Freedom swims are sinks tomorrow

[tx river rat]

Can't wait any longer
The yak is finished enough to go put it in water
Pic of yak in sunlight

After I put coat on bottom

It is not finished will have to wait for few more days to see it gussed up with hatches and all the bells and whistles
I just wanted to thank all you guys for all the info and Mat for good set of plans
Ron

 

[Wannabe]

Hiya TRR
I see a bulkhead (or think I do) at the rear of the cockpit. Is there one at the front or do your legs stick in under the deck. That is a mighty purty boat. I wouldn' mind one of those if I didn'' have to stick my legs up inside the kayak like Mr. Bear does. If I tump over I want to fall smooth out of the boat. You have done something to be proud of.
Bob

 

[hairymick]

Holy Smoke Tx you build fast. :shock:

lookin good mate. Good luck tomorrow.

 

[tx river rat]

Bob
There is a bulk head at front of cockpit the cockpit is 49 inches long so I can sit and stretch my legs flat out and just touch it.
I have hip and knee messed up so need to move around in cockpit and be able to change positions. and I want to fall out if I turtle also. The floor in the cockpit has glass mat instead of regular glass which makes it pretty rough but it should help it not be so slippery wet are muddy
The decks are sealed but later I will add two hatches
Thanks for the kind words
Ron

 

[tx river rat]

Hairymick
I had few days off so I have put in a few hrs.
I am very pleased with how it went for the first boat I have built. Still not in the class with you guys but maybe when I grow up I'll catch up
Ron

 

[hairymick]

I am very pleased with how it went for the first boat I have built. Still not in the class with you guys but maybe when I grow up I'll catch up

Mate, your workmanship seems fine to me.

Beautiful clean lines, no wobbles in the seams or hull panels and no bloody wood flour stains all over your boat. You have well and truly surpassed my first effort by a country mile. Bloody well done.

 

[bearridge]

I wouldn' mind one of those if I didn'' have to stick my legs up inside the kayak like Mr. Bear does.

Friend Bob,

I dont kayak, but I slept at the Holiday Inn once. :wink: I have some sit upon kayaks, but mostly I canoe. I got nuthin' agin fellas who kayak.....they got enuff problems without me bringin' up any more. :mrgreen: :roll: :mrgreen:

regards
bearridge
paddlin' geezer canoe clud

Cognito, ergo sunk. Unknown

 

[Wannabe]

Ron,
I am 6'5" and will need about 54" to get my legs plumb flat on the floor. Legs flat on the floor is not very comfortable anyway so 49" would probally not be bad. Showed the picture to my wife and she said "now just where am I supposed to ride?". Guess if I wanted one I'd have to build two of them. With all the people who wants to ride, I wonder if Mat could design a stitch and glue Titanic. :roll:
Bob

 

[bearridge]

Friend Bob,

All ya'll Houston area fellas oughta build sit upon kayaks too. They'd be fine on the lakes, backwaters, most rivers 'n on the ocean....if it aint too tall. Build one fer yer wife 'n let her pick the color? Ya dont scrunch up inside 'n if ya turn bottom upwards, ya jest crawl back on top. IIRC, the sit upons Matt designed iz all self bailin'.

A fella ought not paddle with hiz wife....in the same boat. [What ya'll do in the bedroom iz up ta ya'll.] :mrgreen: :roll: :mrgreen:

regards
bearridge

Everyone who is incapable of learning has taken to teaching. Oscar Wilde

 

[Wannabe]

Brother Bear
I looked at Mat's SOT's. I like what I see. Wade fishing and skinny water fishing is plentyful around Anahuac. The Trinity river dumps into the Galveston Bay complex at Anahuac so there is the river delta too. SOT's would be great if'n the alligators didn't see you as a food source,ie S*#t On A Shingle. :cry: :cry:
Sorry I thought you was a yaker. Guess I got confused as to who was who in the pictures. Sometimes the Vodka is better than others. :roll:
Bob

 

[bearridge]

