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Hi, Mick. Glad to have you back. Fill us in on your exploits.

Andy, that's exactly the fate my aluminum sided pirogue met. I sold it to a guy for $25 and he said his wife wanted to plant flowers in it. Maybe we need to go into the flower box business. Ha!

Andy, I'm like you and like to work without plans. I scrutinize every curve and line to get them to please my eye. I'll draw, erase and move a penciled curve over the width of the line to get a pleasing curve. You're doing great. The home stretch is the hardest for me too. I want it DONE.

Looking great, Andy. It always amazes me how the cloth just disappears when saturated with epoxy.

Yes, he is an outstanding rider. Years ago, I saw him riding in an abandoned factory. He rode across a slack, 1" cable. Crazy abilities.

Not so obvious reason for a verticle bow and stern.........more waterline length for a given boat length. BUT, not so handy at going over obstacles and pushing up on shore. Not a concern for big, ocean-going vessels. In displacement craft, length is a big determining factor in speed. Most...

Good idea about putting the center form back in. I found out the hard way that dried epoxy is NOT the same as cured epoxy.

Yeah, four foot waves and cinched into a tiny boat in cold water.......not my idea of fun. I'll stick to my flat water paddling. If I capsize, I get mad .....not dead. Although, a Cajun on a 10 foot boat could be taken as a tasty snack on a cracker by a 12 foot alligator.

I'll stay out of 15" waves. Been there in a pirogue and it is, indeed, exciting.

I paddled about a mile and a half this evening. I'm learning the speed it prefers to go. I'd say it's a good, brisk walking pace......maybe 3 mph. For the same amount of work, my 16 foot pirogue went about 3.6 mph. The Swamper kayak went about 4.3 mph. 1.3 mph difference for WILDLY...

I've come to the opinion that waterline width is THEE most important factor in stability. This boat has a waterline width very close to it's max beam. Can't really get more stability out of a hull than that. Now, people say that a wide, mostly flat bottom has a tendency to tip when leaned...

It's a general guideline. Can't make a 30lb. 16' boat with two 28lb pieces of plywood. Well.......maybe a REALLY skinny boat.

Bee, it's kinda hard to describe the bottom shape. Cross section-- fairly hard chines that start out concave with a 6" high by 6" deep rounded keel down the middle that narrows into a well rounded bow.

Bee, it's pretty close either way. Old school with wood gunnels, chines, etc without glass works out about the same as stitch and glue with a lot less lumber and the addition of epoxy and glass. The hull plywood makes up the biggest percentage of weight in a boat. Your mileage may vary. :D

Chuck, that sounds like a great idea for your situation. Easy to store in the off season too.

Beekeeper told me I should fess up. I bought a PLASTIC kayak! Yes, a bright lime green plastic kayak.......and it's great. I was just not in the right frame of mind to build anything right now. I had some mad money from selling a bonsai tree and doing some leatherwork and decided to...

Here is a little helpful hint I've noticed on my plywood pirogue builds. Find the weight of a 4 x 8 sheet of the ply you're using. Divide that by 8 and multiply that by the length of the finished boat. Example: 1/4" pine ply weighs about 28 lbs. That's 3.5 lbs per foot. 3.5 x 14 = 49...

That's a smooth, slick-looking boat.

Yep, she's got .00125 horsepower. Vrooooom!

Does growing mulberries in a bonsai pot count?