Canoe: Episode 7 - "Runners, ropes and seats"

Back from Dublin it was time to add the runners to the underside of the hull. The runners were attached to the hull with a layer of epoxy and with small screws, screwed from the inside through the hull and into the runners at 150 mm intervals.

Got the runners dyed and varnished just in time for the rain!

You can see in the next photo that unfortunately the runners draw the eye to the hull shape and it become more obvious that the centre-line of the hull undulates. If only I had done a better job at the beginning when stitching the planks together with cable-ties!

Undulations in the hull made more visible by the runners.

I finished drilling the eye-holes in the bow and stern to allow the canoe to have ropes fitted.

The ropes are primarily to allow the canoe to be securely tied down when transported on my car roof. These eye-holes will allow the front and back to be tied to my car bumpers.

The other purpose for the ropes is obviously they are useful for mooring or towing the canoe. I used a copper plumbing fitting (for joining two copper pipes) as an insert to strengthen the eye-holes and prevent rope-wear.

I had toyed with the idea of using a metal D-ring but opted against it in order to make the canoe look less modern and more old-style/primitive. I also stained the ropes with a mix of white-spirit and wood dye just to take the shiny white look off them.

Copper plumbing tube used for insert in the rope-eyes.

Next up were the seats. My aunt Penny was staying and thought that the strapping I had planned for the seats would tend to hold water. She thought this might not be comfortable. She's probably right but having purchased 15 metres of jute strapping and already fixed in the seat dowels I didn't really want to change plans at this point. We will just have to live with wet bottoms if she's right!

Jute strapping looped around the seat dowels to form seats.

The jute strapping is pretty comfortable. It was originally too bright for my liking so i toned it down with a wash of wood dye diluted with white-spirit.

Having completed the canoe seats I was lifting the canoe by the central seat dowels when i heard a crack and i noticed that the incorrectly mixed epoxy connection between seat dowels and hull had come away.

So, as anticipated in episode 6, I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and chisel off the poorly mixed epoxy and form the joints again. Bother!