Amas - section

The top of the amas can be rounded, and the insides of the top and bottom boards can be routed between the bulkheads. Left flat on top where the akas will attach.

New amas - hollowing out

This is the layer below the top board, or deck, of the new ama. It and the next layer down will get hollowed out something like this:

Since I made those cut-outs, John convinced me to make the sides of the boat thinner, so in the next photos they'll look different.

I don't plan to cut anything out of the bottom board, since I want the strength and also the ability to make it smaller if I want, for instance at the bow vee from the keel up to the chine.

The middle crosspiece in the above photo is part of a bulkhead that will hold the sides from oil-canning. The crosspieces closer to the ends are for strength where the akas will be attached.

New amas 4

Hacking away at foam...

The black line is marlin twine. I used a hand saw to cut the bulk of the excess off.

Then, 24-grit paper did the rest:

That's it for now, I'll finish the outside when all the layers are glued up.

Next step is to take them apart, hollow out the innards, and glue them back together. Then final shaping can take place. I wanted to get an idea of the outside so I could dig out the inside and be confident I wasn't going to go through, or leave too little.

New amas 3

Basic forms are now cut out:

They're heavier than I thought they'd be; this isn't Styrofoam® after all. So I'm planning to cut out most of the insides.

The plan now is to fasten the boards together with drywall screws, shape the outside, then take all apart, cut out the insides and glue together. I want to shape the outside first, especially at the bow, because then I'll know how far I can go with the hollowing-out process. I'll be cutting out sections of each board and leaving enough material on the outside for strength. Planning to not treat the inside at all, to save weight.

New amas 2

Turns out I was wrong on the depth of the original amas: they're 7" deep.

The foam material that John has is 2½" thick. I'm planning to stack four up for each ama, to make them 10" deep to start.

Here's where it's at right now:

The foam came in 8' x 42+" sheets. Cutting the edges off, I was able to get boards 10⅛" wide, four from each sheet. The sheets had a tough layer of something like vinyl cloth stuck to both sides that was work to peel off!

The surface of the foam is bumpy and has some air pockets (free, though!), so I'll sand before gluing. John says polyester resin works with it. First, I'll cut all to the template shape...

New amas

I'm thinking of making the new amas 7'6" long. The present ones are 6'. Rough shape under consideration:

 Solid foam with glass skin. The chine corners would be rounded off. My guess is that there would be about three times the buoyancy in this shape than in the double-ended vee hulls I made, based on the same 10" width and 8" (I think) depth. 

Oh, looking back at it, I see that these are 10" deep, so the final ones could be different. Then again, from the photos of the boat sailing, it looked like the amas could be a bit deeper; 9" or 10".

Portage Inlet explore

I put in from the gravel beach at the Victoria Canoe and Kayak Club. It's just in from the Tillicum Bridge, where the Gorge Rapids happen:

(Slack tide this day—this was a reconnoitre à pied, looking for a ramp in the park across the water from the VCKC.)

Some rowers taking advantage of the slack:

It gets quite ripping through there with the tide.

Here's my little trip—just paddling, no amas or sailing rig:

The pin is at the VCKC. The channel to the Admirals Road Bridge (Maple Pt above) is shallow and has lots of eel grass in it. Not a great place for sailing, as the foils would keep catching weeds.

But, under the bridge and around the corner to the North, it gets deeper and less weedy. The view reminds me of the Muskoka area of Ontario:

I went up Colquitz Creek as far as I could:

Discovered a little footbridge farther up:

Past the footbridge it started to get gnarly:

 

After checking out the creek I paddled over to where the chart says there's a ramp, but it had been deconstructed, I guess.

That was my little trip in September. I didn't go under the Tillicum Bridge.

Here's an old video that shows some of the upper harbour areas, starting at that bridge:

And here's a more modern one showing a bit of turbulence under the Tillicum Bridge:

Ama considerations

Ama design is top of mind right now. Here is one possibility: taking a couple copies off of one of Andrew's little 12' catamarans that he has for sale.

It looks a perfect shape and size, to me. Here's how much of it I'd use:

About 10" high by 8' long.

Evening paddle

I put in at the end of my street for the second time. It was a perfect evening for a paddle. 

I almost stabbed a seal pup in the face with my paddle! Lost my cadence by it! No photo, of course, it happened so quickly, and I wasn't going to go back and disturb the thing any more than I already did. The seal pup was just under the surface, right where my blade was headed, looking up at me. Mom was nearby.

I've got a name for the piece of aluminum at the end of the skeg that the boat rests on. I was likening it to a toe nail. Now I'm calling it a "skid plate".

Above, the skid plate hangs in, not sliding on the wet cement of the ramp. The cart is farther forward than I've had it before. It worked well for going uphill stern-first, with me pushing on the bow, but next time it'll be centred better.

In some of the photos you can see a seat back. I've been negligent in documenting that and the fibreglass seat I made from a mold that John has.

