Greetings fellow woodworking sailors and paddlers,
I am new to this forum/site as I recently bought the “Study Plans” for the Pocketship build and I am in the pondering / deciding stage. I have the time and capabilities to complete a task like this as I am not new to woodworking and building.
I have reached out to a few “local” (Louisiana) builders that have the Pocketship in their builder’s list and all I get is ….. crickets; no reply, no response and that is OKAY, I understand.
So then, I am reaching out to a broader base – you know “enquiring minds want to know” Ha! And I have questions that I will submit later.
In the meantime, while I ponder this build, my order for the Peace Canoe is supposed to be machined tomorrow. This is a build for my two grandsons (13 & 11) when they come next month for their summer visit. We will “build” the canoe together (mostly them with oversight).
I want them to be able to say “I built this canoe”. I will take it back to SC with them for their use with their dad and hopefully they can have lots of good canoe adventures and perhaps graduate to a real boat with sails (no offense intended to the paddlers).
pocketship.net seems fairly active and some of the builder-skippers have blogs. Post here regarding any of your builds as well, but you might get more detailed Pocketship info on that site. Pocketship is such a great design. It’s hard to imagine getting any more boat in such a compact package.
The canoe build should be fun. I’m in the middle of a Southwester Dory build myself. It’s been hard to involve my kids much since I am just learning about the process myself and continue to make and recover from mistakes along the way. I’d like to do a build with the kids though. I was thinking about a pair of SUPs or one of the canoes. Let us know how its going!
Hi, Grandpa (Dave)! Whereabouts in Louisiana? I am in New Orleans and interested in learning more about the Pocketship as well. I built a Passagemaker a few years ago and a Shearwater Sport kayak, and I own a Faering Cruiser that I am looking to modify. Interested in meeting other kit builders in this neck of the woods.
Hi John, I am delighted to find a “local” builder. I am in Thibodaux and would be happy to meet you and look over your projects as I have been “landlocked” for almost three years and itching for the wind and whitecaps.
If that is agreeable, I can send a private note with contact info.
Dave
Hello Dave. I built an Annapolis Wherry Tandem under an open carport near Lafayette this Spring. Several 100% humidity mornings made a mockery of “non-blushing” epoxy, and I ended up cleaning a lot of amine blush. I also struggled with condensing humidity on unsealed okoume plywood. I defended against this humidity by fully covering my project with a 10’x20’ sheet of polyethylene, and heating the inside of the tarped project with heat lamps. It was weird applying heat in 65 degree temps, but raising the temperature just a few degrees kept the covered project dry. I think I was successful.
When I build another, I’ll do it in an enclosed building, or setup a completely closed and heated tent.
Rich, I know what you mean from that build and the hiccups encountered - I think that we all have been there at one time or another.
I do like your solution for defeating the humidity; you know the old saying “necessity is the mother of invention” and that is what we have to do sometimes.
I have an old cycling (bicycle) friend that lives in Lafayette that I visit sometimes. I would be pleased to meet you and look over your build.