Day out in the Eureka

**Canoath** · 30th September 2012, 01:51 AM

Thought I'd throw a Eureka story out there with a short vid and comment about the Eureka in rough water.

It's been 10 months since she first floated and we've taken her out enough times that I couldn't guess how often she's taken to water. Most of the time there's just myself and my son and there's usually fishing gear thrown in too, plus a few light beers, snacks etc. Sometimes there's a third crew member, daughter or a friend of my son, but two up is ideal. More room for bigger esky

There was a few different things happen today. Firstly, I don't do the catching of the fish. I might chuck a line in or monitor one of my son's lines but my job's usually to paddle, tie off, recline, drink beer (in moderation of course, still have to drive home) and listen to cricket or footy on the radio. But today the fish tally was me=2, son=0

. I did let him hold one of em as you'll see, just to stir him up. But that was a first for me, first fish landed from the Eureka.

Secondly, man was it windy today. There's only two spots we've been too so far. Lake Wyangan; smallish enclosed freshwater lake near Griffith, NSW, and Gogilderie Weir; near Leeton, NSW on the Murrumbidgee River. I've been tempted to put the Eureka in the river itself but man it looks scary and dangerous. It's been at a constant high level since the flood early this year and there's way too many submerged trees. Plus the flow is deceivingly fast. No rapids, just swirls and a general momentum that I doubt I could paddle against it or get the canoe out of trouble. I heard of someone's outboard that flipped recently after drifting over a submerged tree. Just too dangerous for the canoe. The Weir's no trouble. Fairly clean and slow flow, easy to paddle up river and no whirlpools/swirls.

So, today on the Lake. The southerly kicked up the water to make some decent waves at the northern end where one of our fishing spots is. A bunch of long dead trees provide plenty of tie off points but getting there was a struggle. We started off in calm water, sheltered by a bank of reeds and in a short time we were hit boradside with the wind. Steering was ok until we started running parrallel with the waves and started having our course determined by how we landed in the trough after every crest. They weren't too big at first but when a few splashed a little over the gunwale we turned to face the waves head on. That was fun. Got some speed up and started slamming in to them, so to speak, creating a bit of spray and wash, but it was hard work. We aimed to make a big "V" course so we could run a down wind leg to the far side trees. The waves were getting bigger. The bigger sets had crests that easily bettered the freeboard height whilst the canoe was in the trough. With your backside below waterline it's an interesting sight.

We're well past halfway now, and make a turn for the downwind which paralleled that shoreline. Now that was really fun. Looking to the shoreline I've never seen it move past so quick from the vantage point of the Eureka. We were putting in a few big paddles, gaining speed with the wind and then ride a wave for a few metres at a time. Not exactly Surf Lifesaving surfboat style, but you know, it had us both chuckling. We reached "our" tree (and everyone elses), arguably the biggest partially submerged dead tree left standing in the lake. But there was a huge Wedgetail Eagle in a nest up top, (wish I took a photo) and because we were on a roll moving too fast, we just let the waves and wind take us to another one. We tied off and that's where in the video you see the canoe pitching and rolling. The bigger waves were splashing over the deck behind me, soaking my back and over about an hour, dumped a couple of litres in the boat. I didn't really mind the movement but I'm not that big of a fan on getting wet when it's not stinking hot. So we untied and turned to go back to the side of the lake we set off from.

Now this was really a struggle. With wind and waves which seemed to have increased again we had a hard time gaining any ground. Furthermore, at one point the wind was strong enough to prevent us from turning port. Slipping sideways back towards the line of trees maybe twenty metres away, we had to paddle backwards to effect a reverse 270 degree turn in order to get us back on course. My biggest fear wasn't the waves but the trees of which many have branches broken near normal water level. Although normally submerged and easily avoided when slowly navigating around them in calm waters, they could pose a real risk of puncturing the hull if a wave dumped us on one. So we did our best to stay clear, but that reverse 270 deg turn was hard going as was the rest of the distance we covered, slipping sideways most of the way to get close to the side of the lake we started at. I couldn't really guess how long it took but I was glad to get a rest. It's first time I really wished we had a minn kota.

There's no video of that bit of paddling, nor the original venture out in the middle but I gotta say the Eureka held up well against the waves and it's the most it's been through, so far as sustained wave attack and twisting forces. The video doesn't really do justice to the Lake's waves. I couldn't capture wave height as I was too busy paddling at the time but the rolling and pitching where we tie up will give some idea as to the randomness. At the Weir is where I first tested the Eureka against waves. A few times we'd stick to a sheltered channel before edging up river to where the ski and fishing boats get up on plane. We'd let them hit us from head on to 90 deg, at 45 to see if the hull twisted much or rolled to allow water in. No probs and no swamping. I'm not sure which waves were bigger to be honest, the Weir's from boats or the Lake's today. The Weir's waves from boats is much more predictable with uniform sets of 3 or 4 waves then nothing. The Lake on the other hand provided a few surprises. I wouldn't like to go out into anything bigger.

Back in to calmer waters now, alongside some reeds further south of our launch point is where we sat for the rest of the afternoon. Plenty of bights, a couple that got away, and only two fish landed. Both Euro Carp unfortunately but like I said, first fish for me from the Eureka. The rest of the vid just shows a few seconds of the glide back to base, close to reeds. I love when the water's like that. A bit of texture, slight swell, and that soothing running water sound of the hull moving through the water. I can't wait to go out again.

**Flatdog** · 30th September 2012, 06:20 PM

Fantastic write up Canoath.

It's really great to hear how the Eureka handled the rough water. Sadly I can't see your video here in Germany

.

