so I forget the day I just had.

More To Come.

May 5, 2014

It has been a while since I've said anything.  It has been a crazy ride of digging holes and filling them in, waiting for someone else's  timeline to give us an answer that turns up with the true facts so we can move forward.  Yet despite the delays we are making some headway in more ways that I care to get into.

The dreaded inventory is close to being done and this weekend I closed the final chapter on my nine year relationship with Simon.  Buried he is but his marker was not ready and I needed to finish that off.  In the end I put a marble piece down and surrounded it with birch logs to celebrate his white fur.  I mentioned earlier I know that Simon and Sadie are now together and it's a thought that gives me some peace.  It was a good night to sit out and watch the stars.

More To Come.

May 23, 2014

It is a done deal.  We confirmed with a contractor for the rebuild, the insurance company is good with it and goddamn it will probably start next week!  When we met with the contractors are first question was how long?  Three months is the estimate which puts us at around Sept barring any delays which of course there will be but snow will not be here yet!

It was a relief to call the dumpster company to finally have them haul that away although it will be replaced next week for the demo that is coming.  The house will be gutted of almost everything and then the City will come in and look for code, notify the contractors and then they start the rebuild.

I almost can not believe we are going to get things going.  It has been a such a long hard road of the waiting game, calling folks, having inspectors out again and again.  To many days of feeling like I'm doing nothing more then pounding my head against the wall.  Now the rush is on.  We still have shit to move out of the house into the barn, finish inventory and finish some final small time bullshit stuff.

Now in the midst of all this madness something happened that took me by such surprise I literally did not know how to react for a days.  A package arrived one day with a check from folks who I grew up with, went through the rigors of making it through Jr and Sr High with.  Many I haven't seen in more then twenty-five years and yet the bonds of being raised in a small New York village makes for strong bonds.  We don't forget each other when it comes down to it.  As one friend said, "the bonds of a small village never cease to amaze me."  One can go through this journey of life but the bonds and friendships of the now and the past are the ones that define you is all I can think. I am a lucky man to have so many people watching my back!

More To Come.

Two Years Later.


I tried like hell to continue this story but it got to long, ugly and in the end we ended up in a new house without all of my building  mistakes. To say it was pleasant process would be a lie but sometimes one has to put the chapters of life behind them and move on.  I still have my days when I miss the old and have a hard time with the new but it is growing on me.  The one thing I will never miss as it is embedded in me forever is my Simon and Sadie on the steps loving each other. 

I guess this chapter is over.

The Adirondack Canoe Rebuild

December 26, 2013

As usual I swore I didn't need another boat to work on and once again swore off Craigslist just like I did the last time when I ended up with the Pamlico Barkolounger!  I saw this canoe for sale and hemmed and hawed for a week or so and then made the call.  The owner, Don, said that it had gotten blown off it's stand and taken a slide down the hill on his land bouncing off some rock walls on the way down.

And what a hill it was!  As I drove up the hill I was wondering if I was going to make it as I shifted down to low, the first time I've ever done that in my car!  The owner of this hull is one of those guys who at first meeting you know you could just stand there and talk all day long with!  He had been working on his house for quite a while from what he told me while walking out to see the canoe.  Just a real down to earth guy!

I knew about the damage from the pics I saw on CL and from our phone conversations so nothing was a surprise.  Don helped me load up and told me to leave the car in neutral on the way down the hill which I did.  A very nice gentleman!

When I got home and off loaded I started looking at the damage.  The gunwales are toast, not only broken but dried out as well so they will have to be replaced.  All of the thwarts are in need of a sanding and revarnishing as well as the seats.  One small section of the hull where it hit the rock wall was broken but part of it was still there.

I took a tape a measured everything out and was actually a little surprised at what I came up with!

Length: 15'8"
Width:  33.5"
Depth: 14.5"
HIN: SCSP61311897

From what I could gather it is a Stowe Canoe, the HIN proves that, but somehow turned out to be an Adirondack!

The black coloring of the inside under the wood ribs has me a little perplexed.  After talking with the guru and he consulting his old buying guides it looks like it might be a carbon fiber layup and of the Prospector line.  It's hard to tell with these companies that are short lived.  All I know is when I lifted it off the racks on the car I knew it was the lightest hull in my fleet and I thought that my Otter Ranger was pretty light at 16 plus feet.

