Finally put the hiking seats together. Actually kind of piddled away at them in the evenings throughout the week. I decided to deviate from Gary's design (something I've done sparingly on this build) and go with webbing for the hiking seats. I've got a bony rear end and the thought of sitting on wooden seats doesn't appeal to me if I can avoid it. These are comfy cozy! In addition I'm sure they're lighter too. Anywhere where a little bit of effort can save a good deal of weight is a good way to go. I cut the frame out of teak. Teak has it's own nice preservative oil in it (which gums up saw and planer blades, by the way) which is why I skipped varnishing. I figured this stuff will weather nicely without any treatment.
Then this morning (sat) I milled up some old dried bamboo I have sitting around. Just enough to get some strips about 7/8" wide. I wanted this for making my bent shaft paddles. I'm hoping to make a variation of Tim Anderson's instant paddle. Just going to try to make it with the bent shaft. The plan is (mostly based on a guess) to make it a bit of a stretched out version of what one typically sees on the bent shaft paddles. My guess is that because I'm sitting up higher above the water than I would on one of those OC's that my paddles will need the appropriate adjusting. Bent portion up high enough that it does what it's supposed to do in relieving tension on the lower hand. The blade is also stretched a bit at about 15". Then the angle of the blade will be 8-9 deg instead of 10. I realize I may have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about. I'm just gleaning info from the little tiny bit I've downloaded from the internet for reading here in the bush. Otherwise I have no resources that talk much about paddle design. I may end up making one of these and throwing it away because it sucks. Anyway, today I decided to try my hand at milling bamboo for the shaft. Bamboo is so light and strong I figured it may make for a great, lightweight handle. Once the glue dries I'll test it out under some pressure and torsion and see what it feels like before continuing with it. If it feels strong enough I'll make the other handles (going for three total) and then move on to the blades.
Oh yeah, in other news, I've scheduled Shan Skailyn's maiden voyage up the coast for March 18th. It's a long way off, but logistics require it. It's mostly because of so many months between now and then that I decided to goof around with the fancy bent shaft paddles instead of something much simpler. Why not, right?!
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