Eureka Canoe

[Cliff Rogers]

[Boatmik]

Fantastic Effort ... and thanks for the Video.

This is officially the first Eureka in Hungary!

Looks like the Hungarian Rivers are pretty nice!!

MIK

[Theodor]

Nice job Csaba. Good timing to enjoy it over summer.

(For all those uneducated foreigners, Hungary is next to Slovenia! So that is 2 Eureka's for central Europe!)

[Boatmik]

Csaba and Theodor,

Do any of the rivers in your region go through both your countries. Do the border guards include any wooden canoe lovers?

MIK

[Mezix]

Dear All,
Thank you for kind feedbacks on my first canoe. That gives me even more motivation to go on with boat-building (I am pretty motivated by anything in connection with rivers, boats and water anyway)

About the rivers in Hungary and Slovenia: yes, there is a small river called Mura which flows from Slovenia to Hungary. Concerning that both countries are EU and Schengen members - the border control doesn't exist anymore.

Hungary is very rich of good waters - we have 2 major rivers (Danube and Tisza) flowing through the country and a great lake called Balaton (the biggest lake in eastern Europe). There are many nice places which worth canoing, kayaking and sailing. I know most of the rivers very well cause I used to work as a canoe tour guide, additionally I go sailing to Balaton regularly.

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&h...17609&t=h&z=10

Cheers
Csaba

[koala]

Dear Csaba
Congratulatons on you beautifull canoe.
Balaton sure is a nice place to go sailing and rowing. Pehaps we can one day, some day in the future come to sail our PDracers

Pete

[Catfish]

Hello folks,

This is just a little update on the canoe project. The clock officially started ticking on my canoe project Saturday (9 August). Patterns are made. Okoume plywood is marked, cut, trimmed and joined. The gunwales are scarfed glued and clamped. The inwales are scarfed but not yet glued. Most of the lumber is machined.

Dealing with the mm measurements at my local lumber supplier was a little challenging (in the end I just converted it all to close common fractional equivalents. I know metric is much easier to work with then the archaic fractional system that the USA (probably the only country in the world) still has in common usage, but alas what is a fella to do... I will be putting up all the conversions for any future Americans who choose to build this fine canoe.

marking and reading the fine pencil lines on the okoume which is a fairly loose grained wood was a little challenging, but using the batten for marking out was made easier by the assistance of my wife.

The plywood is currently laid out and glued up in my great room. It is climate controlled (currently 80F or 26 Celsius and about 25% humidity). has anyone got any idea how long the epoxy should set up before I can work with it?

With any luck I'll get the interior epoxy coats on the canoe and the inwale scarf joints glued tomorrow. then I can quit feeling so much like a millwright and become a boat builder. I have been taking photos, but am not to anything you fellas have not seen many times before. Ill get them up soon.

Cheers, Tom

[Boatmik]

Howdy Catfish,

Everyone does something that others have not. That is where I have picked up some of "my" best ideas!!!!

Love more pics, man!

Best wishes
Michael Storer

[Catfish]

The canoe is progressing nicely, abit with all the mistakes a novice boat builder can make!

Some photos of the process to date can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29250681@N04/

I have a question about the bulkhead hatches. How are you fellows attaching them to the bulkhead?

Cheers, Tom

[coogzilla]

Your Eureka is lookin real nice.

Coogs

[Joost]

Mik,

You might soon see another Eureka on the water (well, if you would visit the Netherlands that is). A friend of mine has been helping me out quite a bit whenever my GIS needed to be turned over or when mayor parts of the boat had to be put together (like gluing the bottom in place).

He really enjoyed working on the boat and told me he would be interested in building something he could enjoy on the water (he is no sailor).

To thank him for his work, I have bought him a set of your Eureka plans. He loves the lines of the canoe and is looking forward to building it in the near future.

Regards, Joost

[Boatmik]

Oh Tom ... I replied to this and the answer aint here ... oh well.

The hatches are plastic usually with 6 small screw holes. I normally glue the hatch in with a polyurethane sealant like sikaflex and forget the screws unless I need them to hold the thing in place..

Make sure the hole in the wood is not cut undersize - if it distorts the plastic hatch surround it will make it very hard to put the hatch in. Make sure the edges of the cutout in the wood are sealed with a few coats of 'pox.

Best wishes
Michael

[Boatmik]

Mik,

You might soon see another Eureka on the water (well, if you would visit the Netherlands that is). A friend of mine has been helping me out quite a bit whenever my GIS needed to be turned over or when mayor parts of the boat had to be put together (like gluing the bottom in place).

He really enjoyed working on the boat and told me he would be interested in building something he could enjoy on the water (he is no sailor).

To thank him for his work, I have bought him a set of your Eureka plans. He loves the lines of the canoe and is looking forward to building it in the near future.

Regards, Joost

Joost,

You are a gent! I am sure your friend is happy too!

Thankyou hugely
Michael

[Catfish]

I am to the point of fitting the bulkheads for the flotation chambers on my eureka canoe. I am curious how much weight these flotation chambers are designed to float. In other words how much gear can I lash to the canoe in addition to the 45-55lb weight of the canoe itself and not have it sink to the bottom of the lake never to be seen again? How much more flotation can I get by increasing the chambers 50mm (toward the center) or so?

Cheers, Tom

[mal55]

School holidays, arn't they wonderful. After starting my Eureka early August, (cutting the panels out and making sure the ones that should be the same, were the same) it sat in the shed while I had to go back to school. (I was a busy time since my long service leave holiday and as a teacher, I had a bit of work to do). One of my students keeps asking how the canoe is going.
I have now started constructing again and went to vist Boatcraft Pacific in Brisbane last week and now have the epoxy etc. A friend who has built a couple of sea going kayacks is coming visiting this week, so by the end I should have the panels butt strapped and three coats of epoxy on what is to be the inside.
Also I aim to have the gunwhales and inwhales material prepared from the Oregan from the pergola I replaced a couple of years ago. (can't throw anything out)
If I work it well, I could even have the panels tied together but I do have to help my father-in-law move house on Friday.

Malcolm