Thread: Eureka Canoe

I hate the way you blokes can build a boat, use it, cut it up, put it back together and use it again, all in the time it takes me to think about sanding half the length of the hull.


P

Well I am not much of a boat builder but I have made my living for many years thinking of the best way to tackle a problem.
I try to think of how to do a job rather than how not to do it.

Maybe it works!

dp

I did say I was going to put a new page up on my site about the extra lightweight Eureka Canoe that was built by a couple of serious paddling types from Melbourne.

Comments on the building including some areas and methods where some weight can be pulled out.

Their target was 15kg ready to go paddling - they didn't quite get there - 15.5kg (34lbs)

Also comments on stability and paddling effort.

Here is a pic to tempt you - but please visit
http://www.storerboatplans.com/Eurek...noespage2.html

live In Adelaide Where Can I Source Materialsto Build My Own Canoe

Hi boatmik thinking of building eureke canoe where can i source materials in adelaide have followed midges epic in building one

thanks

Howdy Steve,

Plans are from Duck Flat or me at the same price. The advantage in getting them from the Ducks is that they have them in stock and they take credit cards.

Unless you want the plan emailed to you - then I have them in stock too!

Ducks also have materials packs for the canoe with all the timber cut to cross section - they have some really nice NZ white pine at the moment. If you are not set up for machining timber to cross section this is a good option. They are agents for the Bote Cote epoxy.

8391 3988 or email [email protected]

Ply needs to be the old 8ft x 4ft size (1220 x 2440mm) the metric sheets just won't allow all the bits to fit on easily. Strongly recommend Gaboon ply for the canoe.

Daddles and some others here may also be able to help you with info on suppliers of reasonable priced timber as well - I'm a bit ignorant about what else is around in 'delaide because I am usually up at the ducks once a week so it is easy for me to pick stuff up there.

MIK

Thanks boatmik for all that info, keen to try builing one myself. love the old boats made of wood

Howdy Midge - how about an update!!!!

Now you are on Chrismas break you must be able to do something )

See you in a couple of weeks

MIK

My summer holidays have arrived again and I started looking at my Eureka to get it ready to go away. It is a fine looking craft! I have still to replace the seats and so I think that I will just replace the old ones but I will mount them so that the seat is 100 mm from the floor.

It is about 10 months since I widened the boat and no further stress damage is evident so I guess everything is OK from that point of view.

Reading back I do seem like a grumpy old bastard in some of my postings. I guess that I was a bit disappointed when it seemed that all of that work had resulted in an unstable canoe. I have had a lot of canoe experience and so I believed that I had given the boat a fair test.

I am looking forward to further sea trials in a week and I hope for the best. I chose the Eureka because it seemed to be exactly the type of canoe I wanted to round out my stable.

All the best to the Eureka community especially our founding father Boatmik

Cheers,

Doug Pearce

Originally Posted by Boatmik

Howdy Midge - how about an update!!!!
Now you are on Chrismas break you must be able to do something )
See you in a couple of weeks

You rotter!

Had a paddle again (not much longer than the last one, but with the seats raised another 4"). Nothing scary, so packed her up and went away.

Back now, might think about finishing her one day soon! .

I hope you enjoy yours too Doug, and I think we all understood your disappointment!

cheers,

P

Originally Posted by deepdug

My summer holidays have arrived again and I started looking at my Eureka to get it ready to go away. It is a fine looking craft! I have still to replace the seats and so I think that I will just replace the old ones but I will mount them so that the seat is 100 mm from the floor.

It is about 10 months since I widened the boat and no further stress damage is evident so I guess everything is OK from that point of view.

Reading back I do seem like a grumpy old bastard in some of my postings. I guess that I was a bit disappointed when it seemed that all of that work had resulted in an unstable canoe. I have had a lot of canoe experience and so I believed that I had given the boat a fair test.

I am looking forward to further sea trials in a week and I hope for the best. I chose the Eureka because it seemed to be exactly the type of canoe I wanted to round out my stable.

All the best to the Eureka community especially our founding father Boatmik

Cheers,

Doug Pearce

Howdy Doug,

Thanks for all of that - I understood completely how you felt at the time - I have had to deal with problems in other plans that people were building from before I started drawing up my own designs.

Did you read the stuff on my site on the second Eureka page about the importance of making sure the seats don't allow the crew to slip to the side. You could do it with midge type slots in the seats (which might be easier to retrofit) or gluing some thin camping matress foam to them with contact cement (gelgrip is best - but don't use too much glue on the surfaces before letting them dry and fitting them together or the glue can eat the foam.

But only if it is too thick and it takes a while for the solvents to evaporate.

Michael.

I am back from my holiday and I have nothing but good news!

The fatter Eureka performed perfectly and seemed quite stable now even though the seats were just sitting in the boat and were pretty much at the same height as when I tipped out. The only problem I had was trying to turn across a fairly strong breeze. There is a lot of the boat out of the water to catch the wind and so it was hard to point up to the wind.

I have a bit of a query about the position of the seats especially the front one. The paddling position is very cramped even for a small person and almost impossible for my 5'11". It makes me wonder about siting the seat 6" further to the rear. In fact having the rear seat further back too may assist with steering as the back paddler could then reach right back to get a lot of leverage.

I would appreciate any advice on this subject.

Cheers,

Doug

Doug,

That's great news! I must admit, I saw your post and took a deep breath before clicking the link!

I haven't finished fiddling with the seat location yet, do you know how the boat balanced fore and aft? From memory I was going to move the forward seat aft, and leave the aft one in it's spot. Ideally the boat would sit flat when both crew were in place.

cheers,

P

Peter,

I was told that the boat looked quite good in the water when I was paddling it on my own with the back seat in the original position.

When I had my usual passenger [or fellow crew member] on board it seemed to be floating quite flat even though I outweigh her by about 35 kilos and her seat was further towards the centre of the boat than mine.

She complained that the sitting position was very uncomfortable because her knees were up in the air. As I hadn't fixed the seats back in we were able to slide hers back a bit so that she could sit comfortably with her heels on the chine and her feet braced against the front bulkhead. It was really only about 1.5" further back. After we came in I sat up there and to be comfortable I would need the seat 6" back.

I am toying with the idea of installing runners along the side of the boat and allowing the seats to be moved back and forth to suit different crews. I hope Michael reads this and gives me an opinion on this option. I wondered how important the seats were to the rigidity of the structure but I could detect no flexing with the seats just sitting in place and pressing down on the chine. The amount of effort I needed to widen my boat I expect that there is a considerable force trying to straighten the gunwales.

Now that I am confident that the Eureka is not going to try to drown me I will spend more time in it and work out my best options.

Cheers,

Doug Pearce