Making
a Volkskayak
Man
the Lock-Out!!
Two
If By Sea
Letters
Cold
Water Survival
Paddle
by Christmas Light -December 12,2001
Greenland
Kayak Report, Part One
Making
a Volkskayak
by David Rimes
Jan 20, 2002:
Today I started on
the saw horses. I used the plans out of my book, The New Kayak Shop. One
note for future information when working at -28 C do not place the nails
in your mouth to hold them.
Jan 28, 2002:
I started cutting
out the panels today. They have all been rough cut out and need to be trimmed
to the right size. Emmett fell asleep so I have to stop today.
Feb 6, 2002
With Sherry being
pregnant and my job having me away from home I have had little time to
do any work on it. Today I got the top 4 panels cleanly cut to the marked
lines. I find it easiest to use 2 saw horses and two furniture clamps.
I put a panel on each side of the saw horse and use the furniture clamps
to hold them. This way I can finish 1 side of 2 panels at a time.
I also use the belt sander to get me to a finished panel.
Feb 18, 2002
Today I finished sanding
all the panels and joined all the panels to 16 foot lengths. I also could
not find any 7/8" X 7/8" X 8' so I have to use 1" X 2" X 8'. This might
come back to haunt me later. There has to be a better way to put the bottom
fiberglass on when joining the panels.
Feb 19, 2002
Finished butting up
the 1x2x8' shear clamps and added the side extensions.
Feb 22, 2002
Today I drilled the
holes in the bottom panels and started stitching the bottom together.
Feb 23, 2002
Finished Stitching
the bottom panels together and started the chines. I placed the 24"
spacer in and continued to put together the chines when ‘SNAP’ the left
chine snapped at the place where the 24" spacer was put. This meant I had
to loosen the ties from most of the chine and do emergency epoxy work on
the center of the 17' chine. I used c-clamps and two pieces of plywood
to sandwich it together and left it over night to dry.
Feb 24, 2002
Well the chine has
dried and I have thrown away the spacer idea all together. My plan
is to get all of the ties in and then place the bulkheads. Once that
is complete I will continue with the construction. Well I finished that
today and got the Kayak as true as possible. I do have a slight bow
where the chine broke (not much) but other than that the lines look good.
I plan to get the first coat of Epoxy on today so tomorrow I can take out
all of the ties that I just finished putting in. I personally found
the ties good to get you started but I prefer the use of wire for the stitching
of the Kayak. Since we just finished wiring the basement and the
garage I have a lot of copper wire bits in the house that can (and have)
been used for stitching.
Feb 25, 2002
Today I took all of
the ties out, (I cut my hand up more here than any other time so far),
and started to get sanding. I started with the belt sander and that
worked good except I went through 2 pieces of sand paper like nothing,
so being thrifty (cheap Sherry would say) I now have cut up my used belt
sandpaper and have started to use it on my palm sander. This seems
to work well. I can tell that this sanding job will take a while.
Feb 26, 2002
Still sanding.
Feb 27, 2002
Today I fiber glassed
the center section. I used cloth here as per Ullie’s suggestion. This worked
very well and left me little to sand. While the center section is drying
I cut pieces of tape for the bow and aft sections.
Feb 28, 2002
The epoxy in the midsection
cured nice and now I am working on encapsulating the aft portion. This
worked ok but my masking tape LEAKS!! I have a puddle
on the floor to clean up. The good news is I put poly on the floor just for this problem, the bad news is I did not want to waste any epoxy so I tried to scrape up the drips (Pool), off the poly and scrape it back into the boat. This was working well until I got over zealous and tore the poly thus causing the floor to have a slight coating of epoxy as well.
March 1, 2002
Today it is +12C and
all of the snow is gone. The bow is all that is left to encapsulate. This
area went very well with the exception that I tore my glove on a screw
on the shear clamps and finished epoxying the bow with epoxyed hands. (the
bow did not leak!)
Man
the Lock-Out!!
by Ulli Höger
February 2002. It was in the news in the last couple of days. Hundreds of dead or dying sea birds are washed up on Nova Scotia’s shorelines from Sydney to Yarmouth. The reason? Criminal and deliberate oil dumping somewhere offshore by one or more ships passing by. Why do they do that? Just to save the money it would cost them to dispose their bilge oil in the next harbor. The consequences of that wrongdoing are severe. Not yet for the oil-dumping ships, a couple of hundred thousand dollars if they get caught, but for the marine ecosystem.
