|  Posted on July 24th,2011
Semi-momentus occasion here at Chine bLog HQ this AM as our Peace Canoe PEACE OF THE PUZZLE shipped out for good. She will be headed for safekeeping with our friends at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum awaiting their fundraising auction in the fall. She will then be sold to raise funds for the Museum. A good cause,and they are probably better at selling her than I have proven myself to be. My private sale efforts proved futile,I imagine due to the ole’economy Its always sad to move on a boat you built,but I confess I never fell in love with this one,mostly due to its impracticality. She wil be a wonderful boat for someone,and I wish her well. May she have a long and happy life. Posted on April 26th,2011 Spring is springing here in metro-Washington,DC and the waters will soon be calling the fleet to them. I have been focused on the sailing rig for AL DEMANY CHIMAN,the skin-on-frame outrigger canoe. I gave a hint of this in a prior post. Since then,the sail arrived (yeah!) and it looks great. Its arrival forced me to get going on the spars,which I have done. I have ensured my mast is nice and straight and rounded it off [editor's note:is there a better entry in the "boatbuilding phrases that sound dirty but aren't?" category? Didn't think so. Moving on...] and the boom is glued up and ready for similar treatment. I have built a chock for the steer-oar as well,which I will be fitting soon,I hope. Good progress,all told. Pictures soon. I spent some of Easter afternoon painting the Peace Canoe,PEACE OF THE PUZZLE. I’ll be putting her on the market in short order. If anyone wants a hand-built,18′canoe,please let me know. Posted on August 6th,2010 We got a good scare yesterday here in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria,VA. A front was coming through and we were expecting our usual summer thunderstorms. Instead,we now have firsthand knowledge of what a microburst is (sudden series of very strong gusts downward from a storm and then,at ground level,outward). The local high school clocked a 70+ MPH gust. Trees and limbs are down everywhere and there is a great deal of damage. Here are some photos from immediately around our house. Thankfully our family and house are fine. The scare extended to the skin-on-frame outrigger canoe project,which readers will know to be going on outside,on the west side of the house. Of course the burst came from…the west. My wife called me at the office and said “I have to break it to you –your boat is all over the yard.”Ooooppphhhh. I walked home,imagining what I would find and ponder strategies to salvage various cases. What I found was this: 
 “Oh,”I thought,“that doesn’t look too bad.”And it wasn’t. In fact,I have yet to see ANY signs of damage to the skin-on-frame boat (I have found an inconsequential nick on the ama). That this is so is truly amazing. The big,heavy Peace Canoe,PEACE OF THE PUZZLE, was right up against the fence on saw horses,upside down,bow to the back of the yard. I found it upright,10 feet further into the yard,bow to the front. As best I can figure,I went end-over-end through the air (it only has minor damage). Patting myself on the back for its construction! In doing so,it missed the skin-on-frame boat,which was right next to it,and which somehow ended up farther towards the fence. They somehow crossed paths and didn’t hit,nor did the light skin-on-frame frame go flying into the house and shatter,as my wife led me to think (the tarp on it may have secured it just enough). Bullet = dodged.
Thank goodness I have made as much progress as I have on the boat. I fear of the ribs had still been clamped to the outwales or if the stems weren’t fully attached to the longitudinals I might have had a mess. Instead,my boat has weathered her first storm and done so proudly. I think this success comes down to the skin-on-frame medium itself. Heck,I am a novice with it,and I have constructed a partial frame that has the flexibility to withstand being tossed around who knows how much. That “give”in the structure is an amazing innovation from centuries ago. I am excited to be carrying it on in this age where we try to build things rigid enough to beat down the sea as opposed flexing with it. Now I am REALLY eager to get this boat out in a swell and see how it works in its true element. Posted on November 16th,2007 
I decided it might be helpful for folks that are coming to see info about my Peace Canoe,PEACE OF THE PUZZLE,to have a little better overview page for the project. Below,therefore,please find a list of all the related posts,along with the topics covered. I hope this series is fun and useful! Enjoy PEACE OF THE PUZZLE! Posted on October 14th,2007 Gorgeous October day here outside DC,a perfect day to be on the water. Gulls and an osprey wheeling about,gusty nor’wester keeping things clear and cool,the pleasant surroundings of Mason Neck State Park (map) –just the environment to christen and launch the Peace Canoe. So christen it we did (the kids helped),using the very nastiest champaign I could inadvertently pick up. She is now PEACE OF THE PUZZLE. Enjoy some pictures of her first outing (we were lucky enough to come upon some friendly kayakers,one of whom took our picture and was kind enough to send it). Thank you to all who have read about PEACE OF THE PUZZLE’s birth and provided encouragement along the way. It was a blast and I look forward to some great family adventures ahead! Posted on October 14th,2007 So we have a short paddle in PEACE OF THE PUZZLE under our belts now. I spent a couple months building it (a few have asked me for hours –I have no idea,but it was a good many) –aftre all that work,what is this boat like? Obviously I’ll need much more time to assess,but some initial thoughts: Strengths: - Appearance –The Peace Canoe is a pretty boat,no question about it,particularly in the water. We got compliments on and off the water,including things like “unusual,”in a very complimentary sense. I expect we’ll get noticed in this boat for the right reasons.
- Stability –This boat will be a good family boat. I am fairly confident that one could have half the Rockettes do a kick-line on the starboard rail and she wouldn’t go over. In more practical terms,this means a good boat for a family with young children (check) and a good boat for fishing (seems like a good idea).
- Tracking –Of course being long and not very rockered,the boat seems to track pretty well.
Weaknesses: - Weight –The boat is a lot heavier than I expected it would be. It is basically unmanageable alone,and even my wife and I,two reasonably strong adults,had to work a bit to put it on the car.
- Beam –The stability is a plus,but it comes from being quite beamy. With the sides flared as they are,the boat actually does not fit upside down on our standard car roof-rack. It rode OK right-side up,but I wasn’t wildly comfortable with it like that. I will need to get some additional attachments,and it will be fine,but it isn’t as car-topable as it might seem.
- Freeboard –Maybe it is a function of the weight,but with four of us in the boat –and two of us are small children –the boat sat deeper in the water than I expected,leaving less freeboard than I might like for more open water. I had been planning on trips in the Bay and such,but I will be a bit more cautious for those ventures. This may be more of a true flatwater boat.
More as I learn more…In particular,I haven’t gotten much of a feel for core paddling ability. The weight seems like a slowing factor,but we’ll see. Posted on October 13th,2007 I have spent much of my free daylight hours over the last couple weeks putting paint on the Peace Canoe. Today,at about 10:30 AM local,I made some final touch-ups and called her done. 
Obviously there are little things that make me cringe (that only I will likely notice,for the most part),but on the whole,I am pleased with the boat. If I do say so,the colors work well. I agonized a bit on this point,so it is good that the results are so positive. 
Part of the reason the results are so good is that the design is a good one. I had moved the boat into the front yard to paint (we have an oak the rains acorns),and as I began to see the boat from a shallow angle on the port side,I began to fall in love with the sheer. 
Well done,John Harris. 
By the way,I wish I had moved to the front yard months ago. I have gotten tons of complements from folks walking by (we live on a main path to the local coffee shop),as well as several drive-bys (including a “Damn! Good job,sir!”from a dude in a utility van). It has been a thrill. Of course,if I had been working there earlier,there may have been more commentary on the work in progress (“yes,I DO know that that piece is cracked!!!”)… Posted on October 1st,2007 And after a couple weeks of planing and sanding and one final clean-up,she is ready to paint. Voila! 
I have also chosen the colors,not an easy task for me. She will look something like this: 
Posted on September 8th,2007 And then,after a final push,in the gathering twilight,the Peace Canoe had a bottom. And that,gentle readers,means she is structurally complete. Houston,we have a boat! 
Just a whole lotta planning and sanding,plus a mother lode of plastic wood,and we will be cracking open a paint can or four! 
Posted on August 31st,2007 At long last,I believe I have the sheer clamps replaced in a working manner. Man,oh man,was that an mistake that added time to the project! Just getting the broken ones off took several nights of careful digging for the nails with a tack-puller and cutting the goop with a utility knife. Exhausting and frustrating. But,I persevered. And now,I am ready to move forward! 
So it looks pretty good. That there is a boat. So let’s see…what next… Oh the bottom! 
Actually,I think this is kind of a neat picture. 
I was finally able to test-fit the bottom panels. Getting close… | |
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