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
![Shocked :shock:](./images/smilies/econ_shocked.gif)
!!! 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.
![120419](http://tnttt.com/gallery/image.php?mode=thumbnail&image_id=120419)
the end result was a bit rough, but I don't consider a glue joint solid unless the glue oozes out.
![120420](http://tnttt.com/gallery/image.php?mode=thumbnail&image_id=120420)
a bit of work with the orbital sander to smooth things out
![120421](http://tnttt.com/gallery/image.php?mode=thumbnail&image_id=120421)
then I layerd on the fabric, three or four layers thick on the skid shoe section and two thick for the rest.
![120445](http://tnttt.com/gallery/image.php?mode=thumbnail&image_id=120445)
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!
![120446](http://tnttt.com/gallery/image.php?mode=thumbnail&image_id=120446)
(I also got a 5 gallon pail of exterior mis-tint paint for $30)
![Shhhh :shhh:](./images/smilies/shh_eyes.gif)
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.....
![relaxing :relaxing:](./images/smilies/relaxing.gif)
just got to pray for some nice weather, last year I had a boat to launch and it
![Rainy :rainy:](./images/smilies/rainy_cloud.gif)
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!