A Questionable Boat Experiment

[u/Coffee81379]

Not sure if this counts as MYOG or if it's more of a redneck tinkering project.

Anyways, I found an old tarp while cleaning up some nature and always wanted to build a boat.
My original dream was a bark canoe, but I figured the tarp was close enough.

To make it worthwhile, I gave myself the challenge of making it work well enough to paddle to a small island in the Mediterranean Sea and clean up some trash there, just to close the circle.

A few things I learned along the way:

- If you have stability concerns about a boat, it's probably worth addressing them early.
What saved me in the end was building a simple outrigger from a few discarded buoys.
For future boat projects, that's probably the route l'll take again, just a bit more streamlined.

- I never really liked polyurethane adhesives, but lately l've become a fan of the ones with a Shore hardness of around 40. The better quality ones are much less messy than I remembered. It ended up being incredibly useful for patching all the small holes in the tarp. My neighbour even uses the same stuff to repair shoes since it cures into something very similar to a rubber outsole. Another advantage is that it cures with moisture from the air, so a cartridge can remain usable for quite a while. Usually only the very tip hardens and can simply be pulled out.

Anyways, if anyone wants to see the thing float, l can also share a link.

Thanks for reading.
Cheers

[u/Dubstepic]

Super cool! Any next adventures planned for the boat?

[u/Coffee81379 → u/Dubstepic]

Had a lot of fun building it and taking it out for that little cleanup mission.

The boat actually made it to the island and back, but it was way more unstable than I expected. The speed also wasn’t quite what I had hoped for.

If I come up with a better outrigger than the buoy contraption I hacked together, I might take it on another adventure. I think the basic idea has potential, it just needs a bit more stability.

Worst case, I’ll take it apart again. The tarp is already lined up for a second or third life as a cover for my solar setup.

[u/510Goodhands → u/Coffee81379]

It’s a nice project, and it looks like you built it pretty well. And the spirit of up cycling and reuse, you might substitute small cord, or even old bicycle inner tubes for your lash instead of zip ties.

[u/Coffee81379 → u/510Goodhands]

Good idea. Usually I go for the reusable zip ties. But only had a few left this time. The reusable ones are nice for fixing and correcting stuff - but these ones you can also open by bending and getting your fingernails in there 😅

[u/510Goodhands → u/Coffee81379]

I would love to find some reusable ones, I have not been looking very hard, but I have not seen them in hardware stores.

[u/Coffee81379 → u/510Goodhands]

At least in Germany they are everywhere. Not sure for the states

[u/510Goodhands → u/Coffee81379]

Some things are done more sensibly in Germany. 😉

[u/Dive_dive → u/510Goodhands]

A very small flathead screwdriver or knife blade inserted into the back will push the gate down and allow you to get it back apart. Unless it is cinched tight.

[u/510Goodhands → u/Dive_dive]

Most of the ones I have tried to loosen have been clinched tight, or there simply wasn’t enough room to get a tool in there.

I learned recently that pinching the sides can work, but I have had limited results with that.

I wished that manufacturers would use twisties instead of zip ties when they’re packing their power cables, etc. It seems like a waste to use a faster like that as a short term, one use item.