Gaviota Coast Adventure

Bart, Kyle and I just returned home from an amazing three-day surf adventure along the Gaviota Coast. Truly spectacular. We paddled in twelve miles with minimal help from the wind, camped two nights on the boat and and then sailed downwind most of the way home before the wind died. I used the small fortress anchor with success and the new Iakos and Pola supported all three tramps perfectly. I've never slept so well.

15 minutes of fame

Here are the rest of David Fenton's photos from the Sunset Mag photoshoot

Blasting out of Bolinas

It all fits!

With the new ialkos and pola roughed out I slapped on some sealer and rigged the canoe this weekend in Stinson Beach. It all looked and performed beautifully. I need to make some minor adjustments but nothing major. A keen eye will notice that I've moved away from flexible lashings in favor of stainless steal bolts and 2000lb test webbing. Yikes! It certainly stiffened up the ride. I'm a bit worried about the consequences in the event of a massive load event (i.e. a huge broach or pitch pole). More photos here

Hollow Pola Construction

I made six new Pola. All are hollow and carbon reinforced. The goal is maximum stiffness and minimum weight. The idea is to be able to rig three tramps for sleeping out at anchor. More construction photos here.

Iakos set in rough form

The broken wing iako nests nicely with the main iako. I'll probably cut away some of the lower laminates to  lighten the outboard end of the broken wing iako, which has CF cloth between the top two laminates for additional stiffness.

Videos

Check out some videos of the canoe in action here: http://www.youtube.com/user/litterfilms

Iakos continued

Laminated the blocks that will support the broken wing iakos atop the main iakos. These will be glued to the bottom of the broken wings and point them slightly upwards of level with the waterline.

David Fenton Photography

Big thanks to David Fenton who shot this photo of my canoe for a magazine. Check out his other work here and here's the rest of the Sunset Mag shoot.

Started making the broken wing Iakos

Resawed a bunch of 3x2 Sitka Spruce. Here's my funky double fence technique. Despite appearances it works great.

New Iakos Under Construction

 These will be stiffer yet the same weight as the old ones which were made from douglass fir. the new ones are sitka spruce with unidirectional carbon fiber between the 1/4 inch spruce laminates. these are 3in wide by 2 in thick. each of the 5 laminate joints has a 6oz cf layer a foot shorter than the last so the iako should be slightly less stiff on the outboard end.

Some Past Projects

Welcome to my new chronicle of workshop antics and ocean adventures. Here are some photos of past fun. stay tuned. Full photo set here

Alia Surboard

190S ceder hollow core longboard for Kyle Kaufman.  70lbs!

Kahuna Bernie Blesses the canoe

yum

the new ama debuts

TLG at 40