This has a lot of the same lines and dimensions as my MR Courier.  I will have to lay them side by side to see.

After looking this over and over and over I have sent out some inquiry's about having someone else fix the crack and break as I have no freaking idea how to deal with gel coat or carbon fiber if that is what it is!

A little Rocker on this Hull

Love those seats!

Brass tips on the decks

There is a fair amount of work to be done on the ribs and that is also an area that I am not well versed in but working on boats is all about learning a new skill.  Gotta love it.  So I guess this is just the beginning of a long haul on a new used hull but she is a pretty thing as far canoes go and I think I'll be keeping this one.

More To Come!

January 1, 2014

Happy New Year!

I spent some time this morning in the chill looking at the break in the top of the hull.  I'm coming up short on finding someone to fix it so have decided to make a go of it as much as I don't want to.  It is the gel coat stuff that has me nervous.  I also can't seem to figure out if the inner layer is actually carbon fiber or mat as some suggested to me from what they saw from my pics.  I am to ignorant to know the difference.

Since there is a hunk of the broken piece still attached I think I can tape it into place and then build up with cloth where the missing section is.  My dilemma is I really want to get this back to as pristine as I can and with all of my past fixes it has been a hack job.  This is really going to test my skills and will be a huge learning curve.  Some boats just need to look good when you're done.

More To Come.

January 2, 2014

Today was a bonus day.  I made a call to a local shop that has all sorts of different woods, Goosebay Lumber in Chichester, NH.   Well, I was coming up short on gunwales and they have sixteen and up to twenty foot planks so that is one problem solved and off the list.  I've bought these in the past and milled out what I need and always have a little left over so that is the route I'm going yet again, a lot of work but it just seems gunwales are the hardest and most expensive part of canoe rehabs!

I also took another look at the decks and the wood seems to be in good shape so I think, pray, I can reuse them although I've never done them flush like they are now.  Between that and trying to figure out the gel coat shit I'm gonna be up to my eyeballs in the learning curve!  I don't know whether to cry or get excited!  I'm gonna go get a can of liquid courage to mull it over!

More To Come!

January 3, 2014

This morning while waiting for work to get cancelled because of the snowstorm I started looking on line on how to work with gel coat.  On Jamestown Distributors I found a couple of helpful videos and honestly it really doesn't look that hard.  They also have all the materials I will need.  The crack I want to fix is in the stern where it kissed a rock hard and the puncture is all the way through.

Maybe four inches long and all the way through

 I would also like to fix the spider cracks but just don't know if I have the skills, time, or desire to do that.  Just the amount of sanding involved boggles my pea brain!  My camera won't pick those up!  On the inside I am thinking of using this for ease of use:
http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=1443&familyName=WEST+System+Carbon+Fiber+Tape

Because I have so little knowledge of working with gel coat I'm thinking on one of these as I don't have a spray gun nor will I buy one for some two hundred odd dollars so it has to go on by hand.
 http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=1522&familyName=Colored+Air+Dry+Gelcoats

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=7898&familyName=Evercoat+Premium+Gel-Kote

I'm going to do some more inquiring into this process.  Hell, I need to wait until warm weather before I can even attempt this!  

So, tomorrow I pick up the ash plank as the wood work is going to have come first due to cold weather and an unheated workshop!  I asked Santa for one but I guess I was a bad boy this year cause I didn't get one!

More To Come.

January 4, 2014

Today I picked up a twenty-one foot by one inch thick piece of ash. Because it was rough cut it starts at the wide end at ten inches but narrows down to eight inches at the bottom.  Since Hal the Gullboy is splitting the cost with me in order to get two full sets of gunwales it looks like I'm going to have to go back and buy another piece.  Cost was sixty bucks but they have a twenty footer at four inches wide that should fit the bill so we can get what we need.

Small car, long board!  Got some odd looks driving home!

It is always a crap shoot when buying rough cut!  My thought is to cut it at eighteen feet which is just below the curve in the plank, bummer!  On the positive side I did pick up a package of G-Flex.  I swear by this stuff!  So, until my new wood planner shows up, my last one decided to find a new home when some Ahole thought it would look better in his shop then mine, and Hal and I can get together to mill this out!

