Launch Day and Virtual Boat Launch Party!
Oct. 31st, 2010 08:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
catsittingstillYou are invited to Constance's Virtual Boat Launch Party, this post, whenever is convenient for you.
This is Constance.
Today is her birthday. She is a Wee Lassie II, stretched to 13 feet 9 1/2 inches long, (3 1/2 inches longer than normal) though she gets an extra inch and a half or so on top of that because of the way I did her gunwales. Her hull is white pine with a double butternut stripe, covered inside and out with four ounce fiberglass.
Steve's day off was today which worked out very nicely with my finishing Constance, and with the weather being beautiful (high of 69 or something like that, but the water is still quite warm from the summer, so it was perfectly reasonable weather for canoeing.) I arranged with him for him to come to my house at 1:00 pm. This made him quite handy for putting the canoes on the car and off we went two blocks over the hill to John's house (since the water is too low now to use the usual launching point, John kindly offered us the use of his yard.)
Some helpful spirit set the camera to close-up view, which is why the pictures are a little blurry. I will try to take sharper pictures later.
Anyway, after some "after you Alphonse" "no, no, after you, Pierre"ing I let on that if Steve didn't mind paddling Patience I would really like to try out Constance. I was a little worried that Steve would find Patience tippy but he actually had no problem with her.
I climbed in Constance.
Once I got myself settled, Steve and I took off and Kip went back home. With the camera. If I had been smart I would have snagged the camera but I had other things on my mind.
Patience is a fast boat. But Constance is actually faster. I was surprised at that because generally longer boats are faster and Patience is longer than Constance. But Steve and I took turns in Constance and there is really no doubt about it. When Steve was in Constance, he was faster; when I was in Constance, I was faster, so it wasn't a matter of technique (where I probably have the edge) or strength (where Steve probably has the edge.)
Constance also tracks like she's on rails and slows down less in a headwind than Patience does. That may partly be because I set the seat and the back thwart too far forward, dang it. I'm not positive but I think she's a little nose heavy despite my water test. When Steve sat in Constance with his legs stretched out in front of him she seemed a little nose heavy. When he sat cross-legged she seemed much less so. On the other hand, she seems to handle beautifully and normally being nose heavy would make her a handful in a tailwind. We didn't have much tailwind (mostly we had headwind or still air--don't ask me why, though I think the shape of the hills has something to do with it.) So I need to take her out a few more times. I may just put a backpack with stuff behind the seat and call it good, though.
We went all over the lake, going around the island by the mouth of Bird Springs (which it turns out is the name of the put in point), and turning to explore the south leg of the lake where Mossy Creek enters it. The water was too low for us to go up in the creek itself, which is possible in midsummer. At this point there was a bitty 1 or 2 foot waterfall, but that was it for us. We traded boats, so Steve could try Constance, and turned to explore the western edge of the lake, poked in and out of little bays and inlets and looked at the houses there, ran into someone who called vigorously to us, so we went in closer so we could hear him, only to discover that he'd mistaken us for a couple of his friends who kayaked in the area. Since Steve and I were both using double bladed paddles, it was an understandable mistake. He admired our boats very much and I preened a little. Hopefully not too much. Then Steve and I contined north along the western shore of the lake, up to the park by the dam. We got out and rested a little and ate a couple of miniature (Halloween) candy bars and I used the restroom and refilled my water bottle.
Then we got back in the boats and canoed the length of the dam, which is pretty extensive. At this point I was thinking about turning back, so we paddled east (and a lot of south) across the width of the lake to Black Oak Marina, which has the restaurant Planet Wings. We didn't stop there, though. We paddled among the sailboats and Steve showed me the one he sails with his friend Ed. He says they are "redneck sailors" and sailing is basically an excuse to go out on the lake and have some scotch, but it sounds like they have fun. The boat is a 27 foot (I think) Catalina (?) with a three foot "wing keel" (?) I know what a keel is but never heard of one having wings.
At this point we had about an hour and a half of daylight left so we headed back to the put in point. We weren't racing (having paddled for hours) but we weren't dawdling either. When we got back to the put in point, we took Patience out of the water so I could try some things in Constance.