Friend Bob,

I have seen pichurs where a shark figgered a surf board would go good with sardines, but I never heard of a gator eatin' a paddler....even a kayaker. :mrgreen:

Jest whack 'em on the nose with a paddle. Chuck sez that works ever time. :lol: Well....near bout ever time. :wink:

regards
bearridge

I am a great mayor; I am an upstanding Christian man; I am an intelligent man; I am a deeply educated man; I am a humble man. Marion Barry

 

[Kayak Jack]

When you sit in a kayak, you actually wear it. You should glue in pads of closed cell foam next to your hips so that you are supported left and right. Leave enough room to slip your fingers in between the side of your hip and the pad.

Foot braces are positioned so that your legs are bent, and your knees are against the under side of the deck. Glue an inverted-cup make of closed cell foam padding under the deck to hold and cushion your knees. Adjust the foot braces so your legs are supported, but not cramped.

NOW, when the kayak moves over waves etc., you can both feel it and control it with your body. NOW, you have much of the difference between a canoe & a kayak.

 

[oldsparkey]

When you sit in a kayak, you actually wear it. You should glue in pads of closed cell foam next to your hips so that you are supported left and right. Leave enough room to slip your fingers in between the side of your hip and the pad.

That leaves enough room for you to sit down and still have your wallet in the back pocket. :lol: :lol: :lol:

On the serious side ......
tx , when she is on the water (not in it) snap a picture or two for us and I am sure Matt would like to see them. The time will go slow today and tonight for you , looking forward to paddling her is almost like looking forward to Christmas morning when we were kids , it takes forever to get here.

Chuck

 

[Wannabe]

Mr. Jack
The way you describe it the kayak is just another appendage on your body. Kinda Zen like. Is that a bout right? I guess you would need enough room to get your wallet th show your fishing liscense to the water and fish police.
Bob

 

[tx river rat]

I am sort of a outlaw on things
This yak was built for few reasons
I want to make a trip on the Brazos to the mouth where I lived as a kid
357 miles
Brazos is deep flowing river in places about 2 miles an hour at normal floe
a lot of shallow water not but one rapid between here and coast
I have canoed a lot of it and the wind is normally out of the south and will blow a canoe right back up the river the yaks don' seem to be affected near as bad.
Cargo capacity for several days at a time secured in boat not a lot of time spent tarping it down
Float shallow
comfort for my beat up body
And the wooden yaks look cool
I have a plastic if I want to play 'has skirt so it will handle the waves.
Ron
PS
This boat seems to fit that bill for me

 

[oldsparkey]

tx river rat....

The freedom (anyway the one I have) will hold my camping gear for a extended trip with the exception being the food or resupplying it.

The key , as with any kayak , is the way you pack and what you take with you. The heavy items close to the cockpit and going lighter towards the ends of the boat.

To put it in plain language it is nothing more then a backpack that takes you and all your stuff so if you think of it as backpacking you could have some room left over after you are packed and ready to go.

From the back bulkhead to the stern on the inside is 72 inches of space , (Where I actually put a small backpack ,2700 cu inch and another smaller one ), tapering down and in the front I have all the room for my bedroom , hammock (or a small tent) , sleeping bag , incidentals, snacks and a couple jugs of water. With room left over.

The two backpacks (one was a food pack and the other , clothing and more food along with a small alcohol stove and mess kit ) on the bow went in the stern area , the rest went into the bow area and the ammo box with me since it had the camera and my medications , wallet and daily items.

Chuck.
PS. The side pocket on the bigger bag had the bottle of the evenings fire side libations in it. :lol:

 

[tx river rat]

Chuck
Your report is one reason I choose the Freedom And would you believe it has been raining cats and dogs here
Dont want to get the new boat wet :roll:
Ron

 

[oldsparkey]

Chuck
Your report is one reason I choose the Freedom And would you believe it has been raining cats and dogs here
Dont want to get the new boat wet :roll:
Ron

Send the rain over to Florida , we need it ....BADLY.