So as it turns out Hal bailed, don't think he liked the look of the board.  I don't really worry about the cup in the wood as after cutting the gunwales they get planned down to three quarter inch and turn out square.  

More To Come.

January 11, 2014

This morning I had to get ready for the help I am going to get ripping this board.  I decided to cut it at seventeen feet as that is as close to the bend in the board as I could get.  Now at the narrow end as I mentioned it is around eight inches but with the bark on it comes out to around seven and a half.  That should give me six one inch gunwales or so I hope.  I snapped a chalk line and then traced that with a factory board to get a good and visible line as I am have to take my circular saw to try to get one edge of this board straight.  Gawd Damn, I hate doing this!

Used a Factory Edged Board for the cut line.

So after the chalk line I still have just under eight inches to work with so I have room for errors!  Oh yeah, there are going to be some, this is me pretending I'm a skilled woodworker!  With today's shit weather I have to put this off until tomorrow morning so in the meantime I took off one of the plates that cover the bow and stern gunwale ends.  It was interesting what I found.  The inner gunwales were cut short on one side and long on the other and there is a wedge forced in the space to firm it all up.  One would think that canoe builders would have it down pat but one never knows and honestly that is a short cut I would make, actually I think I did on one rebuild!

You can see the wedge at the inner gunwales side

Another view of the wedge

So at this point I'm just waiting on cutting the gunwales.  I have no intention of pulling the old gunwales off for a while.  I'm kind of viewing this as a four stage project and have to wait for weather, materials and time I have on my hands.  It's all good!

More To Come.

January 17, 2014

We've had a warming spell here as of late.  Ice on the walkways is still here but doable at this point, kind of a corn snow/ice mix!

I needed to start cutting the ash plank to get the gunwales started.  Starting on the line I had already drawn I started the beginning cut with my circular saw as I need one straight edge to cut off of.  Of course being the cheap ass bastard I am I tried it with a years old tired blade.  Ok, lighting a cigarette with a smoking piece of ash is not the results I wanted and at my age I should know better.  Off to  the hardware store to buy a new blade.

Back at the shed with a new blade it is like cutting through butter with a piece of paper!  Holy Crap!  This was too nice!  With this new blade I finished my first cut and then started thinking, "Hey, that wasn't to bad and shit it's pretty damn straight for a circular saw cut!"  So I proceed to measure, draw more cut lines and then cut the next gunwale.  Now let me tell you cutting seventeen feet of rough cut ash in one long ash...ass cut by hand is a real bear.  I did about three to four feet at a time and then moved up the plank for the next cut.  Although it was slow going it seemed better then waiting for the ice to melt, setting up the table saw, getting someone over here to help feed a seventeen foot long piece of heavy ass wood through it.

What I did do was measure in an extra 1/8" on the cut line so I will have extra when it comes time for planning it down.

A few pictures:

Just Two

Now Three

Now Four!  Sweet!

So now I have to wait for the planner I ordered to get in so I can start working on these.  Final dimensions on these are 1 1/8" by 3/4" so I will be close to the original when I'm done planning it.  I also have enough leftover stock to make two more rails as well as carry handles or even a thwart or two.  Gotta love milling out your own stuff!

More To Come.

January 19, 2014

Today I cut out two more gunwales, the last of the board!  I'm thinking I might go get one more board and do the same with it just to have some gunwales for down the road.  I find it amazing how hard it is to find gunwales these days!  Christ, maybe I should make the as a side business!  Still shaking my simple little balding head at doing this with a circular saw!  Gotta love it when it works out so simple!  Of course clean up was twice as long as cutting time!  Done deal!

More To Come.

January 28, 2014

The new planner came in today so now I can get back to business and get the gunwales planned down to where I want them.   My plan is to get as close to the original dimensions as possible and then I am going to look for a local woodworking company to see about rounding over the edges with a continuous feed type of router.  Every time I do that part by hand even though I built a jig to help hold the wood against the blade I end up with a small divot and then the sanding starts and I do hate sanding with a passion!  Christ, trying to pass a seventeen foot piece of thin wood through a small router table is like trying to get a spaghetti noodle in your mouth in gale force winds!   Looks like this coming weekend is the time to do it!