The carcasses and soon to be dead birds washed up to the shore are only the very tip of the iceberg. Conservative estimates of fatalities just for the latest incident off Nova Scotia come up with a couple of hundred thousand dead birds -mostly alcids, cormorants, gulls and sea ducks-, with the majority of the victims never washed up on shore. That’s close to the numbers claimed by a major oil spill in Alaska –the Exxon Valdez- a decade ago, just not as spectacular. Sea mammals like seals and whales are also affected, but numbers here are much harder to get. This oil-dumping and dying happens frequently, most of the time unnoticed. In the right place during breeding season, an oil dump like the recent one could have even more devastating results by wiping out whole populations of colony breeding marine birds like Gannets, Murres, Dovekies, or Puffins.
It doesn’t take a lot of oil to kill a bird. An oiled patch on their plumage, just the size of a quarter is enough. It results in their death in short time by compromising the waterproofing of their plumage. The bird looses insulation against the cold water, gets wet, looses heat, and uses up body resources to fight the heat loss. Already bad enough (i.e. fatal) things get worse by the bird’s attempts to preen the oil out of its insulating feathers. Ingestion of oil poisons the victim, and is the main reason why cleaning of oiled birds by people is a largely hopeless effort.
What can we do? Sighting of oiled wildlife (dead or alive), oil patches on the water, or a suspicious vessel should be instantly reported to the Coast Guard and authorities like the Canadian Wildlife Service (see below). If possible collect oil samples from the water and/or the affected birds, since chemical analysis of the oil allows authorities to track down the polluter and to prove their guilt in court. Lets do our part to get them there, and hope that the legal system will come up with more severe punishment to prevent future unnoticed mass dying on the ocean.
Environmental emergencies or accidents like the ones mentioned above should be reported to the Coast Guard Operations centre. They log the report and forward information to the appropriate response agency. The emergency number is 1-800-565-1633 in the Maritimes. In Newfoundland and Labrador the number is 1-709-772-2083. In the Halifax area Environment Canada’s 24 hour emergency number is 426-6200.
Two
If By Sea -Two Weekends at the Maritime Museum
by the president
Once again, SWBANS members put on a show for the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic to spice up the winter schedule. By all accounts it was great. I was there for the entire time and was the happy receiver of many compliments from visitors to the museum.
As usual, there was no shortage of members to share in the work. The show included Alex Chisholm and his skin on frame kayak project. We haven’t seen the “skin” yet but the frames were a show stopper. Ken Lamb and Ryerson and I started our Windsprint projects. I wonder if the fact that Ken’s boat is slower in construction is an indication of how it will be at the races.
Robert Fraser displayed some of his kayaks and Jose Gladwin represented the Volkskayak contingent. It’s no surprise that the visitors were amazed to learn how easy and inexpensive it is to build their own kayaks.
Jaimie Vanbuskirk displayed his camp site again this year. It was back by popular demand. For some reason Ryerson and I had to run interference a lot with wayward children. Some parents don’t seem to have the appropriate level of respect for this equipment or the artifacts and allow their children to use the museum as a playground.
Fraser Howell spent one of the weekends working on his new sail in the sailloft and many members came out to show support or roll up their sleeves and “pitch in”.
Thanks to everyone for promoting the association in such a positive way. We may have made a few new contacts and recruited a couple af new members. Most importantly we had a lot of fun and a chance to get together in one of our favorite places.
Anne
I don’t know about
the rest of you but I had a great time at the Museum over the past two
weekends. Kudos to Anne and Rye plus the museum staff for all their
organizational work as well as the other exhibitors; Josie, Ken, Alex,
Robert, Ulli, Rob, Fraser, Liza, Gary, that guy splicing the wire rope...
and all the visitors. There is one lingering effect of getting together
like this mid-winter. I now have this burning desire to build a new
boat and paddle it out to some white sand beach for a couple nights of
sleeping under the stars.
-Jamie
Dear Ryerson,
On behalf of the staff
at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, I’d like to extend my sincere thanks
to you and the other members of SWBANS who were able to participate in
our special event “Two if by Sea” held over the past two weekends (February
23/24 and March 2/3).
A follow-up to our three weekend “Wind and Water Month” event in February of last year, our aim was to celebrate the rich smallcraft heritage of Nova Scotia and the associated traditional boatbuilding skills. Again this year, members of SWBANS played an important role in this celebration through your dislays and boatbuilding demonstrations.
