Canoe! Water Test!
Oct. 6th, 2010 05:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
catsittingstillSo today I put Constance in the water.
No, she's not done. This was to find her center of buoyancy--or at least where to put the leading edge of the seat. Which turned out to be 3 1/2 inches forward of where I thought it should go, so it's a good thing we did this.
The back rest, as I suspected, should go an inch and a half (maybe an inch, with cushion?) closer to the back of the seat than most people like it. The really nice thing is that by happy chance, two of my mistakes canceled each other out and I can use the spacer I made specially for the back thwart for the back thwart!
The front thwart will work as a footrest, but goes in a rather inconvenient place with respect to the spacers, which may call for a redesign of the front thwart. I think I will compromise by putting it an inch closer to me than ideal and using a gentler convex curve. Because I had to move the seat so much farther forward, the front thwart is much farther forward than I expected. This is okay...but I need to measure and see how this will affect potential pack weight.
I don't mind if the seat is a trifle higher than I set the faked up seat--so I may end up using the walnut I've already planed. However I also have some walnut that's about 1/32nd shy of 3/4 inch thick. I may use this for the seat instead. I will think about it tonight. The seat is in a pretty low-stress place (the seat supports will go actually under the seat, so it doesn't have to span much distance. On the other hand, my brother is likely to be using it, and I'm big but he's bigger. So on second thought maybe the thick walnut is a better plan.
I waited until afternoon both so it would be reasonably warm (over 70 degrees! yay!) and so Kip would be home to help me. I could theoretically handle Constance alone but she's kind of cobbled-together right now and I don't want to, and I needed someone to read the tapes at her bow and stern to tell me when the trim was right, since obviously I can't do that from inside the boat.
There was a bit of wind, which complicated the operation enormously. I'm just glad the wind wasn't stronger. Also Constance tracks like she's on rails, but is correspondingly hard to turn. I can do it... but I think she's a lot harder to turn than Patience. It's probably a good thing her length was constrained by the 14 foot boards I bought.
And now that I think about it, she didn't feel wiggly at all. It might be possible to bolt a seat right to the gunwales. Except that I made my inwales thin and delicate and I'm not sure it would be a good idea. But sometime when I'm paddling her I'll take a board and try sitting at gunwale level and see what happens. And if it seems reasonable, and if my next boat is a Wee Lassie II (I want a third boat, so it could happen) I may try that next time.
No, she's not done. This was to find her center of buoyancy--or at least where to put the leading edge of the seat. Which turned out to be 3 1/2 inches forward of where I thought it should go, so it's a good thing we did this.
The back rest, as I suspected, should go an inch and a half (maybe an inch, with cushion?) closer to the back of the seat than most people like it. The really nice thing is that by happy chance, two of my mistakes canceled each other out and I can use the spacer I made specially for the back thwart for the back thwart!
The front thwart will work as a footrest, but goes in a rather inconvenient place with respect to the spacers, which may call for a redesign of the front thwart. I think I will compromise by putting it an inch closer to me than ideal and using a gentler convex curve. Because I had to move the seat so much farther forward, the front thwart is much farther forward than I expected. This is okay...but I need to measure and see how this will affect potential pack weight.
I don't mind if the seat is a trifle higher than I set the faked up seat--so I may end up using the walnut I've already planed. However I also have some walnut that's about 1/32nd shy of 3/4 inch thick. I may use this for the seat instead. I will think about it tonight. The seat is in a pretty low-stress place (the seat supports will go actually under the seat, so it doesn't have to span much distance. On the other hand, my brother is likely to be using it, and I'm big but he's bigger. So on second thought maybe the thick walnut is a better plan.
I waited until afternoon both so it would be reasonably warm (over 70 degrees! yay!) and so Kip would be home to help me. I could theoretically handle Constance alone but she's kind of cobbled-together right now and I don't want to, and I needed someone to read the tapes at her bow and stern to tell me when the trim was right, since obviously I can't do that from inside the boat.
There was a bit of wind, which complicated the operation enormously. I'm just glad the wind wasn't stronger. Also Constance tracks like she's on rails, but is correspondingly hard to turn. I can do it... but I think she's a lot harder to turn than Patience. It's probably a good thing her length was constrained by the 14 foot boards I bought.
And now that I think about it, she didn't feel wiggly at all. It might be possible to bolt a seat right to the gunwales. Except that I made my inwales thin and delicate and I'm not sure it would be a good idea. But sometime when I'm paddling her I'll take a board and try sitting at gunwale level and see what happens. And if it seems reasonable, and if my next boat is a Wee Lassie II (I want a third boat, so it could happen) I may try that next time.