First off, I can tip her until her gunwales are at the water without having her flip on me (though she does feel kind of iffy at the lowest point.) So, as I suspected, she has much better secondary stability than Patience. Second off, I can, carefully get up on my knees and face backward in her, meaning I can get at stuff in a pack behind me without having to land and get out of the boat. That's a nice feature. Third off, as I was trying to get out, I forgot how to do it and fell out of the boat and into the water, getting completely soaked. This after having swapped boats with Steve several times during the afternoon and having had no trouble getting out of her.
This was not actually a problem, as I had worn clothes suitable for this eventuality, but it was getting dark and we wrapped the whole expedition up pretty promptly at this point. Steve said he had a great time, and I had a great time, and I have no doubt we'll do this again. It was really good being able to go with someone--it meant I could compare Patience and Constance, and canoe across the lake without having to worry that I would be in trouble if I fell in, and have someone to help me putting the canoe(s) on the car.
This is Constance.
Today is her birthday. She is a Wee Lassie II, stretched to 13 feet 9 1/2 inches long, (3 1/2 inches longer than normal) though she gets an extra inch and a half or so on top of that because of the way I did her gunwales. Her hull is white pine with a double butternut stripe, covered inside and out with four ounce fiberglass.
The person in the photo is Steve, my friend from the hardware store who drilled out the broken screw and removed the broken drill bit from the front thwart. When I found out he canoed I knew who my first victim--I mean companion--should be.
Steve's day off was today which worked out very nicely with my finishing Constance, and with the weather being beautiful (high of 69 or something like that, but the water is still quite warm from the summer, so it was perfectly reasonable weather for canoeing.) I arranged with him for him to come to my house at 1:00 pm. This made him quite handy for putting the canoes on the car and off we went two blocks over the hill to John's house (since the water is too low now to use the usual launching point, John kindly offered us the use of his yard.)
Some helpful spirit set the camera to close-up view, which is why the pictures are a little blurry. I will try to take sharper pictures later.
Anyway, after some "after you Alphonse" "no, no, after you, Pierre"ing I let on that if Steve didn't mind paddling Patience I would really like to try out Constance. I was a little worried that Steve would find Patience tippy but he actually had no problem with her.
I climbed in Constance.
Once I got myself settled, Steve and I took off and Kip went back home. With the camera. If I had been smart I would have snagged the camera but I had other things on my mind.
Patience is a fast boat. But Constance is actually faster. I was surprised at that because generally longer boats are faster and Patience is longer than Constance. But Steve and I took turns in Constance and there is really no doubt about it. When Steve was in Constance, he was faster; when I was in Constance, I was faster, so it wasn't a matter of technique (where I probably have the edge) or strength (where Steve probably has the edge.)
Constance also tracks like she's on rails and slows down less in a headwind than Patience does. That may partly be because I set the seat and the back thwart too far forward, dang it. I'm not positive but I think she's a little nose heavy despite my water test. When Steve sat in Constance with his legs stretched out in front of him she seemed a little nose heavy. When he sat cross-legged she seemed much less so. On the other hand, she seems to handle beautifully and normally being nose heavy would make her a handful in a tailwind. We didn't have much tailwind (mostly we had headwind or still air--don't ask me why, though I think the shape of the hills has something to do with it.) So I need to take her out a few more times. I may just put a backpack with stuff behind the seat and call it good, though.
We went all over the lake, going around the island by the mouth of Bird Springs (which it turns out is the name of the put in point), and turning to explore the south leg of the lake where Mossy Creek enters it. The water was too low for us to go up in the creek itself, which is possible in midsummer. At this point there was a bitty 1 or 2 foot waterfall, but that was it for us. We traded boats, so Steve could try Constance, and turned to explore the western edge of the lake, poked in and out of little bays and inlets and looked at the houses there, ran into someone who called vigorously to us, so we went in closer so we could hear him, only to discover that he'd mistaken us for a couple of his friends who kayaked in the area. Since Steve and I were both using double bladed paddles, it was an understandable mistake. He admired our boats very much and I preened a little. Hopefully not too much. Then Steve and I contined north along the western shore of the lake, up to the park by the dam. We got out and rested a little and ate a couple of miniature (Halloween) candy bars and I used the restroom and refilled my water bottle.
