Home.. Search... Blog.. Art.. Bikes.. Bio.. BitsNpieces.. Boats.. Cars.. Cogitations.. Computers.. Gadgets.. Green.. Health.. Life.. Love.. Models.. Money.. MyGod.. OurHouse.. PaperModels.. Poetry.. Quotes.. Science.. Story.. WakkyPedia.. Wildlife.. ImageGallery.. Help..
Coleman K1 Inflatable Kayak
CLICK HERE for the full article colemanK1:
With our annual 2 weeks at delightful Nelson bay coming up and no boat small enough to take I decided to get a small inflatable. What I ended up with is a Coleman 1-person kayak. Anyone that knows kayaks and the Coleman will realise that it is a a kayak in name only, and really an inflatable mattress with style, but it seems well made and is fun to use, as long as you don't expect too much. For a cheap 1-person kayak the choices here in Australia were the Coleman, the Sevylor Bali and No-Name stuff off E-Bay. I wanted a known brand for at least some peace of mind and a sit-on-top for easy re-boarding - the Bali is narrower and higher & I doubt you could re-board it while afloat. (The sleek Sevylor SVX100 kayak would probably be a lot better, but at about $1000 much more than I wanted to spend for now.) MORE...
Duckchaser - brilliant reworking of an old folding kayak design.
CLICK HERE for the full article duckchaser:
Don from Melbourne sent me this email:- 'you might like to take a look at the design I've been playing with lately. Google duckchaser to find the plans & instructions. MORE...
Illustrations for Four Months in a Sneakbox by Nathaniel Bishop
CLICK HERE for the full article sneakPix:
Illustrations for Four Months in a Sneakbox by Nathaniel Bishop It is hard to get a reprint of this classic boating and adventure book (from the 19th century) that includes the original illustrations and maps. MORE...
Illustrations for The Voyage of the Paper Canoe, by Nathaniel Bishop
CLICK HERE for the full article paperCanoePix:
Illustrations for The Voyage of the Paper Canoe, by Nathaniel Bishop It is hard to get a reprint of this classic boating and adventure book (from the 19th century) that includes the original illustrations and maps. MORE...
Making an A5 size booklet for a series of images
CLICK HERE for the full article a5booklet:
I needed to make a small booklet containing some illustrations as an addendum to a reprint of an old book (sadly, it did not include the original 19th century author's illustrations). After a lot of messing about, here is what I did. It may be useful to someone else. There is almost certainly a better way (Scribus, Lyx, Latex, .... ???) - if you know and it is not too hard, let me know, please! This method uses Linux. Sorry, can't help you for Windows. MORE...
Sixpence, my second boat
CLICK HERE for the full article sixpence:
Tardus was a bit too heavy and cumbersome to car-top single-handed, so I thought I'd try a one-sheet skiff, light enough to take on holidays. I added about 45mm freeboard by using thin dressed hardwood for the gunwales. Other than that it is about standard. I used the same 7mm CD ply as on Tardus and the boat comes out at about 18Kg (40 pounds) ready to row. MORE...
The Autocanoe - an amphibious recumbent trike
CLICK HERE for the full article autocanoe:
This is one of the most wonderful machines I have seen! If I lived near to the water I think I would have to build one, for the pleasure of just going for a ride and taking to the water whenever the mood took me. I asked the designer, John Montgomery, for the picture above, and here is his video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WotfE6ZOAo - It shows the Autocanoe doing figure-of-eight turns at speed and in about its own length, and in the water. MORE...
The good ship Tardus
CLICK HERE for the full article tardus:
I guess like many I have toyed with the idea of building a boat for years, and finally decided to do something. I first came across Phil Bolger's name in the book "Cruising on a Small Income". The author, Ann Hill, and her husband built a Tortoise as a tender for their 34 foot junk-rigged Badger dory. Lots of Internet hours later I knew a bit about Bolger's fascinating designs and got familiar with Dynamite Payson's web-site. MORE...
US Civil War Mortar Boat
CLICK HERE for the full article mortarBoat:
Mortars are short distance high trajectory cannon designed for shooting over the walls of fortifications. In the US Civil War armoured barges like the model below were used to get the mortars within range. If you get the taste for paper ship building, this is a good site to visit. There are a few free downloads, and the quality is very good. The scale makes them quite small; the mortar barge is only 74mm long! I ended up rolling the trunnions for the mortar barrel around a piece of paper-clip wire, by feel, as I could not really see them all that well. I have since bought a head-band mounted magnifier, which is a great help. MORE...
Home.. Search... Blog.. Art.. Bikes.. Bio.. BitsNpieces.. Boats.. Cars.. Cogitations.. Computers.. Gadgets.. Green.. Health.. Life.. Love.. Models.. Money.. MyGod.. OurHouse.. PaperModels.. Poetry.. Quotes.. Science.. Story.. WakkyPedia.. Wildlife.. ImageGallery.. Help..
