JEM Watercraft

Mick,

I wouldn't hesitate to round an aft deck up, say, 1/2 - 3/4", and glue braces underneath. This would stiffen he deck considerably, and seems doable. Much more bend, and the plywood will win more times than the builder, I'm guessing.

Braces could be 1/8" - 1/4" ply cut to the rounded shape on top, glued cross ways every foot or so. They would be a bit shorter than the deck is wide, so as to end shy of the gunnel.

But, then again, maybe not.

Yeah Jack, Rounded decks are certainly do-able. especially if working to a plan as in Okwata.

Back deck stuck on ready to be sanded



sanded





Bow shot.

This si really looking nice Mick.

Joe W.

It might have been a lot of trouble, but it sure does look good.

Jimmy

Absolutely spectacular boat!!!

mick
Great job
After you paddle her you are going to have a hard time giving her away.
Ron

tx river rat wrote:mick
Great job
After you paddle her you are going to have a hard time giving her away.
Ron

He's giving it to someone who is a true friend to him and Robin. But I'm betting he'll borrow it once in a while.

Thanks a lot for all the nice comments guys.

I spent an hour last night, typing a rant about how disappointed I was in my workmanship on this build. I hit the send button and the computor froze up and I lost the lot. Probably just as well.

I had another look today and did a little more.

My main problem in doing the decks this way, ie cutting them a little oversize, glueing them down and then sanding the overhang flush with the sides is that there still needs to be a small radius in the deck to side seam. The only way to achieve this effectively is to sand the ply of the deck into the radius required.

This, of course exposes the various veneers of the ply and to my eye, looks shoddy and unprofessional. It certainly detracts from the lovely wood grain finish of a bright-work boat which is what Jodie likes.

I may just paint a pin stripe along the seam yet, just to hide it. (and a little air brushing here and there to draw the eye away from my sins.

I think this boat is a great concept - as she is drawn on Matts site. Smallish kayak like decks fore and aft with bulkheads and hatches add safety and inbuilt floatation while still retaining much of the room of an open canoe. If she paddles as well as I think she will, I will probably build one for myself but with easier decks - if any.

OK,

Back at it again today. Over my little hissy fit

I carefully applied a little cedar stain left over from a previous build along the sanded ply edges and this has sort of hidden the very pale interior veneers and glue lines. It is allmost acceptable enough to leave as is.

Will think on this some more.

I cut my cloth into 2 1/2 strips and am taping the deck to side seams.





Nice & shiny again.

Looking good! That will be my next build if the laker don't get the best of me.