Please forgive the ugly guy in this picture but stand ins are hard to find now days , especially good looking ones. Leave it to bear he was off camera , cracking jokes like he always does and had all of us laughing.

With everything for the trip loaded and with that 6-1 210 pound critter paddling it it looks like the Freedom is drawing about 3 to 3 1/2 inches of water.
Judging from the picture that swamprat took , the water is so clear that the water line looks like the seam between the panels on the side.

Chuck.
That is the last time I am using one of Kayak Jacks friends for a paddling picture , man they are ready for Halloween and don't need a mask. Now I know why Jack has a beard , it's camouflage for him :lol:

 

[bearridge]

Friend Ron,

I dont know how close this iz ta ya, but it sounds like the High Sheriff aint the only one who kin pull up a hoodoochie. I copied these posts by a fella on anuther forum.

regards
bearridge

*****************

well, its been a while since we had any water around here ( texas panhandle) and man did it come last night, 10 inches in spots. SOO, I decide it would be a good choice to take out the 17' tripper, solo. Normally you can walk Wolf creek, and keep your cuffs dry, however today it was ripping. lots of strainers, trees, debris floating along.

so, I avoid a big strainer a try to thread the needle between a couple of large trees, and it didn't work. I knew the barge would handle a little sloppy, but figured it would be doable. NOPE. It wrapped, completly, ends of boat touching. once i knew it was over, I bailed, and grabbed the end of the boat hopeing my body would act like a sea anchor, and do some good. It didn't. I was able to get up on the boat, and pounce around, and nothing. after thinking about what a fine job i had done, i decided for a SW entry, into a hairy fairy for the nearest eddy. self rescue solid, but the boat will be there a while. Unfortunatly, my chaco 's are clipped into it.

o well, maybe my chaco tan will fill in now.
Im safe, no injuries, but the boat...well..........she's done for sure.

**************

Im not kidding at all. Highway 83 runs north/ south here, its completely closed due to a HIGHWAY bridge being completly washed out. REMOVED a highway bridge

Im anxious to where the boat ends up in relation to actual (normal) water levels. I will for sure get some pics, and will put em on webshots or something, thats about the only way i know how to add pics to the web.

a guy down stream had (2) 500 gallon butan tanks "removed" from his house. completly flooded his house/shop/barns.....etc.

crazy stuff. there was a major flood here in 96' that was the biggest one the oldtimers had seen in their lifetime, this one was bigger. the last flood didn't touch the guys house/barns/shop...

a friend has a 10 inch rain gauge, and it was overflowing.

Randy, the hull is Royalex, but it was old and brittle. To much sun damage, I figured i would be fine, but in avoiding that big strainer, I had no options other than to thread the needle, and man, I ALMOST had it

*************

UPDATE: I just went back with a disposable camera, My battery is shot in my digi. I went to the location that I wrapped, and looked at nothing. After the wrap, I tied it to the tree is was wrapped on. I went back, and the tree, and the boat were gone! I was upset to say the least. I drove out of the area I was in, crossed a bridge, looked down stream, and there the tree, and the boat were. Now, im no expert but im thinking my initial thought of it being "done" were correct. the boat is completly broken in half, in two pieces. I don't know if the shots i took will do any justice, but the only thing holding the boat in its position is a cam strap linking the two halfs together. Granted, one end is tied on, I don't wanna loose my gear .It was all clipped/tied in.

It will need to stay there another couple of days, for the water to drop, then i will take some more pics, and get them posted.

I think I have a new piece of yard art, Im thinking about painting "canoe instuction here" on the side

 

[Kayak Jack]

Mr. Jack
The way you describe it the kayak is just another appendage on your body. Kinda Zen like. Is that a bout right? I guess you would need enough room to get your wallet to show your fishing license to the water and fish police.
Bob

Pretty much it, Bob. Except, I wouldn't carry a billfold in my hip pocket. Throws your back out of line a bit and creates cramps & pains. I carry my billfold-type stuff in a shirt pocket.

Some paddlers use Aloksak, available from Campmor http://www.campmor.com item# 75202/3/4.