More To Come.

February 1, 2014

Today was nothing more than making the new gunwales.  I had to set up on the driveway as the usual place I do this is nothing more then an ice sheet right now!  Now I might have gotten a little over zealous with cutting out the rough dimensions as when I started I realized this was going to take a lot longer than I thought to get this rails down to where I wanted them.

New Planner Set up

Snow Blower Help To Hold The Rail

Rough Cut

From Rough To Almost Finished

 I lost count of passes through the planner but basically what I did was to plan one side, flip it plan the other until I had the rail almost square.  Then I just kept spinning it one side at a time until I got it down to the measurements I needed.  I kept a hair over for when I round over the edges.  Each rail took about an hour!  Now I need to figure out if there is a company that can round them over for me or if I'm going to do it myself!

More To Come.

February 2, 2014

I decided to work on getting one of the decks off today.  Seeing hows the broken end of the boat was so chopped up from the damage I started there.  Since the original builders put wooden plugs in to cover the screws I had to drill those out first. 

Wooden Plug!  Why?

Drilled Out

On the first side everything went perfect.  I used a screw driver to back out the screws to start and then used my drill to pull them out all the way.

Four screws per side.  On the other side I repeated the process but, there always seems to a BUT, the screw heads on two of the screws were freaking stripped!  AAAUUGHHHH!  I knew what I had to do and resorted to a can of liquid courage before I started!  Damnit!   I hate doing this.  I got out my trusty old friend, Mr. Hacksaw Blade and began to cut the freaking screw!

I have done this so many times that I have come to hate it!  Also, because I was sawing against the hull itself I had to really take my time so I didn't cut into that!  Goddamn it, where is my can of liquid courage?!

Once that was done I still had to separate the inner gunwale from the deck.  I took it down to my other work shop and ended up having to cut the gunwale off piece by piece and then pulled the left over screws out!

I Love This Wooden Clamp

Used My Japanese Saw For the Cuts

Cutting Next To the Screw

Getting the Screw Out

Finally A Deck Sans Gunwales!

I was counting on the deck being in good shape but the tip has a lot of rot in it and one side of the wide end, bottom end, has a large chip out of it.  I must say I was pretty bummed and had to resort to a can of liquid courage and step back for a bit.  Looking through my wood pile I do have Butternut which I could use to make a new one or ash as well as I have a bunch of that left over.  I'm just worried that the Butternut will be a different color when I'm done milling it out then the rest of the bright work.  I'll have to mull this over for a while before I decide what to do.

Now if the deck was a bummer what I looked at on the hull was even worse!  The air tank was separated from the hull!  Another AAGGGHHH! and can of courage!  This is going to be a lot more work than I thought!

Can Fit a Finger in The Crack

On Both Sides

It is going to take a fair amount of work to rejoin this to the hull, something I have never done before.  This should be very interesting but will have to wait for a while.  In the meantime I took measurements of where the carry handles, thwarts and seats are on this hull and made record of them for down the road.  So in the meantime it sure looks like there is a lot...

More To Come.

February 9, 2014

I'm pretty much on hold for a lot of this project but decided that today was a good day to make some new decks.  Weather wise it was pretty nice out, about thirty degrees with no wind for a freaking change and the sun was shining hard and bright!  In the shed it was about ten degrees cooler though.

I decided to take a chance on the Butternut and found a nice board without knots to cut off of.  I used the old deck as my template and traced it out and then broke out my aging scroll saw with an electrical cord problem.  Maybe someday I will break down and buy a new one but it still works!  Cheap ass Yankee!

Making Sure the Board Is Wide Enough

Two Decks Traced Out

Cutting Out the Decks, Need a New Saw!

I always cut outside of the lines just to give me a little breathing room later, I have made too many mistakes in the past and have learned my lesson.  A little sanding later beats cutting out new pieces cause they are too short or thin!  In this case is came out just about right with minimal sanding.

A repeat for deck number two and I was done with this step!  They are a hair longer then the original and they are much thicker so I will have to plan them down to the thickness of the original deck. 

