Jump to content
Print your own personalised forum logo

Fabric Covered Canoe Covering?

JennyMorgan
 Share

Recommended Posts

JennyMorgan

JennyMorgan

Posted
Posted

As a project, and a return to my youth, I've decided to build a Percy Blandford PBK, vintage design, fabric covered canoe. Surely things have moved on from painted canvas, so any suggestions or experiences with modern alternatives will be much appreciated. Dear old Percy Bash-It / Bodget was compulsive TV watching in the '50's. One thing is for sure though, his canoe plans are jolly good, well thought out and well drawn. In my youth it was quite common to see a score or more young boat-builders proudly towing their creations behind their bikes as they headed off from Lowestoft to Oulton Broad at a weekend. In the past I have built a PBK 10 and PBK 13. I still have the plans for the PBK 13 so that is what I intend to build. Plans cost 12/6 way back then, mid 1950's. My PBK 10 was built at school using any gash timber that I could lay my hands on but by the time I was a teenager I was a bit more choosy and used good stuff for the 13 and had it for best part of ten years before selling it, a single seater was no good for courting in!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Wussername

Wussername

Posted
Posted

My Dear JM

I must advise caution. Are you not of the same vintage as myself. Enjoy making this wonderful thing for your grandchildren. However, will there be a temptation to sit, to paddle, this craft up and down our cherished waterways? You have a responsibility not only to yourself, your family and to your friends on this forum.

I fear for you.

Andrew

Link to comment
Share on other sites
JennyMorgan

JennyMorgan

Posted
  • Author
Posted
23 minutes ago, Wussername said:

My Dear JM

I must advise caution. Are you not of the same vintage as myself. Enjoy making this wonderful thing for your grandchildren. However, will there be a temptation to sit, to paddle, this craft up and down our cherished waterways? You have a responsibility not only to yourself, your family and to your friends on this forum.

I fear for you.

Andrew

Worry not, Andrew, I do go out on a modern sit-upon surf kayak with family consent, even encouragement. The proviso being that I wear a buoyancy aid so that if I do croak it, one way or another, they will at least have the closure of having a body to dispose of. I really do appreciate your concern and advice but maybe I'm being a selfish old bugger, I'd rather peg it doing something that I enjoy rather than just giving in. As it is I no longer race, too damned slow now but at least in my Drascombe or on my kayak I can go at the pace that my body allows me. Hopefully I have ten or twenty years ahead of me but I would hate to think that my remaining years would be boatless. What a thought!! 

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites
brandenjg

brandenjg

Posted
Posted

Make sure to take plenty of photos throughout the build as I'd love to see it. My wife's uncle used to make a lot of these "back in the day" and I've heard no end of stories of relatives having a go and ripping through the floor as they step in directly on the canvas missing the many wooden supports.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Timbo

Timbo

Posted
Posted

For some while now I've been thinking along the same lines as JM and returning to kayaking. I started when I was eleven when the Scouts gave us the opportunity to learn...at the local swimming baths...which caused much mockery from Uncle Albert. A few parents got together and with the help of a local chap, with a large workshop, and Uncle Albert (Our Scout Leader) we hired a canoe mold and built our own fibreglass canoes. 14 foot Tiger Tourers. The other kids soon lost interest, however I stuck with it, going through the British Canoe Union Star System.

For all Uncle Albert's mockery learning the basics in the swimming pool really gave me confidence in the water. The exercises and training 'games' we were given to do meant I was equally confident in the boat...or out of it. Even today at fifty, with one arm and leg not working I can still swim very well and do a length and a half underwater. I'm also a dab hand at towing using my duff mitt to hold and the rest to swim. Uncle Albert eventually took the basic course in the pool as I moved through the grades and eventually to my white water and instructors certificates. 

Getting long in the tooth but decidedly portly around the middle might be the push I need to get back in a kayak...I need the exercise!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
grendel

grendel

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Timbo said:

For some while now I've been thinking along the same lines as JM and returning to kayaking. I started when I was eleven when the Scouts gave us the opportunity to learn...at the local swimming baths...which caused much mockery from Uncle Albert. A few parents got together and with the help of a local chap, with a large workshop, and Uncle Albert (Our Scout Leader) we hired a canoe mold and built our own fibreglass canoes. 14 foot Tiger Tourers. The other kids soon lost interest, however I stuck with it, going through the British Canoe Union Star System.

For all Uncle Albert's mockery learning the basics in the swimming pool really gave me confidence in the water. The exercises and training 'games' we were given to do meant I was equally confident in the boat...or out of it. Even today at fifty, with one arm and leg not working I can still swim very well and do a length and a half underwater. I'm also a dab hand at towing using my duff mitt to hold and the rest to swim. Uncle Albert eventually took the basic course in the pool as I moved through the grades and eventually to my white water and instructors certificates. 

Getting long in the tooth but decidedly portly around the middle might be the push I need to get back in a kayak...I need the exercise!

Timbo,

Our list of similarities grows, though I was never in the boy sprouts (see the stainless steel rat books by Harry Harrison), Like you I learned about Kayaks in the school swimming pool, everyone was taught the capsize drill in the school canoes, I really had the sports teachers worried when it got round to my turn, as I too was good at swimming under the water - I rolled the canoe, then waited for the bubbles to clear, before leisurely reaching up and knocking on the bottom of the canoe as if on someones front door, then taking my time exiting the canoe, and swimming half the length of the pool before surfacing - only to look back and see all the class and teacher crowded around the upturned canoe, trying to see where I was, the teacher was on the point of jumping in to rescue me when someone spotted me the other side of the pool.

