Rack'em Up!!!

This past Sunday, I finally got around to a project I've been threatening to do for several years now - an outdoor storage rack for the kayaks. The impetus to build a rack stems from where I have to store my kayaks normally. We have a 4 foot crawl space under our house. It has all concrete walls but a crushed stone floor. The furnace and air exchanger are housed under there, so it's very warm and dry. But the 4 foot ceiling makes it a pain in the rump getting boats in and out. Of course we don't have a full door which compounds the problem.

Access in lower right.

As such, these past number of weeks, I've been leaving the boats outside between paddles. Not wanting to put them directly on the ground, I put them on our lawn furniture. I've been alternating between the Point Bennett and the Black Pearl, so that means I've been taking up our only two sturdy lawn chairs. Which means you have to me moving boats should you wish to sit. Not an ideal situation now that the weather is warming up and folks want to suit outside.

The Black Pearl at rest!

On Saturday, I had Cheryl's Baffin out doing some work on her seat. Add one more boat to the mix. Then on Sunday we thought we might get the Glacier (tandem) out for a run so I pulled that one out of the basement as well. Suddenly I had four boats out in the garden - two on the lawn chairs, one laid out on the picnic table and another on the basketball court. This was getting a bit much!! Time to take action.

I quickly doodled up a plan for a rack and we headed off to Home Depot and Princess Auto for some supplies. I started at around 3:00 and by 8:00 that evening everything was all done.

I decided not to go for a work of art but rather a cheap,dirty and sturdy structure. As such, I went with a frame of pressure treated 2x4. I really liked the idea of using webbed slings so I worked that into the design.

As with almost all my projects, I just started cutting and putting it together "as I went along". That golden horseshoe is still in place as things fell together without a hitch.

I figured that a rack to hold four boats was sufficient. We have six but the other two are used much less frequently and can remain in the basement. If need be, my SOF can fit in the middle but I'm not so inclined to store that one outside. One other design consideration was the need to make bottom rack wide enough to accommodate the extra width of the Glacier.

The build was pretty straight forward framing, so no need to go into detail. I will discuss some of the more unique details, though.

Loaded up!

I decided to go with nylon slings rather than solid wood bars with foam or some other cushioning. I knew that Princess Auto was one of the best places for prices on webbing and such. I was not disappointed. I picked up a 3" x 27' tow strap for 24.00.  I could have bought a 2" wide one for 14.00 but I liked the idea of the extra support from the wider strap. I figured that 10.00 could be amortized easily over the life of the rack!! I toyed with the idea of using wide washers and nails to hold the straps in place but decided that small blocks of cedar and galvanized nails would provide a better clamping force. They worked out just grand.

Cedar block to hold sling.

Block #2.

Do you think 5400 lbs is enough??

An empty sling.

Empty sling #2

I really like how slings conform to the shape of the deck or hull depending on the orientation of the boat on the rack. My rationale is that the strap will shape to the deck/hull shape rather than the boat wanting to conform to the shape of a solid beam. Good enough reason for me!!

The Black Pearl

The Point Bennett. Notice the deck is covered in yellow pollen.

There's one more thing that I've been using our lawn furniture for - drying mitts and booties. The back slats on the chairs are great for slipping the mitts and booties over but these pieces of gear tend to smell and who wants that behind your head when you sit down?!!?!?  So why not incorporate a drying function into the storage rack? I had a short piece of plastic conduit - enough to make two mitt dryers. The test worked great so I'll add a few more for other mitts and booties. Just to show you that I think too much, I decided to go with conduit rather than solid dowel because air can travel up the inside of the conduit for better drying!!!

Mitt drying attachment!

Side view!!

A much neater and visitor-friendly back yard!!

So that just about sums up the project. Total cost was under 100.00.  (60.00 for wood and nails, 30.00 for strap).  The next plan is to devise a simple canopy to protect the boats from direct sunlight. But that is another day.

