Last weekend Molly and I went out to Sturgeon Lake on Sauvie Island to launch the new canoe, a fairly simple stitch-and-glue build that nevertheless took a ridiculous amount of sanding. The result of all that sanding is a very attractive little canoe (if you overlook all the places in the fiberglass that didn't quite come clear). We had a bit of an adventure before we could float the boat, though: First, we get to Sturgeon Lake and find a mud flat. We were there a few weekends before in the dory with Molly's mom and there was enough water to float, though I did dredge up mud with the oars a number of times and it felt like the boat was dragging in places. I'm not sure if the river level's gone down or we just caught low tide. So we head back to the general store to ask about another place to drop the canoe and about half a mile out the engine just stops. It turns over fine, but won't start up. I try all the tricks I knew for getting it started, and no luck. Finally, I call my Dad to ask about problems they've had with the Landcruiser in the past--I remember it always had problems with vapor lock. He runs me through all of the things I tried, still no luck, then he has me open the hood and check for spark. Molly turns the key, and no spark in the cap, but a big spark over on the side: the cap had fallen off the coil. Plug it back in, and it starts right up. Now I know how the ignition works!

The guy at the store directs us to the north side of the island, and we put in at McNary Lake and start paddling out. The canoe is very shaky, like the first canoe I built, and Molly suggests that we're too high in the boat. We beach and I unscrew her seat: much better. After a while, I take my seat out, too. I'll glue new stringers in just above the chine and see how that does. We're weaving all over the place and I worry that it's somehow a design flaw in the boat, but I realize we've got a tailwind pushing the stern around; on the way back it's much better, even pulling against the wind.

 

That first canoe never got another chance, unfortunately--maybe I just needed to lower the seats. Still, it made a nice planter: