it's the ride that counts
1. Build a boat
2. Build a bike trailer for the boat
3. Put the bike and trailer and supplies in the boat
4. Float the boat with the bike down the river for 30-40 miles, camp along the way
5. Exit the river, put the boat on the trailer and attach it to the bike
6. Tow the boat back through the desert behind the bike for 35-40 miles, camp along the way
7. Eat a burger at Ray’s
We took a break from bikepacking and me and the youngest went for a two-day boatpacking and camping paddle in our homebuilt tandem kayak on Flaming Gorge. This is a huge reservoir near the Utah/Wyoming border, set in some truly stunning scenery.
A poem, some greenery, great friends and a nice Prosecco come together to name her Serenity.
A sprig of honeysuckle to ensure safe returns
For any future builders of this boat, here’s the task list I put together for the Hybrid build based on the manual and my own additions. I left in my approximate build times- for reference this is my first boat and I’m an IT guy so not a lot of transferable skills from my day job (except this spreadsheet).
With the heavy cloud cover and light rain, it was a perfect day for a Viking funeral. Unfortunately, the boat floats fine, so we’ll be throwing her back on top of the car after a nice paddle.
ESI Grips custom Chunky silicone MTB grips cover my homemade grab loops. Look Ma, no knots!
Hatches, hatches…there are two hatches. Bungees loop to hooks on the underside of the hatch covers to hold them firmly in place. A Monkey’s Fist knot in turquoise paracord forms the handle.
Shape the deck, sand the deck. Fill the gaps, let the epoxy dry, sand the deck. Fill more gaps, let the epoxy dry, sand the deck. Fill the now magically-appearing, aiming-to-crush-my-soul gaps, let the epoxy dry, sand the deck. Remember the Tootsie Pop ads?
The answer is 364, although twenty non machine-assisted lickers averaged 252 licks to get to the center.
The question now, dear readers, is how many times can you sand a deck made from 1/4″ thick wood with 80, 120, 150 and 220 grit sandpaper without discovering the other side?
Planing the deck edges
With the deck glued to the hull it’s time to shape, sand, fill, sand, sand, sand, and sand. A process known colloquially known as “fairing the boat”. Above, the boat goes in one end of the plane, art and scrap comes out the other.
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