Getting Somewhere at Last (in one sense at least)

Ok, I was pretty stunned when I went to update my other blog about my yacht restoration and realised it'd been two years since I'd done anything on it. This poor canoe build is even worse, its been idle for nearly three years now!

I wish I could say I'd at least done something to move the ball forward in that time, but I'm ashamed to say that I've done bugger all on it. Well, at least on the canoe that is. I have been busy with life stuff.

Went on a couple amazing holidays to the northern USA and Hawaii (where I drooled over some proper outriggers being used in their natural habitat as well as watching enthralled as authentic crab claw rigged boats sailed past on the horizon) … (sigh) …

I also found/bought a dream acreage in the upper Hunter Valley, sold our house in Umina Beach and we moved to a rental on the outskirts of Newcastle whilst preparing to build our new home and set up our farm (you can read about some of the details on my other blog if you're curious, I'm not going to redo it all here).

The canoe came out of her hibernation (she'd lain wrapped up in tarps for the last couple years), and was unceremoniously tied to the top of our camper trailer and whisked away to be stored temporarily at a friend's caravan park.

The exciting part about all this is that within a couple months I should finally have a decent shed in which I will be able to work on special projects like this long-awaited canoe, well out of the weather (which is often the main de-motivator for me - trying to work on boats in the open sucks). I've purpose designed the shed to have a proper sized work area for this canoe (plus the yacht), so I won't have any excuses not to plough ahead when things settle down again.

And the canoe will get all the attention first because it's mostly finished already. I just need to clean up the hull and paint/varnish it, and build the other components (iakos, amas, steering box, rudder/leeboard and mast/sail). Then it'll be splash time, thereby ending the longest canoe build of all time.

Anyway, enough rambling. How about a few photos of the move?

This is the stage she's up to now. Hull nearly completed. 

How she was stored for way too long

When I unwrapped her, she was exactly as I'd left her. No distortion at all. 

Off to a new (temporary) home

Viola

And this is how she (and the yacht) are for the time being. Their next move will be into the shed.