A different kind of plastic boat . . .

With not a whole lot more work to do on the frame (sand and do a bit more lashing) I decided to do the plastic wrap test. In other words, wrap the frame up with plastic and tape to see how it works in the water!! Cheryl picked me up 7 meters of "medium" weight plastic and, using Gorilla Tape, we set to "skinning" the new boat.  Nothing fancy but it worked!!

We extracted the boat from the attic via the stairs and front window - just like with my Point Bennett back in April. Tied it to the car and headed for Healey's Pond for a quick test.

Wrapped and ready to leave the attic.

Racked.

It floats!!

The masik is a little low so I can't get in like I do with my other boats. I even manged to fit my feet in eventhough I was wearing my booties. I was afraid they'd be too clunky to fit.

First thing we all noticed was the VERY low freeboard - about 1.5" at the sheer by my hips. Still, I was able to take the boat for a paddle and managed to keep water from shipping in. The additional height of the cockpit coaming will help with this. While paddling, I was unable to edge at all but the boat turned nicely.

Squeezing in.

Cheryl shot a short video of me on the first paddle. Here's the link - Disko Bay plastic wrap test

Just sittin' Dig the demon eyes!!

 After paddling about for a bit, I decided to do some edging anyways. After a few dips of the gunwales under the water, the boat proceeded to fill up quickly. Due to the fact that the paddler's weight is in the back and thus boat is inclined to sit lower in the back, all the water rushes backwards and the boat quickly sinks arse-first with the bow in the air!! I ejected but had to the push the boat back to shore while I swam along with it. I was out a few hundred feet at the time - D'oh!!

Dumping the water.

And again.

The last drops!

I was "bouncing" the frame here. There's little bit of flex but nothing much. 

As she floats "unloaded"

I'm a bit unsure about the low freeboard. I'm going to post on the Kayak Building Forum for advice. I can quite easily add 1" to the overall height of the sheer but if I don't have to then I won't.

By the way, for anybody wondering, the frame (sans cockpit coaming) is weighing in at 19 lbs!!!

Sean