In keeping with the "cheap" theme, I picked up some pseudo-luan (meranti) at
Home Depot (I know...I know) and got her all cut out. Seems like the nesting
plan must not be to scale, the seat dimensions are way bigger than the
leftover material on the 2 sheets. Not a problem though...plenty of other
scrap around.

So far, all is well. I did the cutting with a jigsaw that I'd never used
before so, the first cut or two had some extra wave. Thanks goodness for
fillets & tape!!

James


Well...enough chat I suppose. I'll be off to the lumber store first thing
in
the morning to get started! Thanks everyone for the insights and advice.
I'll post as the thing progresses......Hey Jaques, tell me in advance what
the first mistake I'll be making is. I can then move on to the second one
without delay!!!

James

I built a variation of the "Cheap Canoe" that I'm quite happy with. Yes, it
can feel a bit "tippy" when you get into it - especially depending on your
weight - I'm 220lbs. I've found that it can tip over quite far and actually
gets more "stiff" as it goes - until the gunwale gets under water .... I've
only capsized mine once and that was on purpose. It also works well on very
"thin" water - it practically floats on spit.

I didn't fibreglass my boat, but did use Luan for the construction. I
squeegeed epoxy onto the wood to make it water resistant and then put on a
couple of coats of paint. It's held up well for me and it's a lot cheaper
to build without the fibreglass even though it won't last as long.

I did add a small skeg and some floatation chambers to mine. The skeg has
helped with tracking quite a bit.

There's a discussion board over on bateau.com - or at least there was a
while ago. Lots of people discuss this design there.

--
Andrew Butchart

http://www.abutchartconsulting.com/sailing/ - The Floating Bear

"James W. Sloan" wrote in message
...
Group,

I've found a couple of creeks I want to explore and I've decided to put
together the Bateau "Cheap Canoe". I don't expect much given that the
plans
are free and the materials minimal. Anyone built one to these plans? Any
changes I should make? Is this a stable canoe (13' x 30") or is it
tender/tippy? Should I add a small keel? I'll likely use Luan and
epoxy/glass ( I have enough left over from other projects to go with the
"cheap" theme!).

Thanks in advance,

James






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That's exactly what I was interested in....I can get accustomed to the
"feel" of just about any boat, but true tippiness is another thing. Since we
have a substantial alligator population where I intend to use this thing, I
want to have some reasonable expectations before paddling off the marsh's
edge. I don't mind canoeing among them, I just try not to swim that much!!

What mods did you make to the original plan? I thought about adding an inch
or two of freeboard, enough to matter but not interfere with arm motion. I
also thought about some flotation chambers, perhaps in the stem & stern
areas. These should be easy enough to enclose and fill.

I'm sure I have enough tape to do the inside and outside seams, I might have
enough 50" 6oz. to do the bottom and outer sides. I'll definitely seal it
all well with epoxy. I was at Home Depot (I know...I know) today looking at
the ply they have in stock, saw something called "Sanderply" (not superply)
that looks a lot like 1/4 MDO although none of the help knew a thing about
it.

Thanks,

James
" I built a variation of the "Cheap Canoe" that I'm quite happy with. Yes,
it
can feel a bit "tippy" when you get into it - especially depending on your
weight - I'm 220lbs. I've found that it can tip over quite far and
actually
gets more "stiff" as it goes - until the gunwale gets under water ....
I've
only capsized mine once and that was on purpose. It also works well on
very
"thin" water - it practically floats on spit.

I didn't fibreglass my boat, but did use Luan for the construction. I
squeegeed epoxy onto the wood to make it water resistant and then put on a
couple of coats of paint. It's held up well for me and it's a lot cheaper
to build without the fibreglass even though it won't last as long.

I did add a small skeg and some floatation chambers to mine. The skeg has
helped with tracking quite a bit.

There's a discussion board over on bateau.com - or at least there was a
while ago. Lots of people discuss this design there.

--
Andrew Butchart

http://www.abutchartconsulting.com/sailing/ - The Floating Bear

"James W. Sloan" wrote in message
...
Group,

I've found a couple of creeks I want to explore and I've decided to put
together the Bateau "Cheap Canoe". I don't expect much given that the
plans
are free and the materials minimal. Anyone built one to these plans? Any
changes I should make? Is this a stable canoe (13' x 30") or is it
tender/tippy? Should I add a small keel? I'll likely use Luan and
epoxy/glass ( I have enough left over from other projects to go with the
"cheap" theme!).

Thanks in advance,

James






-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 80,000 Newsgroups - 16 Different Servers! =-----

On Sat, 5 Jul 2003 18:10:40 -0400, "James W. Sloan"
wrote:

That's exactly what I was interested in....I can get accustomed to the
"feel" of just about any boat, but true tippiness is another thing. Since we
have a substantial alligator population where I intend to use this thing, I
want to have some reasonable expectations before paddling off the marsh's
edge. I don't mind canoeing among them, I just try not to swim that much!!

What mods did you make to the original plan? I thought about adding an inch
or two of freeboard, enough to matter but not interfere with arm motion.
snip

As I recall, the nesting plans for the Cheap Canoe are really tight.
Your extra inch or two of freeboard might double your plywood
requirement.

- Rick Tyler

--
"Ignorant voracity -- a wingless vulture -- can soar only into the
depths of ignominy." Patrick O'Brian