Herkimer & Perkins: Building Backyard Boats in Buffalo, NY

My Backyard Boats:

The Quark

Double paddle without twaddle

25 April 03: Yesterday and today I worked up the double paddle for the Quark. The plans call for using 1-inch closet rod for the shaft and 1/4-inch leftover plywood for the blades. I decided to make a blank of blades and shaft in a single piece of ply. All I had lying around was some bc pine in 3/8-inch thickness, so I used that. I also had a douglas fir offcut in 1/4 by 4 by 8 feet. I cut that in inch-wide strips. The three pieces went together with Elmer's glue.

Today I sanded the blank smooth and fixed a few imperfections with Elmer's glue and wood flour as a putty. The paddle is cute. Hope it works OK.

The 3M 5200 compound that I used on the hull is still tacky after 48 hours. I rubbed some wood flour into it. I'm going to start priming tomorrow.

Time spend so far: Add four hours of paddle-making, for a total so far of 45 hours.

Cost so far: Add $5 for plywood for the double paddle, for a total so far of $171.12.

The Quark building log

One piece of bc pine six inches wide and 7 feet long; two pieces of 1/4 by 1 inch douglas fir. This is all it takes to make the double paddle.
The Quark weighs almost nothing, so it was nothing much to stand it up on end to make room for the paddle project. The plywood blank is cut out and maked with a center line and outside lines for the fir sandwich pieces.
The sandwich is buttered and done, and clamps are in place.
Darn, it's cute!
Final sanding done; double paddle is ready for varnish.