The new mobile rack. Holds 4 as mobile storage in and out of the garage and there’s room for 2 more up top when hitched to the truck. It’s a 5′ x 14′ utility trailer with removable custom racks. The old triple stack wooden rack got moved to the storage shed so now I have all kinds of elbow room in the shop once I roll the trailer outside.

Obviously the boats would get positioned more to the rear for road travel. I don’t want to crunch canoes or tailgates! The forward storage position opens up space behind the trailer.

One of the drawbacks to working with something you love is finding time to actually enjoy the results. So I loaded up my canoe and went paddling today with some friends on a section of the upper Tallapoosa River located near Heflin, Alabama. It was about a 4 hour leisurely float with only a couple of challenging spots – a trip regularly used by Tallapoosa River Outfitters because even a novice would have to work at getting into trouble. Much more wood-friendly than last year’s trip down Terrapin Creek without enough water to run many of the shoals.

Mountain laurel was still in bloom along the bluffs. Yes, mountain laurel in Alabama.

Toward the end of our trip we came across this little guy who had gone over the bank and couldn’t get back up. He was reunited with his anxious mother up in the field above the river.

The Charles River got her new canvas yesterday. Once the bedding compound on the stems dries the canvas gets filled.

Stripping old finish is the only part of the restoration process that I truly hate. It’s nasty, messy, toxic, and takes a lot of time and work. At least the mid section of the Otca is all new wood so I only have to strip the ends but then there’s the Thompson waiting for me, the entire boat.

Sometimes the process of removing old finish reveals defects that weren’t obvious under all that old patina. In this case one plank had several fractures and I missed a rib that was badly cracked. The rib really bothered me but it lays under the stem and I really didn’t want to rip open the bow to replace it. Since the break happened to be in line with the bad plank I removed the plank, routed and epoxied a backside spline into the bad rib, and installed the new plank.

The second bending operation for the Charles River was successful!

This shows one of the old decks, a bent blank, and a shaped new deck.

New deck installed, still needs a little final shaping with sand paper.

Back where it all belongs!

Working with big boats this weekend. Liz has her share of jewelry, as do most women.

The results from the improvised redneck deck bending operation were suboptimal. The narrow tips bent nicely but the wide ends of the replacement decks refused to take the dramatic bend required by the drastic sweep of the Charles River design. I’m sure all the time I took monkeying around with clamps prior to parking the Jeep on top of the blocks cost me – the heat of the steaming process was mostly lost by then. Looks like I’ll have to resort to hydraulic pressure to force the white oak into the desired shape. There’s a reason why White and other builders went with more of a flat sheer line: upswept ends are a real PITA to build!

The old Jeep can do two at a time. The clamps just weren’t getting there.

It’s been tough around here lately but the boats provided some mental escape. Found a few more cracked ribs in the Thompson and completed planking repairs. Stripped the canvas off a Charles River and spliced the broken inwale.