Over the four weekend days of the event, more than 1100 members of the public took part. I hope the event provided SWBANS a high profile and good opportunities for members to chat with most of these 1100 people about the good work the society does. I am pleased the Museum is able to help SWBANS in its efforts to increase the level of public knowledge about wooden boats in this province.
I look forward to working with you on future cooperative ventures between the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic and SWBANS.
Sincerely,
Gerry Lunn
Curator of Visitor
Services, Promotions, & Marketing
Maritime Museum of
the Atlantic
1675 Lower Water St.,
Halifax, N.S. B3J 1S3
ph: (902) 424-8793
fax: (902) 424-0612
email: lunnge@gov.ns.ca
http://maritime.museum.gov.ns.ca
Hello Ryerson:
I’ve just had a chance to leaf through the book of previous SWBANS newsletters at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. Well done! I almost swiped the display copy of your January 2002 newsletter to show to other members of the board of Canoe Kayak Nova Scotia, but I controlled myself.
Would you very, very
kindly send me a copy to my home address? In return I can send you a copy
of our latest newsletter.... With congratulations
and many thanks,
Dusan Soudek
(President, CKNS)
Dear Editor Clark:
Hi Ry! Just want to compliment you on the smashing photo on your January cover. Just got the newsletter, and it’s another great issue. As a matter of fact, I was wondering if you and Larry Shaw would let me reprint his article “Towing A Volkskayak” in the next issue of the ScuzBumsNews. I love the point of view. Good story. Let me know.
Fair winds and warm seas,
Annie
SCUZMUM
Dinghy Sailor,Adventurer
Cold
Water Survival
by Ryerson Clark
Based on articles published by the Canadian Red Cross and the Canadian Coast Guard)
The time is quickly approaching to get back on the water and those warm spring days make you forget just how cold that lake or coastal bay still is. You are suddenly in icy water and Cold Water Shock takes your breath away. Do you know how to survive? At this point, if you are not wearing your PFD and appropriate clothing or can get immediate assistance (within seconds if the temp is very low) from another boat, or walk ashore, you may well die from drowning or shock, and quickly! If you have been wearing your PFD then the rest of this article will come in handy to keep you alive, read on and burn it into your memory.
In a test done in a calm, controlled pool with the water temp at a balmy 5 degrees Celsius (about 40F), Olympic class swimmers wearing street clothes for spring weather, couldn’t make their mind and muscles co-ordinate to swim the few metres to safety. Cold water in the ear canal could cause dizziness and disorientation.
DRESS FOR THE WATER
TEMPERATURE!
Remember, water, and
especially cold water, is the most inhospitable environment on earth.
Even if you get bounced off a camel in the Sahara desert you could survive
a few days.
Cold Water Hypothermia is a numbing coldness that drains the core heat from your body. The normal functions of your vital organs slow down, you lose consciousness, and if not rescued, you will die.
There are five ways to be prepared, the most important is that you are wearing a Personal Floatation Device (PFD) when you go in. If you know you are going out on cold water it is best to wear light layers of clothing with the outer layer made of material to break the wind, or, better yet, a wetsuit or drysuit. A normal vest type PFD also provides some protection from the cold. Always check what the weather will be doing before you head out, and once out, don’t be afraid to turn back if there are changes that could influence your safety. If possible, stay close to shore. Know the water temperature and respect it’s killing power. If you are in 10 degree (50F) water lightly dressed and wearing a PFD, you normally will not survive three hours. In the very early spring expect to last just minutes without a PFD if the temperature is below 5C (40F).
Know your boat and how to handle it in all conditions you could encounter and do not over load it. If you are a new boater, better to wait until June. Lastly, avoid drinking alcohol. It can’t warm your inner core (the warm feeling in your stomach doesn’t count) and will interfere with your ability to make fast decisions. Also, it is illegal to operate a boat when impaired.
Once immersed, here are the most important things to do to increase your survival time.
Get as much of your body out of, or above the water as possible. Climb onto the boat or re-enter it if you can. Cold water saps your body core heat 25 times faster then air. If you can’t get out of the water protect yourself by using the Heat Escape Lessening Position - H.E.L.P.. To do this you must be wearing a PFD. In this position you will cross your arms tightly across your chest, draw your knees up to your chest region and remain still and calm. Unless shore, help or your drifting boat is right at hand, DO NOT SWIM. ( The decision to swim or not has a lot to do with how cold the water is, how far help is away and whether anyone knows you are there. If I can see myself being pulled away from safety and no one knows I am there, I might try for shore and take my chances that way.)
