Thread: Eureka Canoe

That particular boat I tacked with aquadhere. Close-up below.
For scale: the wire including insulation is a shade less than 2mm thick.

Later boats, I've filled most of the joint between ties with thickened pox,
"injected" and worked into good contact both sides with a syringe.
Then gone back after removing the ties & filled the spaces. see
http://www.woodworkforums.com/f32/cl...d-kayak-87199/ page 1 posting #12

If the weather forecast for the ensuing week or so until I can get both
sides of the plywood pox-sealed looks stable, I fair up the outer & sheath
it, before popping the half off the moulds & glass taping the inner.
If the weather doesn't look stable long term, I carefully flip the half off the
moulds & just glass tape the inside, leaving both sides mostly unpoxed.

As Eureka is usually assembled right way up, and the twist stresses on her
joints seem much less than my kayaks, it may be possible to run a bead of
neat pox along a close-fitting join, pull the ties & tape the inside.

Starting to think along the same lines as Alex. Next 'boat' boat is looking
further & further away, although I have made a start on some PDR foils.
Sails & outriggers on a Eureka would be a quicker route to a fast, stable
& very flexible touring boat.

Out of curiosity, has anyone built a Eureka inverted?
cheers
AJ

Hi Alan,

Many thanks for that info. The interesting thing about the Aquadhere - which I would never have though of using, having got rather stuck in a sort of epoxy "rut" - is that once dry it would contract and keep the joints in some tension, this assisting the hull to stay in shape once the wire comes out. Especially with the large number of glue droplets obviously used.

Well, that's what it looks should happen, anyway. Thanks for that photo, by the way - very useful: I have a couple of spools of that typr of wire that I got from Jaycar a few years ago for wiring up a few things in my aircraft (that I haven't got any where near, so there's still plenty of wire!). I even think I know where I've put it!

I'm not contemplating build the boat inverted - I'll follow the instructions to the letter for this boat - apart from the stitching, of course ;).

Cheers,
Alex.

Not recommending aquadhere. It worked, and encapsulated in glass & pox it shouldn't be a problem.
But quicker & easier to use 100% pox throughout, as I did in the 2009 build blog linked in that posting.
cheers
AJ

Thanks Alan - I misunderstood! I've been updating my 'Duck thread and haven't read that link yet (took a lot longer than I expected, for some reason), although I have that page up and waiting. I'll go and read it right now!

Cheers,
Alex.

Howdy,

With the Eureka, there is a lot of tension up in the ends of the hull and the aquadhere would not have the slightest possibility of holding the tension.

I would not recommend Aquadhere - a traditional PVA glue.

It makes much more sense to use one of the modified PVA glue (yellow glues) as they have some ability to resist water that normal aquadhere does not.

They are pretty much identical to use.

Used alone there are a number of cautions listed on the bottles which need to be followed.

Also be aware that the modified PVA needs really thin film thicknesses to create a bond (cautions on bottle - tight fits and high clamping pressures) so might act as a resist or mask, reducing the adhesion of epoxy that goes on after. I think the epoxy will stick to the PVA OK but perhaps the PVA might not be stuck to the wood particularly well. So to be tidy like BOAT is important.

Best wishes
MIK

Hi MIK,

I'll use BoteCote+hs-filler and let it cure completely before pulling the wires. At least, that's the plan of the moment (and always subject to change, even if implemented ;). And attempt to be tidier (in both senses, i.e., work and environment), unlike my current uncontrolled mayhem, which gets worse by the day as Yet More Junk(TM) is added from the living areas of the house... There is going to be a total hosing once the 'Duck is finished - but if it gets much worse before that happens, the 'Duck will be put on hold until the hosing is done! It's a nightmare...

Follow the scheme in the photo set of Bob Bauze's build.

The micro fillets between the panels and only in the buoyancy tanks glass tape for the join between the side and bilge panels over a messy fillet thing, wire and all..

MIK

OK, sounds good. I won't take that as an excuse to cram the weight on in the ends of the boat, though :).