My greatest achievement in sports was the underwater swimming, when I fell short of the School record by a scant 2m at 57m - the record was set by someone with the surname Salmon.

I have regularly worried the lifeguards at the local pool, when they have lane swimming, by completing 2 lengths underwater in the lane.

Grendel

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Timbo

Timbo

Posted
Posted
51 minutes ago, grendel said:

Timbo,

Our list of similarities grows, though I was never in the boy sprouts (see the stainless steel rat books by Harry Harrison), Like you I learned about Kayaks in the school swimming pool, everyone was taught the capsize drill in the school canoes, I really had the sports teachers worried when it got round to my turn, as I too was good at swimming under the water - I rolled the canoe, then waited for the bubbles to clear, before leisurely reaching up and knocking on the bottom of the canoe as if on someones front door, then taking my time exiting the canoe, and swimming half the length of the pool before surfacing - only to look back and see all the class and teacher crowded around the upturned canoe, trying to see where I was, the teacher was on the point of jumping in to rescue me when someone spotted me the other side of the pool.

My greatest achievement in sports was the underwater swimming, when I fell short of the School record by a scant 2m at 57m - the record was set by someone with the surname Salmon.

I have regularly worried the lifeguards at the local pool, when they have lane swimming, by completing 2 lengths underwater in the lane.

Grendel

Eble ni estas ĝemeloj? La similecoj simple observu adicio. Glitiga Jim diGriz fano ankaŭ!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted
16 hours ago, JennyMorgan said:

As a project, and a return to my youth, I've decided to build a Percy Blandford PBK, vintage design, fabric covered canoe. Surely things have moved on from painted canvas, so any suggestions or experiences with modern alternatives will be much appreciated.

The question comes up a number of times on "Song of the Paddle", a very busy, friendly, and informative canoeing forum.  I've placed similar questions on there a number of times and quickly got very helpful answers from Paddlers all over the world.

Here's a typical PBK thread on there:

http://www.songofthepaddle.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?50948-Wisdom-re-covering-SoF-canoe&highlight=covering

The penultimate reply gives some good onward links.

Frame and canvas canoes still have many advantages, apparently they're more seaworthy in a swell because they "give" rather than rigidly rebounding off side waves.  Also, the corrugated effect of the concave hull between the ribs acts as chines and keels, aiding directional stability.

One of my favorite kayaks is my Folbot folder, which has the same flexible frame and rib construction, though the skin is rubberised one piece, so that it can be dismantled and packed away.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, Polly said:

Yes Sevylor looks to be the best make. The U.K. Version of that model + a skeg is a good option. 

I owned a Sevylor Colorado but got rid of it because it was so affected by windage. There's so much side area above the water and they're very tiring to paddle in a head or side wind.

I now have this "Advanced Elements" inflatable kayak which is so much easier to paddle.

The colour scheme makes it look a bit toy like, but it's a very serious expedition quality kayak, with enclosed multiple bladders, and inflating cockpit coaming and deck supports, and a rigid keel spine (that breaks into short sections for transportation)

They're more expensive than the Sevylors, but well worth the extra IMHO.

Here's a couple of photos taken last year at Wayford Bridge where I went up the canal with a friend.

His inflatable was an identical design to the Sevylor Colorado and it was quite laborious to keep on course on the open section between the bridge and the canal with even just slight winds.

By comparison my AE handled really well, with the enclosed fore and after decks so much lower to the surface of the water. It handled just like a rigid, completely unaffected by the wind.

My previous Colorado was unusable on any of the open Broads, except in flat calms.

To be fair, all open "canoes" can be a pig in the wind compared to closed deck "kayaks", so the same problem exists with rigids.

 

advanced elements inflatable canoe.jpg

dilham canal.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Polly

Polly

Posted
Posted

Yes thanks for that. Sevylor make a skeg for the cheap and cheerful model I would like; according to the reviews  the skeg improves performance a lot.

The kayak is likely to be used for pottering around in the evenings when the wind has dropped, so sailys are at a loose end.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
JennyMorgan

JennyMorgan

Posted
  • Author
Posted
3 hours ago, Strowager said:

The question comes up a number of times on "Song of the Paddle", a very busy, friendly, and informative canoeing forum.  I've placed similar questions on there a number of times and quickly got very helpful answers from Paddlers all over the world.

Here's a typical PBK thread on there:

http://www.songofthepaddle.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?50948-Wisdom-re-covering-SoF-canoe&highlight=covering

The penultimate reply gives some good onward links.

Frame and canvas canoes still have many advantages, apparently they're more seaworthy in a swell because they "give" rather than rigidly rebounding off side waves.  Also, the corrugated effect of the concave hull between the ribs acts as chines and keels, aiding directional stability.

One of my favorite kayaks is my Folbot folder, which has the same flexible frame and rib construction, though the skin is rubberised one piece, so that it can be dismantled and packed away.

 

Thanks, Strow, this link looks to be useful:

http://www.yostwerks.org/WoodSOFSkinMenu.html

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
JennyMorgan

JennyMorgan

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Had found that one but thanks all the same. Percy Blandford may not be a common name but I guess that many thousands of men of a certain age, or greater, will remember it. Bernard Venables for us emerging anglers and Percy Blandford for those who wanted some adventure afloat, it was a different world back in the last century!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Sponsors

    Norfolk Broads Network is run by volunteers - You can help us run it by making a donation

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

For details of our Guidelines, please take a look at the Terms of Use here.

  I accept