Unnecessary movement forces the warm blood needed to heat your inner core out to your extremities where it is lost at a far greater rate. This also then pushes the cold blood back into your core cooling you quicker, something like a car radiator.
The H.E.L.P. position can increase your survival time by 50%. If you are in the water with others you should “HUDDLE”. Everyone must be wearing a PFD for this survival technique to work. HUDDLE together so that the sides of every ones’ chests are close, with arms around each others lower back and legs intertwined. This will increase your group’s survival time by 50%. Children or elderly people should be put in the centre as they loose heat at a faster rate.
Hypothermia is a more
serious problem then warming a person who has been chilled. The most
obvious symptom of hypothermia is vigorous shivering with the person still
conscious and able to talk. The following first aid should be started
at once. Move the person to a dry shelter and a warm environment
(see Gerry Gladwin’s list at the end of this article. It could save
your life) otherwise leave the wet clothing on, put a hat on the person
and cover the neck. To further retain heat, make a vapour barrier
out of a large garbage bag placing it over the person leaving a hole cut
out for the head, and put the casualty in a sleeping bag or other dry wrapping
and out of the wind. It is very easy to cause the person to suffer
shock so handle the casualty very carefully. If it is safe to start
a fire do so as you will all want a break and maybe dry clothes.
Re-warn slowly and
gently by placing warm, dry objects (40-45C) such as water bottles or heat
packs (heat packs are fast and wonderful, had to use mine last year) wrapped
in towels near the neck and trunk. DO NOT RUB THE SURFACE OF THE
PERSONS BODY! This will quickly increase blood flow REMOVING warm
blood from the core and replacing it with cold blood from the extremities,
thus placing the person at greater risk.
Direct body to body contact is also an effective way to warm a person.
If the casualty requests a drink, offer warm water, milk or juice. NEVER GIVE ALCOHOL, OR HOT STIMULANTS SUCH AS COFFEE, TEA OR HOT CHOCOLATE. Once the danger is past a hot drink will be good all round.
Severe Hypothermia symptoms include stiffening, slurred speech. or unconsciousness with little or no apparent shivering. Prevent further decrease in body temperature by following the steps above. GET MEDICAL ATTENTION IMMEDIATELY! Now is the time to use the VHF radio (channel16) or cell phone (911).
Cold Water & Boating:
by Gerry Gladwin
What if you were alone?
What if the car keys had been lost in the accident? What if it had
occurred fifty km. from the nearest source of heat and dry clothes?
What if ....
So, every time you go boating have the following with you and, especially when the water is icy, as it is for most of the year in Nova Scotia. Don’t go alone! Wear your PFD and Be sensible. We are not immortal!
The boating bag
If you don’t own enough
really warm, old clothes to make up this list, go to a used clothing store
and look for the shabbiest (because they are cheap) clothes that you can
find that are warm - wool, cotton, fleece; and put it together in as small
a package as possible. Seal it up in plastic, put it into a waterproof
stuff bag, ( a real Seal Bag, plastic bags alone don’t always work) and
always carry it with you in the cockpit so that in the event that you go
for an unexpected swim you can grab it quickly. Resist the impulse
to use the contents except in an emergency; that way it will always be
complete and available.
towel
wool sweater
woolen toque
wool socks
wool pants (so what
if they are ugly, they’re warm)
wool mitts
t-shirt
windbreaker with a
hood
underwear
long underwear
canvas running shoes
(in case you lose the boat & have to walk.)
waterproof matches
and fire starter
a piece of rope (for
a clothesline to dry out wet gear over a fire, your heaving line can double
for this)
Ed note. A garbage
bag (large) with a hole in the top and worn like a poncho can be a great
assist in keeping in the body heat.
Reusable heat packs
(we got ours through a Red Cross trainer but they are available at MEC
and are super. We needed them for a paddler who dumped and they were
a great addition to the emergency bag.) Also, a VHF radio or cell phone
in the waterproof bag is a good idea.
Get a pamphlet about hypothermia. Read it and internalize the information! If you dump, as you are unpacking the bag of dryness, read the pamphlet again to remind yourself of the importance of keeping the body core warm. Getting immersed into cold water is a very serious matter.
Take the bag with you whenever you go in any boat and feel confident that at least you have a chance at survival.
