Eureka: Thanks Mik.

**Coucal** · 31st March 2011, 07:16 PM

Hi all,

It was a beautiful afternoon today; too good for work. I took my pulse, said "ahh" and decided that a mental health half-day was necessary.

The Eureka was already on the roof racks, and it was a short ride to the Fairfield Boathouse, on a turn of the Yarra.

No hassles getting it off the roof rack, just slide forward and onto the trolley, turn it over & strap it down, and a easy downhill walk to the canoe club launching spot.

Stairs at the waters edge? OK for slim little Methodist Ladies College canoeists, with their kevlar K1s over one shoulder like a designer leather jacket, but with some less-than-dignified grunting and shuffling I work my way to the waters edge. In goes the paddle and the trolley, on goes the life jacket, shove off, and the ordinary world disappears.

What a joy this little boat is. What a pleasure to be surrounded only by water, trees and birds amongst a city of four million people. Kneeling at the centre crossbeam, knees tucked into the chine, I could push, draw, lean and adjust my weight so that the Eureka tracked through the breeze. So easy - so much fun.

What a gift. Thank you Mik, and Duck Flat (please don't consider this advertising; these are sincere thanks) for teaching me to build a boat. Thank you Mik, for a great design - it turned heads in the home-from-work traffic as I brought it home from the river. Thank you Philippe Patacca and his staff at Build Wooden Boats who rented me workshop space to finish it off and gave all sorts of advice. Thank you to all the forum members who posted advice, suggestions & detail photos. This boat is well worth all the time (almost 2 years??!), money (amount forgotten) and materials it took to make.

If you are a visitor to this forum, and you are wondering whether to plunge in and begin building your boat: It is worth it. It is worth it. It is worth it.

Best wishes,

Jack

**MichaelB** · 31st March 2011, 09:24 PM

It's good, eh?

**Coucal** · 31st March 2011, 09:42 PM

I reckon!

**Boatmik** · 1st April 2011, 11:06 AM

Great little story!

Do you have a pic?

MIK

**Coucal** · 4th April 2011, 12:26 PM

Here are some photos from the launch day:

Pouring the libations...

**Coucal** · 4th April 2011, 12:32 PM

Pouring the libations:

**Coucal** · 4th April 2011, 12:36 PM

General arrangement:

**Coucal** · 4th April 2011, 12:39 PM

Near the pipe bridge

**Coucal** · 4th April 2011, 12:43 PM

Heading upriver:

**Coucal** · 4th April 2011, 12:48 PM

Paddling solo:

**MichaelB** · 4th April 2011, 11:53 PM

That's pretty. Well done!

**Clinton1** · 6th April 2011, 09:56 AM

From what I can see, the decks and the epoxy chine fillets are quite well done... both areas that can be tricky and which stand out when not done well.

Its strange that such a simple thing as building your own canoe and spending time on the water has such a large effect on a persons inner state. Good medicine for modern city life.

**andrew_kieren** · 24th April 2012, 06:53 PM

I just bought from Phillipe's a set of panels for the Eureka, his last bit of stock after closing up Build Wooden boats last year, sadly. It looks to be a wonderful canoe.

I plan it to be a boat building project to be built with my young daughter over winter. I built a boat with each of my sons just as they were starting school and they are both proud of their achievements, and so they should be. They learnt a lot and grew in confidence from these projects. My second son is now an avid sailor. (and now I am an avid boat builder) It has become a tradition that my children build a boat with dad before you turn 5, only this time my daughter is suggesting a pink and rainbow colour scheme ....

Andrew

https://sites.google.com/site/warrandytewoodenboat/

**Coucal** · 25th April 2012, 02:15 PM

My 5yo daughter and her friends love the Eureka, it's a great boat for kids. She'd have pushed for pink & rainbow too, given the chance.

It's a real shame about Philippe wrapping up the BWB workshop. I would have struggled without a good, clear, safe place to finish the build, and it was great to have something like BWB on the north side of town.

**MiddleAgesMan** · 26th April 2012, 12:40 PM

Very nice work, and it's nice to hear the whole family is going to be enjoying the canoe.

Just curious--are the two seats equidistant from the ends or is one set closer to the end (call this end the stern)?

I was just thinking that if the bow and stern are interchangeable the boat would balance and paddle well if the stern remained the stern when two-up but would become the bow when paddling alone.

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