Creuzer – Page 152 – Random things Creuzer

I broke my boat!

I got a little bit rough with the kayak frame tonight. Grabbing it by one end and pushing and dragging it around while I am trying to work on it.
One of the side stringers broke in the middle of the boat. There was a void in one of the plys and it snapped right there. It didn’t like being bent sideways. It is strong enough the thick way, which is how the water will apply pressure for the most part.

Yep, it’s broken! Right in half…

I think a little tape will fix it up! Well at least enough that I can fold the boat up for the night. I will cut a new stringer tomorrow.

It isn’t duct tape, but I think it will hold.

I was thinking about stretching the center of the boat out maybe 2-4 inches in each of the stringers. This should give me just enough leg room to be able to use the boat. Then I remembered, I had already cut the 2 foot long pieces for the coaming, and the longer cockpit would need longer pieces! Oh well, next boat I guess.

End Brace Detail

I recessed in a pan headed screw into the wood stringer because I was worried that a flat headed screw would split the end of the stringer.

Here you see the end brace. Most of the bolts have been cut down. The nuts are recessed into the wood so everything is flush.

Here you can see the recessed bolt head in the stringer. The long bolt is for a piece that I am going to add to strengthen the end braces.

Cutting the long bolts down to size.

I couldn’t find bolts that where 5/8ths, or 7/8ths or 9/8ths, so I had to make them.

From what I have found the best tool for the job is an electricians wire cutters. I am not fond of this style of wire cutter for doing electrical work, but the built in bolt cutters are the handiest! You can see that I “modified” this brand new pair of Channel Locks brand wire cutters with a extra padded handle. I knew I was going to be cutting a lot of bolts and this makes it easier on the hands.

You thread the bolt into the threaded side of the bolt cutter.

I wanted to cut 1/8th of an inch of the bolt off. This is about the thickness of the tool. I found that if I run 2 threads out past the end of the tool, I get the perfect length.

After you cut the bolt, you have to unthread the bolt from the cutter. This acts like a die and cleans up the threads on the bolt.

Using Ajax to pull in comments to the main blog page

I found a basic tutorial over at this blog that shows how to use AJAX – well actually AHAH which is a simpler piece of ajax to load in comments from the individual post page into the main page.

The whole process is pretty neat, while the end result just makes the blog seem to work much nicer. If you want to look at the comments on one of the main pages, it just kinda works now instead of going to that “add a comment” page to view a comment. That seemed kinda broken to me.

I tested it with Firefox 2, IE 7 and Opera 8(?) which is on my Nokia 770. Let me know if the comments aren’t pulled in for you.

There are a couple of changes you need to make that I didn’t see mentioned in the instructions, one is adding a pair of named <div> tags for the comments and backlinks to be placed into, the other is to change the javascript to use YOUR blogger blog ID.

Kayak Research

Or 10 things I learned by looking at what I am building after I have built it.

Funny, how I have half built a kayak without ever really looking at one. I had seen them on the top of SUVs and Volkswagons and so on and in stores, but I had never really LOOKED at one in person. One could safely assume that I have never been in one either from that prior statement.
I brought a co-worker home today who’s ride didn’t show up (cross fingers that said ride was just being forgetful and nothing serious happened) and the road back home was at a dead stop. So, I decided to go to Bass Pro Shops and do a bit of “research”. My discoveries are:

They sell a lot of plastic & fiberglass boats.

They sell a really cool boat that the back 3rd splits open so the boat forms a Y with the pull of a lever. You can stand up in the boat, so they include a railing and push rod recessed into the floor of the boat. It costs $2k.

They have a limited selection of paddles, all of which split down the middle (for blade pitch adjustment) but none of the blades come off the shafts (without tools).

The equvilent of what I am making costs $600 and doesn’t have many of the “extras” that the more expensive boats have, like cup holders.

Kayak Racks to transport the boats on your car cost extra money. As do covers for storing your Kayak.

They come in a LOT of colors.

Canoes (which I always thought of as small) seem HUGE next to a Kayak. Kayaks seem HUGE when they are standing straight up and down and are in a building.

I still haven’t figured out this camera phone.

The only 2 “required” items to use a Kayak are a paddle and a life jacket. There are a lot of life jackets to choose from.

Parents are apt to drop a lot of money on their kids. 2 families walked in while I was gawking and picked out a kayak and had it rung up.

You sat on not in at least half the kayaks there. I am wondering if redisigning the boat to be taller and wider making a foldable canoe would be in order? Using 3/4 inch plywood would strengthen the boat a lot. You could probably add a seat to the top of one of the center braces then and sit up on the boat. Hmm, it would need to be strong enough to sit on unskinned as some dummy (me) is liable to sit on the boat on land.