Was skyline now Mercury, tear inspired camper for six

[GPW]

Skeptics everywhere... Why can’t they celebrate your discovery ? Maybe they’re just jealous they didn’t think of it first ...

[rowerwet]

when I built my first mouse I didn't trust it, I took it to a pond most people didn't know about and launched it out of sight of everybody, IT FLOATED !!! I paddled it around a bit to see how it handled, then had someone who had just showed up snap a picture.
The hull was bare plywood at that point so I stapled plastic around the hull and went for a longer paddle, besides being over loaded the boat wanted to wander, badly.
Before I handed it over to my daughter for her first paddle I made sure it had a good skeg, (kind of like a fin on a surfboard) the difference is night and day.
I wasn't sure how to stick a skeg onto the foamie mouse, I ended up shaping a scrap of foam to the shape of the hull bottom, glued it on with GG, and immediatly had all kinds of mental pictures of the skeg snapping off.
I then added a "frame" of plywood to the skeg foam. the vertical piece keeps the skeg from bending and snapping, the horizontal piece is a skid shoe, for all those hidden rocks and logs.
I had to fill a larger void in the back of the skeg so I used GS, otherwise GG.
Some gravity clamps, drywall screws and duct tape to control the bond and ooze out.

the end result was a bit rough, but I don't consider a glue joint solid unless the glue oozes out.

a bit of work with the orbital sander to smooth things out

then I layerd on the fabric, three or four layers thick on the skid shoe section and two thick for the rest.

I picked up a gallon of mis-tint Glidden porch and floor paint at the depot, $9, it is a great color for filling the weave, otherwise I hate it!


(I also got a 5 gallon pail of exterior mis-tint paint for $30)

don't tell anybody, if everything works out, this weekend I will sacrifice my self for the sake of foamies everywhere and attempt to defy gravity on the pond behind my parents house with the mouse..... just got to pray for some nice weather, last year I had a boat to launch and it rained for our big family weekend. My sister is bringing her carload of kids and we're bringing kids and the fleet, should be fun!

[GPW]

Good color , won’t scare the Fish !!! Looking really GOOD Row !!!

Although we’ve used a lot of mis-mixed paint for projects (thrifty) , we either mix it or tint it to get a color we like ... Mix too many colors and it all turns Gray - ish’ .... The greenish gray inside the FoamStream was a mix of unused paints... It’s a calming color ...

[rowerwet]

well we had enough time between the showers to get out on the pond
let's go splash this mouse!

so I carried it to the pond, dropped it in, named it "TITANIC" and stepped in.....
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and it all fell apart...

so now what do I do?

(was it the name...)

[GPW]

Naa Unh ? ... Maybe too light ?

[KCStudly]

I'm not buying it. That debris field looks suspiciously like leftover foam scraps and they're all the wrong color.

You must have read too many of Roly's "gotcha" posts.

Show us the real pics, please.

[rowerwet]

I've been planning that one for weeks!

so here is Sea Foam afloat for the first time

and later after I took her for a spin, my dad had to try it out

he likes it so much he wants to buy it! (after a few details are ironed out)

[KCStudly]

A great reward for your hard work! It must feel really good to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Nice job.

[Mary C]

Ok, so I read it I wasn't logged in and my heart sank , I took my shower and got something to eat and just got back. I was all prepared to show all my and but the guys posted and I was relived but you really did get me I think it is time for I just knew it would work

Mary C.

[Shar]

Enjoy the sweet taste of victory, Row!

[GPW]

I spent all night awake and worried ....thinking what could have gone wrong ... Just couldn’t wrap my mind around how it didn’t work ...

[rowerwet]

I spent all night awake and worried ....thinking what could have gone wrong ... Just couldn’t wrap my mind around how it didn’t work ...

sorry GPW! I just couldn't help myself, (I thought for sure the "name" would give it away) the funny part was how my wife and kids couldn't imagine why I was taking the scraps with us to my parents house. My oldest daughter took a few hints to get the idea (she thinks like me) then she loved it and took the pictures. Since the rest of them weren't there when we took the pictures, they were still guessing later on when they noticed the foam scraps in the van. My wife had just finished telling my mom and sister that they were there to repair the boat
Thanks GPW and the rest for the foamie idea, I learned a lot from this forum, enough to start a foamie TT (I'm planning on it holding all 6 of us, so not tiny or a tear)

[GPW]

Well that was a Good one ... you had us there ...

[rowerwet]

the prize for most observant (or skeptical) goes to KC

[clermont cubby]

Great job rower. time for the foamy teardrop.
Larry