Wooden Boat People
By McKenzieDriftBoat.com
Down the Grand Canyon
Sept 28 - Oct 15 2010
We ran on constant 8,000 until the rain came and pumped it up to 11k. It was really cool to see the river running red.
The Zizumara was perfect for the Grand. It tracks well in the big water, doesn't get surfed easily and even stays upright when going sideways though Hermit!
Crystal gave her a high impact test. I ran her into the left wall but luckily hit where a thwart met the hull. Came away with just a duct tape fix. All the passengers stayed in the boat too!
Then in 205 I ran too far left and fell down the rabbit hole. Had a huge hit in the bottom of the steepest hole I've ever ran. After bailing the boat out we found a big compression buckle. The hit was in the stern passenger floor. On the outside was just a barely visible crack but on the inside the wood and glass were blown. Then the thwart for the stern hatch had a big compression buckle that went all the way through. We gave it a quick epoxy paste patch during lunch.
I'm looking forward to grinding off the patch and looking at what the boat really looks like. I'm beginning to see the advantages of foam... That being said, I learned a lot by taking the wrong lines... Hoping experience will help to preserve my wooden boat in the future.
I think when I patch her up, I'll put a little memento in place to remind me of Crystal and 205 mile.
Can't wait to do it all again.
Views: 217
Comment
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Comment by Kelly Neu on November 5, 2010 at 7:43pm
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Hi Rick,
I ended up going with the leather oar sleeves and leaving the oar lock unwrapped. I'm diggin' em!
Yup, I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. Besides its nice to have a project to hammer on.
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Comment by Rick Newman on November 5, 2010 at 7:37pm
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As always a great set of photographs and an interesting story to go with it. Glad you are okay, sorry to see such a beautiful boat with an injury. But as Greg Hatten said in a recent post, he wouldn't trade any of his experiences on the river, even those that result in damage to his boat. I hope that the repairs go well.
How did the wrapped oar locks work out?
Rick Newman
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Comment by lhedrick on October 30, 2010 at 9:11am
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Sounds like some major fun.
I got shredded in Hance last April. I tried to run to the left on the entry pushing the oars. Total lame idea. I got spun at the top hole right of the duck pond. By the time I got the oars back in my hands we were heading down the last line I wanted to be on. We went in the bottom hole.
At Upset in trying to avoid the top right rocks I got too far left then I missed 2 pulls. All I could do was square up and get on the oars and hit it. The bow came right up and we launched out like a rocket. Would I do it again. Never!
What I learned was that if things go south square up and take it. The boat did a great job. The most fun ride we had was getting pulled right into the big waves at the bottom of Horn. What a major ride.
Wish I could run the Canyon every year.
In the future I will drop you an email. Want to know more about the construction of the foam boats as I have not seen one.
My boat is off the frames and upright. You can see the latest at
mountaindogs.net/plascorehull
No matter what be build I have a feeling places like the Grand and Cataract can eat our boats and spit them out.
L
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Hi Andy,
Yes and Yes. The Zizumara is Briggsian though with slightly higher gunwales, a tiny bit less rocker and also a bit beamier. Just plain old plywood and glass though. I'd love to build with foam one of these days.
The ZIz's hull is a replica of Lonnie's boat the Galina. Lonnie helped me build the hull and the rest I finished over this past winter. I'd love to build a replica of his boat the Myra. Its much more of a playboat than this one. Its a Salmon river boat. The Zizumara is built for the Canyon.
Are you building anything this season?
-Kelly
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Hi Larry,
Hance nearly ate two of our boats. The Alumaweld went down the right and one of the wood boats hit the big hole at the bottom. Luckily no flips and miraculously little damage to the boats. In the hole they had a stern hit but all it did was crack the glass tape over the fillets surrounding the stern hatch. A duct tape fix.
Upset nearly flipped one of our boats too. They went dead center into the hole and went under the wave. They needed scuba gear on that one. Upset is kind of a spooky one. I've found that mystery rock with my oar before... its hard to tell where it is!
Hermit got the better of me. I was so excited that I had made it over the 5th wave that I lost focus and started drifting sideways. My boat was still so heavy at that point in the trip that I knew there was no recovery. I just dropped the oars and told everyone to park their rear ends on the downstream gunwale. It was super fun just hanging on. I never felt like we were gonna flip. Must have been pretty entertaining to any onlookers!
My hit in 205 was in the stern about 2 inches in front of the thwart. It was a huge hit. I thought we had cracked in half by the sound of it. I was happy to see the actual damage as I thought it was going to be much worse.
I'm pretty excited about your honeycomb boat. I don't know if it will help when you drop off the side of the earth like I did but its gotta be better than a plywood sandwich.
I'll get to start tearing into the patch in November. I'll get some pics up... I'm sure I'll be looking for advice!
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The boat got to the take out so I would say you were victorious. Just like you said, last April I learned plenty on bad lines through Hance and Upset.
Wood can be glued back together forever, it's all part of the game. If we can make a scarf joint which is stronger then the plywood, pulling that side crack together will be no issue at all. A friend did about the same, he drilled holes along the crack and used bolts, plastic, large washers and wing nuts to pull it back together Solving the problem of bottom breakage is tough. Without a flexible bottom 1/2 inch plywood is just not strong enough in some cases and if it is strong enough it sends the load right through.
Sideways through Hermit, now that's something to talk about.
Was the compression fracture up at the front or the stern? Must have been a big hit considering most of the weight is closer to the center of the boat. Every time I go in a hole I have this fear there is a monster boulder down in there which is going to come right through the floor.
Wood is amazing stuff. If it was an all fiber glass boat it would be hard to get it closed up but wood just keeps on going. I wonder if my idea of honeycomb was such a good idea after all.
Please post photos of the repair techniques so we can all pickup new ideas.
Larry
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Comment by Andy Hutchinson on October 29, 2010 at 3:19pm
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Ukeulady-lass, Sorry about the crunchy in your gaily-painted boat. -Happens to us all, and we seem to always remember "those runs" over the glorious ones!
Would love to hear more about "Zizumara". -She's gorgeous. Built her yourself, design (looks quite "Briggsian), foam decks", etc. etc.? You must know Lonnie Hutson? etc.
Thanks, Cheers, A
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Rocked it... Haha, love it!
We had quite a few boats "rockin'" it on this trip. Sort of a combo of low water, very thick muddy water, wind, rain and a mix of rafts and dories. I learned a lot about patching. And that Alumawelds can deform their hulls by a foot and still not spring a leak.
I was thinking I could have the passengers sign their names over the patches or maybe create a little stencil with the milage # on it.
Will post some pics in mid Nov of the repairs.
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Comment by Dave Z on October 28, 2010 at 7:37pm
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"tis only a flesh wound."
You are one hardcore uke girl.
You rock it. (pun intended)
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700LBS: Boat
1000LBS: Gear
640 LBS: 3 passengers and a boatman
=2340LBS: total
x
10MPH?
That equals ouch!
I'm trying to come up with some creative ideas to memorialize the Zizumara's bumps and bruises. Suggestions welcome :)
"...Higher energy comes from more velocity; the tighter the constriction the higher the velocity through it. In fact, the river’s ability to move material increases with the square of the velocity. If the river current’s speed doubles, the force is multiplied by four. A tripling of water speed increases force by nine..." -Tom Moody
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