Then we got back in the boats and canoed the length of the dam, which is pretty extensive. At this point I was thinking about turning back, so we paddled east (and a lot of south) across the width of the lake to Black Oak Marina, which has the restaurant Planet Wings. We didn't stop there, though. We paddled among the sailboats and Steve showed me the one he sails with his friend Ed. He says they are "redneck sailors" and sailing is basically an excuse to go out on the lake and have some scotch, but it sounds like they have fun. The boat is a 27 foot (I think) Catalina (?) with a three foot "wing keel" (?) I know what a keel is but never heard of one having wings.
At this point we had about an hour and a half of daylight left so we headed back to the put in point. We weren't racing (having paddled for hours) but we weren't dawdling either. When we got back to the put in point, we took Patience out of the water so I could try some things in Constance.
First off, I can tip her until her gunwales are at the water without having her flip on me (though she does feel kind of iffy at the lowest point.) So, as I suspected, she has much better secondary stability than Patience. Second off, I can, carefully get up on my knees and face backward in her, meaning I can get at stuff in a pack behind me without having to land and get out of the boat. That's a nice feature. Third off, as I was trying to get out, I forgot how to do it and fell out of the boat and into the water, getting completely soaked. This after having swapped boats with Steve several times during the afternoon and having had no trouble getting out of her.
This was not actually a problem, as I had worn clothes suitable for this eventuality, but it was getting dark and we wrapped the whole expedition up pretty promptly at this point. Steve said he had a great time, and I had a great time, and I have no doubt we'll do this again. It was really good being able to go with someone--it meant I could compare Patience and Constance, and canoe across the lake without having to worry that I would be in trouble if I fell in, and have someone to help me putting the canoe(s) on the car.
So, Hurray for Constance!
(Cat opens a bottle of virtual champagne and splashes some on Constance.)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-11-01 01:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-01 12:46 pm (UTC)This way I can take a friend paddling--since lots of people don't have their own canoes.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-02 07:56 pm (UTC)A "wing keel" I happen to know, having seen one on a boat and asked about it. It's like a little aerofoil at the bottom of the keel making an upside-down T (or a very shallow Y, as the foils are angled downward slightly). I'm told it increases stability when beating against the wind, much like the tailplane on a plane, the force acting downward and helping the boat to stay upright (since you don't get something for nothing, if you're running with a tailwind it increases drag, but overall there is a performance benefit). (I know less about boats than about planes, but the principle is the same and one about which I've known since I was a teenager; I'd never thought of applying it to boats though.)
no subject
Date: 2010-11-03 10:42 pm (UTC)And thank you for explaining about the wing keel.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-01 12:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-01 12:57 am (UTC)The first I heard of winged keels was when the Australians took the America's cup for the first time. The Australian boat had a pair of nearly horizontal wings at the bottom tip of the keel that kept the boat closer to vertical in cross winds.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-01 01:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-01 01:17 am (UTC)I admire your many talents!
no subject
Date: 2010-11-01 01:33 am (UTC)Your canoe posts always take me back a bit.
Must be so satisfying to put her in the water.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-01 02:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-01 02:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-01 03:04 am (UTC)Hooray for both of you!
no subject
Date: 2010-11-01 03:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-01 04:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-01 04:37 am (UTC)This may be a day for toasting absent friends, but toasting new ones is good too!
no subject
Date: 2010-11-01 05:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-01 07:32 am (UTC)What a beautiful baby she is. You must be very proud of your work, and if you aren't, you should be.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-01 12:11 pm (UTC)I have to confess, half the time I don't understand more than half what you're talking about in your canoe-building posts; but the end result is fantastic!
no subject
Date: 2010-11-01 06:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-01 10:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-02 12:36 am (UTC)Vive la Constance!