Quick Intermission:  A view of the Back 40 of my field and the birdhouse which we rent out for free in the spring, summer and fall!  Also the cob job electrical to keep my scroll saw going!

If I Bend the Cord Just Right It Works!

Rent Free Living For The Birds!

Ok, back to work.  I needed to flush up the two sides of the decks that were cut even and then sand down the hack job cut I did.  They were only off by a hair but need to be even and true for when I mount them to the gunwales.  I put them in my vice and broke out my belt sander and got them true.

The next step was to round off the curve at the back of the deck and this is always a crap shoot!  If there is one tool I have that I truly suck at using it is my router!  I never get the height correct and I have had so many mishaps in the past I dread using it.  Today did not disappoint me at all and a can of liquid courage came into play, thank Gawd for liquid courage for I was able to go on after the first mistake!

Original Rounded Over

First Attempt

AAAGGHH!  That's Going On The Underside

Better!

When I was done after twenty-seven adjustments I got it close enough to finish off with some hand sanding.  For this I have a piece of mincell that an old belt sander belt fits on and I can get a lot of wood moved off quickly, I use 40 grit to form the wood and then move on to lighter grits to smooth it out.

Save Those Old Belt Sander Belts

Mincell Bends Nicely to Fit Curves

Somewhere along the way I came across this sandpaper and by Gawd it is the best for finish work.

 
Talk about smooth as a babies butt!  This is the ticket when it comes to sandpaper.  I just need to find a place to buy more!  In the end the decks came out a hair longer then the original but I don't think that will matter at all.  Being Butternut I am still worried about matching the color to the ash when it finally comes time for staining them.  All in all a good day!

More To Come.

February 15, 2014

The snowstorms that have been pounding us here in the Northeast have been just nasty and time consuming.  Haven't had much time to work on this poor hull.  Today I decided to measure out the length of the gunwales. Since I cut off part of the stern I thought I would use a length of string to get a true measurement.  Simply put I taped one end to the bow and ran it down the length of the hull.

Came out to sixteen feet but I am going to cut the gunwales to sixteen two or three just to have some to play with before I trim them and shape them.  In the past I have messed this up by cutting to short.  More snow is coming so this is still on hold!   Goddamn it has been a messy long winter!

More To Come.

October 25, 2014

It has been a long while since I decided to work on this boat.  Today I took a leap of faith and decided to tackle the chip in the edge of the hull.  I worried about this for a long spell but finally decided to bite the bullet and try to patch it with a "fresh" start.  I tore the old chip off as it was kind of bent and was ragged as hell so it didn't meet the hull nicely despite some efforts with the scissors.  

The Chip 

Not a Nice Fit

Nice Gouge Out of the Hull

My plan is to use some carbon fiber cloth and gel coat to get this back into shape.  I know it will be a long shot but figured it will be mostly hidden by the gunwales down the road.  It hurt to tear off the chip but I just couldn't figure out a way to make it whole again without looking terrible.

Now in the lull between working on this boat I learned about something called Super 77, a spray adhesive that allows resin to penetrate but will hold the cloth on without the sliding around without it.  This was my leap of faith and to be honest it worked great.  I setup my waxpaper/tape on the outside and then put down newspaper and tape on the outside to help reinforce the cloth.

                                         Here's the three products I used for this patch.

I sprayed a thin layer of Super 77 on the area where I was putting the cloth and by Gawd it was great!  Held just where I wanted it.  Now you do have work quick with the stuff and you really need to have your plan in place as it sets up quickly.  I did screw it up in that I didn't stretch my cloth tight enough but I found that out the next day.  Next I mixed my resin and using a foam brush I slowing saturated the cloth.  I used two pumps off the resin to get enough to do that. 

Now this is the second time I've used Carbon Fiber cloth and I still find it hard to see if it is fully filled with resin.  Could be my aging eyeballs though!  I used almost all of the resin I mixed and was extremely careful about drips.  Now, the other thing that I started using is Peel Ply.  This makes for a very smooth finish and prevents drippage, is that a real word? 

