Was skyline now Mercury, tear inspired camper for six

[S. Heisley]

Great job! Ya done good!
Now, you've made me want one!

[KCStudly]

It was the shape of the pieces that gave it away first. None of them matched any of the parts on your boat. Then the lack of canvas or color confirmed that. So I will claim observant. Definitely not skepticism, my confidence in your building ability and the method used is precisely what convinced me that there was no way you could have had such a devastating and utter failure. Not skeptical at all (at least not in this case).

[KCStudly]

Oops, I meant to ask, compared to a typical shorty rotary molded plastic sit in kayak, would you say the mouse is more, less or about the same with regard to stability? I would consider building a wooden one if I didn't have to constantly concentrate on keeping it up right. I have very limited experience with kayaks.

[Catherine+twins]

Yeah, my brother introduced the kids and me to his sit-on kayak boards in Hawaii a couple of years ago, and I keep thinking I could sculpt that in foam. One of those would be nice when we go fishing at Fenton Lake.

Catherine

[GPW]

Lately we’ve been thinking something like this , just bigger ...

[bonnie]

So what was the weight of Sea Foam and how much do you expect it can carry? Very nice work. You've inspired me.

[rowerwet]

UH Oh, looks like mike is going to have to make a boats room...

KC- compared to a plastic kayak these are super stable. I got the chance to paddle a plastic cheapo from wallyworld a few years ago. that thing tried to dump me! If you look through my album of mouse pictures on my Rowerwet facebook page you will notice many shots of the kids and even me standing up in them (they were doing it today on my parents very mucky pond and the record still stands that not one kid has fallen out of a mouse) Those plastic kayaks are horribly tippy, if you want a stable one buy a SOT (sit on top) they are much more stable, but even then, unless they are designed for standing for fly casting they will dump you off if you aren't careful.The V bottom mouse is a bit more tender than the flat bottom mice, the trade off being it is a bit faster. My dad and I were racing our mice on the pond, even with my 25 year age advantage he was just about as fast as me in the V bottom mouse as I was in my flat bottomed one. I don't know if I could stand in a V bottom mouse.

Cathrine- I'm also working on a SUP made of 2" foam insulation panels, so far I've created a 16 SUP from a 4x8' foam board, but I think 2" foam is too thin. I will get back to the SUP after I get some details cleaned up on Sea Foam.

GPW- I'll leave carving foam blocks up to you artist types, I was the kid that couldn't color inside the lines and it still shows when I try to lay a tape line to make a stripe on an air plane... I would end up with a pile of foam shavings because I kept making one side lopsided, until I had nothing left....

Sharon- go ahead, build one, I dare ya! you'll love it! you did a great job on your tear, a mouse is much simpler, and would be the perfect camping addition. Personally I can't imagine a camping trip without our mice or some other type of boat. (During the summer I keep mine on the car roof and use it to explore rivers and lakes between work and home, scouting for places to take the kids that they can swim in)

bonnie- the unpainted but sheathed hull was 13 lbs, I have not weighed it since paint, but I can still hold it in one hand (notice the picture before I launched it) I know it is heavier than before paint. I will need to add plywood to the decks on both ends of the mouse, and a full length strake on the bottom for directional stability when paddling, these are all going to add weight, but are needed to overcome some challenges from using foam.

[rowerwet]

like all proof of concepts Sea Foam has some issues to take care of, my dad put his elbow through one of the foam decks.

so I cut the decks off


the cockpit floor cardboard seemed to be filled with poly, until it began to delaminate underneath, I cut it and added more glue, but it continued, so I ripped it out

fabed up new decks
with reinforcing strips, and a strap handle like my other boats have (cargo strap and PEX pipe)

the straps have holes melted in them with a heated screw driver so the glue makes a complete "pin" through the strap

foam to make the new deck hatch coamings

[JThompson]

now you got me wondering if I cant do something like the old boy Scout folding pumpkin seed kayak out of 1 inch foam... or a blend of lauan and foam.. extra floation.. ease of transport... fun times on the lake.

http://www.starling-travel.com/wp-conte ... _Plans.pdf

[rowerwet]

you could, but other than the folding trick, a mouse would cost less and have less potential leaks. let us know if you try

[rowerwet]

since the last post, I gave up on the plywood decks as too heavy, I cut them off and made new foam decks. I added triangular blocks underneath to reinforce the deck. For deck hatches I modified Gama-seal 5 gallon bucket lids to make screw off deck hatches that are cheap, waterproof and very large. details and pictures here for the deck hatches, https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 212&type=3 and construction pics for seafoam https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 212&type=3

[GPW]

Row, NICE !!!!! Now that my heavy fiberglass skiff is gone , I’m anxious to replace it with something more Foamie' ...

Guess a bigger Mouse boat would be a Rat boat huh ?

[rowerwet]

flats rat though you might want to look into building like this guy does, though without the expensive marine epoxy http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/15/col ... /index.htm

[GPW]

Despite the sleek beauty of the Yaks’ , I need more a larger Mouse boat , and having a small sail wouldn’t be a bad thing either... Mouse Barge ...

[GPW]

For those that are into Really Really Simple boats ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l-SoHOFw_c