Its been a while since I have last posted to the blog. That is because adding the strips has been a bit of a slow process. My technique of stapling the strips and the clamping them down with masking tape means I have to wait about at least an hour between strips for the glue to dry hard enough to add the next strip. So even on the weekends I have only been able to add a few strips per day. That said I've got about 25 strips on either side now and it is starting to look a lot more like a canoe. I've got the strips up both sides covering the stems now so the next thing to do is to fill in the "football" shape on the bottom. This will be a tricky part because the strips will come together from each side at the centreline and will need to be beveled in two directions and fit precisely together.
Tracy and I are leaving for a month of traveling around Brazil tomorrow morning so the project is on hold until we get back. I am determined to make good progress on the canoe over the second half of the summer so that I can get the canoe sanded, fibreglassed and flipped off the molds in the fall.
It is almost the longest day of the year here in California and it sure feels like summer with temperatures in the mid-90s (30s celcius) today. Its almost a shame to be heading to the Southern Hemisphere where the days will be shorter and the temperatures a little cooler. No I take that back - this trip is going to be great!
So attached are a couple of the latest photos of the canoe. Perhaps we'll add some Brazil photos in the next couple weeks. And then I'll make lots of progress on the canoe in August. Until then...