You can see the Peel Ply over the cloth as I cut it larger to catch drips

Now it really isn't ideal weather but I'm making a push on this hull to get the patching part done before the temps drop to low.  Damn, someday, oh someday I'll have a heated workshop!  That would truly be sweet!  I left it at that and went off to get a can of liquid courage and wait for the peeling off of the Peel Ply, about a two hour wait.

I waited about two hours but due to the dampness and cooler temps the resin still hadn't set up and being impatient as I pulled the Peel Ply up I disturbed the cloth and despite my efforts to get it back in place it didn't want to cooperate much.  I smoothed it as best I could and went to find another can of liquid courage to console my aching heart.  Damn!  Much harder then I thought.  Looks like a wait until morning to see what comes of this damned patch!

More To Come.

October 26, 2014

I went down to the shed and looked the Peel Ply over and gave a a yank and it pulled off as slick as could be.  My mistake of the day before was there and I could also tell that I didn't pull the C/F cloth tight enough at the top.  The cloth took a buckle inward.  It was way too early in the morning for a can of liquid courage and I'm just plain tired of kicking stuff when I screw things up so I just sat for  a while and decided what I wanted to do from here.  The bulk of the patch is good but the missing part is not.

That Doesn't Look Right!

The Cloth Bowed in to the Hull.  Damn!

 I know I'm going to have to sand it down as the patch kind of wrinkled when I tried to pull the Peel Ply off to early.  I guess I have to practice kicking myself in the arse so I can get this right.  Damn!

My thought now is to cut that divet out and re-apply a new section of cloth from both the inside and out.  Like I've said before, I just make this stuff as I go along.

More To Come.

November 30, 2014

Throughout this whole process I decided to look for someone with the experience to fix the tank and do the gelcoat.  I put a lot of feelers out but got nothing back but "Sorry can't do it."  Finally I got a response from a guy in Herbron, NH who has a shop called Paddle Fancy:

www.paddlefancy.com

He makes beautiful paddles and rebuilds wood and canvas canoes.  I loaded up the Dak and dropped it off with all of the materials I bought and am going to let him do this part.  Sometime in the spring I will get it back and then I can start the rest of the repairs.  So there is...

More To Come.

OK, other boats came into the Canoe Shed and this one got put on the back burner for...four years.  Every time I walked by it I felt guilty and hung my head in shame for a minute.  So fast forward to May 2018 and I finally got the hull into the new Canoe Shed, yes, it's heated!

May5-14, 2018

The gunwales were rotten to hell so I took those of and of course some of the screws were a PITA to get off but it got done.  Had to use my hack saw blade more than once.  Next was the Rib Project as I refer to it.  After many days of looking it over, lifting here and there, scratching my head and consulting cans of liquid courage I decided the best bet was to use straight epoxy resin to treat the tips and any cracks in the ribs vs trying to pry them up and replacing them.  Hell, they were epoxied in to begin with and that is not a fun chore to do without damage somewhere on the hull IMO. 

Before I started I wanted to know what the ribs were treated with and with some sanding it turned out to be varnish.  I think I already knew this but after working on so many boats one can never be sure what someone else has done. 

But let me back track for a bit.  The very first thing I had to do was give it a bath.  Four years of sitting it had accumulated a fair amount of cobwebs, dirt, sawdust and other stuff.  Where the gunwales had sat was a layer of built in grim.  Now here's the thing, years ago my better half comes across this cleaner at Wally World called Power Shot.  An amazing cleaner but it was so good they jacked the price up and pulled it from the shelves.  When we got the boat up to the hull I was going to use a scrubby and dish washing stuff.  She comes walking out with a mix of Dawn detergent mixed with white vinegar and stated with was pretty much the same as Power Shot.  I was doubting it but I'll be damned but it worked just as good!  I have a full bottle in the Shed ready to go! 

Back to the shed it was starting to treat the ribs.  I decided due to factors, back surgery recovery, I wasn't going to sand forty ribs on this boat.  I did some test runs with several coats of varnish and liked the way the ribs looked so am going that route. 

I epoxied the upper ribs where they were dried out and cracked with a lot of babysitting to force the resin into the old screw holes and cracks.  Next was layers of varnish, three for each rib as I did a set of ten at a time.  Time consuming but worth the effort.  So far I have one side almost done and then I get to do it all over on the other side.