Wednesday, December 2, 2009


Here are some more photos from the trip. They are from Hermann, west of Jefferson City. I'm ready to put a second coating of epoxy-resin on the canoe, it's starting to look like it hasn't taken quite such a beating. There's one small air pocket in one of the peices of fiberglass, I'm going to drill it and fill it with epoxy and resin.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

First pics from Missouri


Well, I've been to Missouri to look at the river. It was a great trip. Here are some of the first photos from Jefferson, MO. The river is pretty fast and wide, the wing dams are certainly something to avoid, but they are pretty easy to see. There are also some photos of the capitol building, a church and a Lewis and Clark statue.

Monday, November 23, 2009

The two areas of damage are covered...

The small hole near the bow looks to have healed well. I have also applied some small pieces of fiberglass and a good bit of epoxy and resin where damage was eating in to the rear skid plate. Hopefully in December we will put the boat in Canyon Lake and verify that she won't sink. I won't have too much time to work on the canoe for a couple of days because work will be busy but I should have some time to work on it Sunday afternoon. Progress! I may have see if I can get some colored gelcoat to cover the rather nasty battle damage.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

1st coat about done...


Well, the first coat of epoxy and resin is about done - the hole is patched and she should float now. There's one very small area that needs to be done at the aft skid plate. I will have to reenforce it with some fiberglass, I'm just making sure the other patch comes through ok first. Hopefully now the water will stay on the outside of the boat (sound advice from my dad.) You can also see the soon to be patented Morales anti-drip system that kept me from making too much of a mess. Here are some other photos from today's repairs.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

A little progress...



Well, the sanding's about finished. I've been contemplating how to deal with one small cheaply fixed minor hole, I think what I will do is sand that down and put a little fiberglass over it with epoxy and resin instead of risking causing more damage to the kevlar.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Kayaking Lady Bird Lake, Sanding....


Well, some of the folks from Team Sisu started to get back in the swing of things yesterday by doing some kayaking in Lady Bird Lake (formerly Town Lake, that's a recent picture there to the right.) It's actually just part of a river but that's what they call lakes here. Sanding is on the menu for this evening, I will be sanding the rest of the canoe bottom this evening either by hand or with a palm sander generously donated by my dad. Thanks dad!

Sunday, November 15, 2009

The Beginnings of Repair




Hey folks, Team Sisu has begun repair on the canoe in preparation for the planned expedition to Missouri next year. The first picture is the stock photo for our canoe. As you can see from our second picture, it took a little bit of damage on the Safari. Here are some more photos of the canoe. We have applied some epoxy and resin in a test area. That went well so we will be doing a lot of sanding in the next few days and then apply a first full layer of epoxy and resin.