Thanks for dropping by,

Sean

Bending the Bomars

The Bomar deck plates I installed in the Black Pearl never kept out the water like I hoped they would. Sometimes they would remain "relatively" dry while other times, they would leak like freakin' sieves!! It was starting to get on my nerves.  You see, the Black Pearl is a very low volume boat and is, first and foremost, a roller. In other words, the decks (and hatches) are almost always either awash or completely under water. Leaky hatches are not a good thing in this type of craft!!!

I could never figure out why sometimes the front would leak while others it was the rear. That is, until I looked at one of the hatches and saw that it was slightly bowed. In other words, it could not get a good seal. So, depending on whether I had that plate in the front or back (they are not tethered) that is where the most leaking occurred

With this knowledge, I decided to take out the twist and make the hatch perfectly flat. Which I did. But after some testing, it was still leaking. The hatches, while tight at the toggle handle and lip opposite, were pretty slack on either side. I decided to take it one step further and put a pronounced curvature in the hatches. With the side of each hatch slightly curved down, once the handle was clamped down, the sides would be forced as well. In theory anyway.

Time to test!!

Pre-bending the hatch.

Using a heat gun to soften the material.

Cold water to "set it up"

Voila. Nice curvature.

Prior to making the curves, these hatches would simply slip into the coamings and a twist of the handle would slightly clamp them down - but no real pressure on either side. In the image below you can see that by now clamping the handle, there will be increased pressure on the sides!

Even with the extra sealing pressure from the curvature, I was still getting some leaking. I knew that I needed to make the rubber gaskets a little higher for added hatch to coaming contact!!  I decided to go with bicycle inner tube. In the picture below you can see that I laid a layer of inner tube under the existing gasket and pressed it into place. The two fit perfectly with a nice tight seal. No need for any adhesives or sealers.

Inner tube undeneath.

A little bit of trimming of the excess tubing. Tube and gasket pressed into place.

The addition of the inner tube raised the gasket just slightly but certainly enough to increase the pressure between the hatch and sealing edge on the coaming. Pressing the hatch into place now takes a little bit of effort and the locking of the handle gives that extra little sealing power!!!

I did some testing by throwing buckets of water over the hatches and, unlike before, there is no water, whatsoever, entering the boat. Off to the pool tomorrow night (Tuesday) for the real test.

Fingers crossed!!!

Tors Cove to Lamanche

Six paddlers.

Eighteen kilometers

One great time.

21 pictures.

'nuff said!!

Point Bennett Project - Devil in the Details and a Maiden Run

I'm finally in the home stretch on this project. I just had a few small things to take care of before the boat was finished. I spent a relaxed Saturday evening in the attic with a few beers!! Below are a few shots of some of the final details!!

Paddle park on the rear deck!

DIY toggle from t-pipe!!

Paddle park - rear deck.

Heat shrink neatens things up nicely!!

Just another angle #1!!

As a staunch Newfoundlander, and a bit anti-Confederation, to boot, I like to put a Republic of Newfoundland flag on the bow on all my boats. This one was no different!!

The finishing touch!!

Just another angle #2

Just after finishing work for the night, I checked my email and a few guys were heading out on Sunday AM for a paddle. The light bulb went on and I decided this boat was ready for the water!!

Ready to leave the shop!!

Sunday AM dawned clear but cold. -8 with a wind chill in the -12 to -15 range.  As good as any day to go for a paddle. I met Dean and Tony in St. Philips at 10:00 for a few hours on the water

See Tony's blog entry here and Deans here.

Those are some big icicles!!

A little bit of the ol' clapotis!!

Heading towards Portugal Cove!!

Heading back to St. Philip's.

Back through the channel!!

Picking our way through the pans!!

Looking cool!!

Back at the house, I took a few more shots of the boat. It was nice not to be confined by the size and lighting of the attic.

I'm a happy camper!!

The final product #1.

The final product #2

Well. I hope you've enjoyed reading about this project as much as I've enjoyed writing about it!!  I was in the attic today doing a bit of clean up and it seems almost lonely up there - like a friend has moved out!!  Still, it's nice to have the space back and the extra time to do other things!! Actually, I'm heading off to the attic now to get on the bike trainer - gotta fill that void somehow and exercise seems as good an idea as anything else!!

Thanks for dropping by,

Sean