Below is my track from this evening. You might be able to go there in the Navionics web app. You can see the airport "runways" outlined in green: 

Around the second corner was the sweet little cove below. The whole area is under-developed and therefore fairly natural, because it's DND land. The islands in the DND areas have "No Trespassing" signs on them.

I saw some pigeon guillemots, lots of geese, quite a few oyster catchers and a number of seals with their babies. The babies have a soft call that sounds like "Ma".

Cart wheels

Godfrey found a kids stroller at the second-hand store. We shared the wheels.

I took the two larger wheels, since they fit my cart so well. The axles fit them perfectly. I won't worry so much now, going over bumps and ruts. Godfrey has the four smaller wheels.

Kayak mode, 2016 R2AK Victoria Start

Andrew and I went down to the marina in the Inner Harbour where the R2AK boats were tied after a Thai dinner at Siam (very tasty!) and by good fortune arrived when someone was at the gate who could let us in. (I thought they were always open, naive me. It was party night, people weren't on their boats, so no visitors.)

We got to see most of the boats that would be setting out the next day in the Race to Alaska (including a SUP paddle board!), and talked to a few quite enthusiastic people. There are a large number of trimarans in this race. It looks like tris are finally coming into their own! Or they already have and I just didn't notice?

On Sunday I launched my boat at the foot of my street for the first time, and I'm very happy to say that it went completely without a hitch. Here's the boat just about to go onto the car after I came back from paddling:

Because there's no sailing in the harbour, I left the amas and sail rig behind. This was the first time taking her out as just a kayak.

Here's the path to the only ramp on this side of the harbour, which just happens to be at the end of my street:

The skeg shoe, or toenail, worked a treat, leaving a 1"-wide clearcut trail through the barnacles on the ramp. I was able to pick the boat up by the bow, lift the bow to chest height, and push the stern of the boat down the ramp on the skeg shoe. The reverse worked just as well, bringing her out.

Godfrey brought his sailing dory out from the marina and we tried to cut across the harbour, whereupon one of the Authority types whipped over, blue lights flashing, to tell us we had to go around. Damn! It was fifteen minutes from the start of the race, and a fair distance around, so I high-balled it and left Godfrey behind. It happened that he sailed out farther than I wanted to go anyway.

I was on time to see the boats people-powered coming out of the harbour, then raising their sails as they rounded the harbour marker (or before, which some did) to take advantage of a nice medium-light Northerly. Some switched modes more successfully than others.

I sat in my boat and took little video clips of the boats going by. I missed some of the entrants. The videos are very jiggly and jumpy, but I'm going to put them together and see if Mr. Google can smooth them out—sometimes that works really well.

After all that, I paddled to the Inner Harbour and, on the now-empty docks where the R2AK crowd had been, ate the lunch I had brought, which included a thermos of coffee and cream in a cold pack to go in it. (Cream does not do well hot for long periods, I find.) Thus fortified, and after talking to the last team that hadn't left the dock yet (the women's 8-person sailing longdory, Team Kraken Up), I made my way home on the other side of the harbour.

I'm happy to report that my body hasn't suffered from my adventure, except for sore muscles and tiredness. I realized I hadn't paddled a kayak in about 22 years! Today I'm tired and sore, but happy.

There are some tweaks to be made. My butt got sore, and I need knee pads under the deck. John has a mold for a seat, and I have some nice foam I can glue on under the decks for the knees. I needed a plug for the leeboard pivot hole, so I picked up a stick and whittled one, drilled a hole in it and put a lanyard on it. And the back rest needs improvement.

What I learned:

• I want to use the rudder when paddling, to offset winds pushing me around.

• That cart is amazing! I didn't think it would work so well, but it does great.

• I love my new double paddle. It's very light (24 oz). And, no, my hands don't get wet. I think it could be about the flick I give the blade as it comes out of the water.

I gave up paddling some 22 years ago because my back gave out. Since then I haven't wanted to go back there: kayak paddling was associated with acute pain. But now that I got myself a kayak in the guise of a sailboat, I find that it works okay. I know I won't be able to do the long rides I used to, and that's alright. I'm okay with being an old man whose circle is getting smaller and smaller.

Now I'm starting to plan the larger amas, and short trips in the kayak.

Official launch

A few friends were on hand for the "real" launch at Oak Bay. Here's Golightly ready to roll down the ramp:

And still high on the cart:

Heading out, ghosting along:

Looking for the wind:

Checking to see how relaxed I could be sailing:

Not enough wind to fill out the sail here.

Returned and waiting for the ramp to be clear:

What I've learned
• The amas are too small. It doesn't take much wind to send them under!

• I can, with my bad back, manage getting the boat on and off the car.*

This was a big question for me, which was answered today.

So
• Back to the drawing board before sailing in any wind.

• I'll be paddling for now.

The build has been a worthwhile effort. I'm going to relax awhile before making new heavy-weather amas.

* To get the boat off the car, I turn it and set the stern on the ground beside the car. Then I strap the wheels to it. Then lift the bow off the car and down she goes onto the wheels. On is the reverse.