Paddle
by Christmas Light -December 12,2001
by Larry Shaw
Outside working all day at Imperial Oil. A tiny seed of an idea gets planted in my brain around two o’clock. A little water, spoonful of fertlizer, some warmth from the car heater on the way home and next thing I’m on the cell phone to the harbour master. “Mom? Just letting you know I’m going for a little paddle when I get home. Up towards the river, I’ll call when I get home”
Backing in the driveway at 4:34, trade sweaty workboots for sneakers, grab a cookie, check the tempture{0}, grab a kayak and out the driveway by 4:39. 4:45 and here I am all comfy in my kayak.
The sun has long set behind me as I head East, following my self imposed rule of following the shoreline, no short cuts across bays or between the islands. My bow parts water smooth as a skating pond, silver mercury or bottomless black depending on the shadows.
A dozen Canada geese stand at attention, nervous honks carrying clearly in the still air.I paddle onward, not wanting to frighten them with my silent passing. Cars follow the road, hurrying home to spouses, childern and a hot supper. One of them, a van that I don’t reconize, honks its horn, either in salute of my being there or condemning my folly.
Near where the Nine Mile river emptys into the ocean, I stop paddling and the kayak carves a graceful ark. To my right as I continue to turn, the western sky suddenly explodes into red underscored with shades of purple. I’m sure people driving past see the same as me but I like to think not.
This should be my turning point but my ears are only cool, not cold and my hands are still warm even without gloves on. Lobster bouys and snaking lines are becoming harder to see in the falling darkness. My deck is turning darker, indistinct, begining to blend with the inky water.
Suddenly another explosion of light ahead of me but this time smaller and multicolored. Christmas lights come to life, tracing outlines of houses and enveloping outside trees. A slight shiver makes its way through my body. Nature’s way of saying enough, time to turn around and head back. I do a one eighty around a lobster bouy now just a darker form in dark water.
Small cats paws begin to riffle the still water, sending Christmas light reflections into organized dissarry. Paddling harder now creates a bow wave eight feet in front of me. The undulating surges cause the colors of blues, greens, reds, yellows and whites to blend, swirl and seperate; natures own little acid trip.
My hands and ears feel colder now but my body is warm. Hunger pangs start playing a gentle reminder that it is time to get back to shore. A wonderful ending to a first season for me.
I stop at the harbour master’s home to let her know that I am back safely. An unplanned trip already becoming a memory. A memory I will keep forever.
Greenland
Kayak Report, Part One
by Ulli Höger
If a jackass gets bored he goes skating…
This is a free translation of an old German saying. The meaning is, for those who can’t figure it out, that if things get routine some people try new things they shouldn’t do because it could end in an unpleasant way. “Master, how does all that smart talk relate to boating?” “Well grasshoppers, I am building this winter a Greenland skin on frame kayak.” Reports call them tippy, wet, confined, and not very comfortable.
So why would someone knowing all these unpleasant facts still want to build and paddle one? One word, curiosity (kills the cat)! And, then there are all those reports from people paddling boats with skinny paddles, claiming that nothing could get them back into a hard-shell. Now that got me really interested. Being a curious person I was tempted to try it out. Being not too strong minded if I don’t really want it to be, I gave up my non existent reluctance, and started looking into the whole issue very seriously for a couple of hours.
In February the project took shape in aiming for an 18 foot long Greenlander with a 21 inch max. beam. Aiming, because all the instructions are more or less advice how to eyeball things out. So I have to wait and see with what dimensions I finally end up. Mess-ups with inches and centimeters caused a space mission to fail, but shouldn’t torpedo the construction of a Greenland kayak. Paddling is no rocket science. By the time I write all this up for our newsletter (Ryerson asked me for it) I have put 3 days of work, 300 days of thinking, and a pound of beef jerky into it.
The deck is almost done -these boats are built the wrong way round, not from the keel up, they grow from the deck down-, the ribs are soaking in preparation for future steam bending, and I try to hunt down suitable material for the skin. People recommend seal skin, canvas, nylon, or polyester to cover the wooden frame. Every material has its own benefits and drawbacks, and all but canvas are hard to come by. So I guess I will spare the harbor seals and go with canvas. I am already looking forward to meet Elvis during the waterproofing session with dope. Any messages for him Fraser?
The next things to do are lacing up the deck, cut the stem pieces and stringers, bend the ribs, put all the pieces in place, and then to skin the seal. Other way round, seal the skin. April should see me on or in the water, depending on the kayaks stability.