Merry merrimac

[OnkaBob]

Another coat of epoxy may help but only if the conditions that caused blush on the previous coat are not there the second time around. Personally I would wash with soap and water then a light sand before applying varnish. Remember that varnish is a necessity - the epoxy will break down in sunlight. You probably have a longer time to do this than we would here in Oz (or the boys in Tx and Fl) but really the sooner the better for general protection of the beautiful hull you have built.

Happy paddling!

[jem]

If i sand it down and recote it should that do the trick

oops. Missed that.

Yes that should do it.

[Barneseye]

Had another scrub at the blush and seems to come off with some more vigorous rubbing so not to bad i hope.
Will varnish her but i'm hoping to graphite bottom first and i'm a bit worried about blush again.
If i keep it covered and not use it to much (which is likely as its starting to get a bit wet and cold) should it be ok for a while?

[jem]

Keep it out of direct sun as much as possible when not in use.

When you're ready to pant/varnish, do a light sanding and/or firm scrubbing to prep it.

[Barneseye]

I floated her today, Woohoo!!!!
Sorry no pics, i was on my own with no one to hold the camera.
I'll make sure i get some some snaps and post them in out and about next time.
Didn't have a lot of time, was a quick dip after work and didn't want to get stuck miles out on the mud flats when tide went out.
Cut it a bit fine but only got the bottom a little muddy.
I'm pretty happy with her.
Very stable, almost have to be trying to tip it to make it go over.
I am glad i made one with a vee bottom and not flat.
Did seem to not want to go in a very straight line.
I'll have to work on my paddling technique.
I'm pretty stoked that i've finished it enough to get in the water before winter really arrives.

[OnkaBob]

Nice one Barneseye - glad to hear it's stable.

Did seem to not want to go in a very straight line.
I'll have to work on my paddling technique.

Unfortunately young boats need to be treated firmly until broken in - they often have an attitude problem. By all means check out some paddling web sites - there is plenty of info on canoeing - but in the mean time show her who's boss and she'll soon start to behave (I hope) .

[Barneseye]

Woohoo
She's finished.
Sorry no pics for the final few stages but i've been to slack to put them on phototbucket yet.
Had her in a few times and like her more each time.
Left the bottom clean no runners and glad about it.
Seems some of the trouble with tracking was being on the sea with wind and waves and such pushing me around.
a bit more practice and looking at the bill mason videos again has helped me to paddle straight with no trouble at all.
Except last weekend when wind waves and tide seemed hell bent on taking me to france.
So when i couldn't paddle back into the wind I took discretion to be the better part of valour and went home before needing rescuing.
I will get some photos up soon for any interested parties.
P.S>.
Tried to drum up some business for you Matt.
This guy was checking out my boat and was interested so I sent him in the direction of JEM.

[jem]

Thanks!!!

[Barneseye]

Just a few pics of the final stages of my merrimac for any interested parties.
I'm pretty happy with her.
I have carefully selected some these photos so as not to show all the blemishes.



Fitting bulkheads and hatches.


Cutting and fitting seats.
For me i think this was the worst part of the whole build.
Had so much trouble and i'm still not totally happy but they seem ok at the moment.
Time will tell.



Graphite on the bottom.


Something to do while waiting for epoxy to dry( and for weather good enough to do it.)


Epoxied varnished and ready to go.

As you can see from all junk around my back yard i haven't been neglecting any of my normal duties in building my boat.

[OnkaBob]

I have carefully selected some these photos so as not to show all the blemishes.

But that's cheating - nobody else would ever do that!

As for the seats at least they are relatively easy to change so you can try different configurations.