I'll run through the Bob Bauze set a few more times (at least).

Cheers,
Alex.

The plans have incorporated a couple of alternatives used by Bob (and me) for year or more now.

Best wishes
Michael

I am thinking about giving this boat a build. How is the stability in actual use compared to a traditional commerically made canoe?

Thanks
Kirby

HI Kirby,

In Australia we have very few good commercial canoes - unlike the USA and Canada where some of the commercial boats are very fine indeed.

So in Australia I would say the Eureka is a less stable than the normal fibreglass bathtub of a canoe but paddles really nicely in all conditions in comparison.

In the USA I would guess that if you have paddled a few different canoes it is very likely you have paddled some very good ones and know how the range of stability between boats will vary a great deal.

That said two experienced canoeists built and used the Eureka and called it "stable" and reasonably fast.

I quote them on this page Eureka Lightweight Plywood Canoes - more pictures and review - Michael Storer Boat Design

In comparison people who have not used canoes before might find the Eureka a bit tippy when they first get in, but after getting used to it find it quite stable.

One factor is I have designed it around 340lbs of people and a very light weekend away kit. This might make a bit of difference too.

Best wishes
Michael

Originally Posted by Boatmik

HI Kirby,

In Australia we have very few good commercial canoes - unlike the USA and Canada where some of the commercial boats are very fine indeed.

So in Australia I would say the Eureka is a less stable than the normal fibreglass bathtub of a canoe but paddles really nicely in all conditions in comparison.

In the USA I would guess that if you have paddled a few different canoes it is very likely you have paddled some very good ones and know how the range of stability between boats will vary a great deal.

That said two experienced canoeists built and used the Eureka and called it "stable" and reasonably fast.

I quote them on this page Eureka Lightweight Plywood Canoes - more pictures and review - Michael Storer Boat Design

In comparison people who have not used canoes before might find the Eureka a bit tippy when they first get in, but after getting used to it find it quite stable.

One factor is I have designed it around 340lbs of people and a very light weekend away kit. This might make a bit of difference too.

Best wishes
Michael

THanks for the Great reply Michael...

Hmmm... Well with me and my family we are probably close to 475. We would not be taking a pack though other than maybe a picnic basket. So, I would be pushing the weight a bit.
I wonder if one of your other deisgns would be a better choice, or possibly scale this design up a little bit.

Opinion?

THanks
Kirby

Howdy,

It would be possible to scale up all the dimensions of the Eureka, but you would probably need two adults aboard to make it handleable. It would be too floaty otherwise. Wouldn't be suitable for single person use probably.

There are only two sensible solutions for scaling up because the panels don't scale as you would expect if you only increase one or two dimensions.

So either the whole boat would have to be increased in every direction or a bit added to the middle of the boat - which would not be so pretty. There might be better boats for carrying large weights without compromising the single paddler aspect so much.

Hope this helps a little.

MIK

Originally Posted by Boatmik

Howdy,

It would be possible to scale up all the dimensions of the Eureka, but you would probably need two adults aboard to make it handleable. It would be too floaty otherwise. Wouldn't be suitable for single person use probably.

There are only two sensible solutions for scaling up because the panels don't scale as you would expect if you only increase one or two dimensions.

So either the whole boat would have to be increased in every direction or a bit added to the middle of the boat - which would not be so pretty. There might be better boats for carrying large weights without compromising the single paddler aspect so much.

Hope this helps a little.

MIK

Yes it helps. I sure like the looks of this boat though, however, it would hardly every be used by a single paddler. I would use my kayak in that case. So I wonder about scaling say, 5% in all dimensions.

Regards;
Kirby

That will give it about 16% more carrying capacity.

You need more - it looks like everything has to go up 9% for the weight you are talking about.
Under 17ft
Beam 36" (which is typical for canoes carrying larger weights.

The downside might be plywood waste. If the above looks OK I will work out how it looks on ply sheets.

MIK