Everglades 2006 ......#2

[oldsparkey]

Sunday arrives and the weather clears but the wind came up so we didi not go out into the Gulf of Mexico and over to New Turkey Key, we played it safe and stayed at Watsons Place.
Later when Mac & Joe were fishing one of the rangers came out to see if we made it thru those storms and Mac secured permission from him for us to stay at Watsons because the gulf being so rough it was no place for a small boat like his or Joe's canoe.

Mac & Joe in Mac's boat

John and his sail boat

Joe and his 20 foot cedar stripper canoe

The fishing was superb after the storm and you will see what we had for supper that night ... Fresh fish fillets and plenty of them. We had to use two frying pans to cook all of the fillets for supper.

Just one of two platters of fillets......

Finished up with an adult beverage and enjoyed a bright moon filling the camp with light. Later after hitting the sack we were cussing the coons who were trying to get into my cooking stove and anything that smelled like fried fish. "O" by the way a coon cannot drag off a #10 Cast iron frying pan.

Monday
Up and breaking camp we are off for New Turkey Key with some nice weather left over from Sunday.
We arrived at New Turkey and set up camp then off to collect some fire wood from Turkey Key, now it is out fishing in the hot sun, calm waters and beautiful surroundings.

The front yard at camp

From the backside of camp.

Our private beach for hiking.

 

[Oyster]

This thread is really neat, especially the boats. This is worth a bump up for some further comment please.
Please elaborate on this boat please. TIA

.

 

[oldsparkey]

Joe Fennell ( Paddlin'Gator ) use to make the Liberty Yachts ( sailboats) and in his spare time made the stripper canoe ( 21 feet). If memory serves me correctly it is about 100 pounds and is powered with a small outboard motor.
It does scoot along really nicely with the motor and makes a great tripping canoe. He took all of his stuff on the trip and even some of ours in it and still had plenty of spare room.

Hopefully Joe will step in here and correct any mistakes I have said. :lol: Plus offer more information about the canoe.

Chuck.

 

[Paddlin'Gator]

I built this 20' stripper back in the early 1990s while the boat business was dead and I had a lot of free time, thanks to the brilliant idea our Congress had to impose a luxury tax on boats.

With normal load distribution the transom is not in the water so it paddles as easily as most 16' canoes. Because of the length, and its keel, it does like to track (a shoe keel would probably be a better choice). That normally is not a problem since I don't use it on trips in narrow or tight places. It handles sloppy open waters well and moves right along with the 4 HP Evinrude running at about half throttle. I have never measured or calculated load capacity, but would estimate it at around 1200-1400 pounds.

It is built of Juniper (Atlantic white cedar) with 6 oz. cloth. The glass is doubled in the bottom, inside and out. I did that because of its ability to run considerably faster when under power, hence the chance (likelihood) of unintentionally testing the bottom from time to time :wink:

Even though I have used it solo, like on our 2006 Everglades trip and an earlier Glades trip, is ideal for two or more people and gear. As Chuck said, it weighs about 100 pounds so can easily be launched or portaged by two people. Also, there is plenty of room for two people to fish and carry coolers and/or fish boxes.

Joe

 

[rhutchinson]

Does it have an inter-com so the feller in front can talk to the feller in back? :lol:

 

[Paddlin'Gator]

The feller in the back just smacks the feller in the front with a rock to the back of the head to get his attention :lol:

 

[Oyster]

Thanks for the replies. Boy do I remember the good old days of the luxuary tax. During that time 'mericans took delivery on large vessels in the Bahamas and some of the production boats that were in stock were going for fifty cents on the dollar when the guys told the beltway guys to take a hike.

I saw large sportfishing companies basically close their doors and with them took many independents that serviced and rigged the boats with them, and yep....... The beltway always has a better idea how to mess up capitalism and the engine that drives this country and has done it since the days of the pilgrims, IIRC.

Now where were we, oh about the boat. Strip plank cedar and glass makes a fine hull indeed. The squares stern makes a canoe better, especially if the owner is an old goat too. :lol: Western Red Cedar ain't that bad either.

 

[Paddlin'Gator]

As far as I can tell, the luxury tax was just grandstanding by the congress, trying to look like they were sticking it to the rich. The actual result was putting at least 40,000 people and numerous companies out of work. It took about three years, but they finally did come to their senses, at least on that issue.

Personally, I find Juniper less offensive (the dust) to work with than Western Red Cedar. Otherwise, red cedar is great. I enjoy building strippers, although they are a lot more tedious to do than the plywood construction most of the guys on this forum prefer. Whatever gets you out on the water is good

Joe