My wife and I have only been out maybe a dozen times in the Eureka but one of those days had quite a bit of wind. The local lake where we paddle has a lot ot trees giving quite a bit of shelter but a couple of times we were out in open water. What we found was that when we were head on into the wind it was still relatively easy to paddle and also a lot of fun hitting the small waves. We did have a bit of trouble when we were side on though. It was difficult to angle across the wind as the canoe wanted to go directly side on even with both of us paddling on the same side. In the end we just paddled at a slight angle from head on until we hit calmer water and got to where we wanted anyway.

On this same day we paddled to the entrance to the lake which connects to the Rhine. We'd had some really heavy rain and there was quite a strong flow coming through the channel. I was suprised to see how easy it was to paddle against the flow with relatively minimum effort and going in the other direction we would have needed a sea anchor to pull-up.

It's also good to hear that you and your son were fishing from the canoe. My wife wants to do the same. Do you have an idea how much weight you carry with you with your refreshment center

and all ?

It's really great to hear your having fun with the Eureka. We love ours.

Cheers, Kev.

**Canoath** · 30th September 2012, 09:11 PM

Hi flatdog, thanks for the compliment. When I posted the thread I didn't realise it was going to be so long, as I basically wanted to say how well the canoe handled in those conditions and I wasn't fearful of the canoe getting swamped. Interesting to hear about your performance in the wind and a bit of chop. Knowing my luck I probably would've been flushed into the Rhine.

A couple of things before I answer your question, I've really got to take my hat off to you for your build. At the same time I finished mine I noticed your posts that you were starting a build and I was going to keep tabs on it. But I bought plans for a runabout and disappeared from WWF for a while until a month or so ago when I returned after buying the GIS plans. I noticed your threads again with posts saying you were finished and thanking those folks gave advice along the way. I saw your photos and thought your canoe looked fantastic. It had me thinking I wish I took more time on my build. Mine only took 10 long days and late nights and was a rough build but suited to getting knocked around. I marvel at the canoes that are finished to a higher standard like yours. Nice work!

That aside, regarding weights, i'm 106kg, son's 60kg. We didn't have too much aboard yesterday, only a small 5L cooler and small tackle box 2L water plus two rods. It wouldnt have weighed more than another 20kg so total would've been 180kg. When we go to the weir and take a 6pack of beer plus ice plus much bigger cooler plus some other gear, fish finder and so forth, we'd be up near the 200kg mark and still cope with the wash from other fishing boats and ski boats. The most we've put in there is when we go 3up with my son's friend who's also around 60kg. That put's us at 220kg without counting the extras, though no room for big cooler on those days. At 200kg and two up it handles other boats but at 220kg and 3up it sits that much lower again and it gets a bit unnerving when someone else shifts their weight. When the extra weight is dead weight on the floor, the canoe is much more stable as the centre of gravity is low. With 3up, 3 torsos moving independantly above the COG can make the canoe roll too much. I think I would've been scared yesterday if we were three up and in the same situation.

One more thing, regarding the video, apparently the music I grabbed randomly from my wife's computer causes a syndication and copyright issue that I can't change. It's not able to be played on mobile devices or Germany on anything. Why Germany, I don't know. I've got another video that has the same conflict, not viewable in Germany. Anyway, I only added the music as a late inclusion so next chance I get I'll see if I saved the video without music and will reupload.

**ozsmithy** · 1st October 2012, 09:41 PM

good story, sorry about the carp

gotta ask the question, whats the white tube setup over the side? sounder?

**Canoath** · 2nd October 2012, 07:39 PM

LOL. I've only tried carp once, so long ago I can't remember how it tasted, just that I hated it. Some international visitors to town can't believe aussies catch em, stick em and leave them to rot. But that's the rules. It's not illegal to eat them of course but no one I know does. Yellow-belly and Murray Cod are the prized fish here but we rarely take them home. Rarely catch them anyway.

You're right about the PVC pipes - just setup for the fish finder though I swear it lies.

We've also got a pool noodle either side with rope through them to act as fenders and floatation when hit side on by boat waves but they don't do anything. The Eureka's sides manage to climb the waves before the noodles contact water. There's four pvc rod holders too tied on to the inwales, two either end and seating isn't fixed. We use low alloy foldable chairs with sections of pool noodle on parts of the legs that contact the hull. All the above was supposed to be temporary until we made removeable attachments out of aluminium but the temporary stuff has worked well and so they've stayed on. The foldable chairs allow flexibility too. Comfy with backrests and easily rotated. We face the same way to paddle and face each other to fish.

**ozsmithy** · 4th October 2012, 11:51 PM

yep carp sucks

I go fishing out on the Condamine at Chinchilla 50% carp some yellow belly and cod, let the cod go but cook the yellow belly

I have a oz racer, these super light weight boat are awesome, know what you mean with over the waves

**Flatdog** · 7th October 2012, 04:30 AM

Years ago I worked up in Queensland with Fijians and they soaked carp overnight in milk and cooked it in coconut milk. It was damned good. I'd had the same experience as you guys when it mostly had a real earthy taste but they seemed to have had it worked out.

Canoath, I have to take my hat off to you. You took ten days to build your Eureka. I took five and a half months. In such a short time it's amazing what you achieved. There's no way I could do that. I'm just too pedantic and too much of a procrastinator and also a perfectionist which can turn the simplist of jobs into a bit of a drawn out affair. I'm talking days, weeks, months.

If I bought the plans for the quick canoe the name would have to be changed to the " long drawn out canoe".

Cheers, Kev.

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