outfitting for a fiberglass c-1

[chuck naill]

I found a Noah fiberglass c-1, probably from the late 70's THis boat is race boat length and wideth. It has rope loops "glassed" to the floor but nothing on the side under the cock pit rim. I need some suggestions for attaching thigh straps on the side. I also plan to replace the white styrofoam like pedestal with one made from minicell foam. This is a good old boat that does not leak and it has no patches. I am hoping my old gyromax shock cord spray skirts will work out as well.

Thanks

Chuck/Knoxville

[clt_capt]

Chuck,
What I have always done with glass boats is to take some strips of Glass and kevlar cloth - maybe 2 inches wide and about 4 inches long, and lay them up with epoxy on a sheet of plastic or wax paper.

Inside the boat (on the inside of the deck - or lower down the chine, sand the area to rough it up. put a regular drinking straw down as a form and then put the wet out strips over the straw (wet side down)

When this cures, pull pff the plastic, pull out the straw, sand the edges of the loop you just created.

Then I'll fish a length of parachute cord through the loop (double it if you have room. This gives you a place to anchor your straps.

F

[Guest]

Chuck, do you know which Noah model it is? It would be good to get some pictures in C1 Rec Boats or C1 Race Boats. The main full-size Noah non-racing c-1s were the Atlantis series. There were three Atlantis models, the first being like an expanded Jape, the second transitional with flattening and mild chines, and the third flattest of all with definite rounded chines. One friend of mine owned the first and third versions, while another owned the second in the series.

[chuck naill]

The history of the boat goes like this. A young man came by an outfitters place after being at the Nantahala for a race. He needed some money for expenses and sold the boat for $75. I saw the boat two years ago when I was purchasing a raft from this outfitter. I am getting the boat for $75, not bad for a slalom project. This boat looks like the Jape, but is yellowish on top and natural on the bottom. It is probably not as flat as a Jape either. There is a Noah logo, I think on the bow. It looks bow forward with rounded rather than sharp corners behind the seat. It is very stable and trimed out well with me inside the boat. It is probably the Atlantis series like suggested by a Guest. I plan to bring the boat home Friday. I will send make arrangements to get some pictures for our C-1 race section asap.

Thank you to clt_capt for the excellant recommedation for attaching thigh strap anchors.

[Mike W.]

Here are photos of my latest attempt: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/wh20crazy ... /my_photos

Get some good rope from a climbing store (mine is 1/4" in diameter or maybe a little more). Cut into ~5" lengths. Tape the rope so that 1" is exposed on each end. Unravel the ends. Bias cut several small pieces of glass to weave through the frayed rope ends. Bias cut one big piece of glass to cover each anchor & it's frayed ends. Cut two holes in the big piece for the center of your anchors (all of the unfrayed rope) to come through. Put the rope through both holes in the big piece. The big piece of glass will look like a "U" with a rope going through it. Wet out the hull & weave the small pieces of glass through the frayed rope. Now wet that out & stick it to the hull. Now do the other end being sure to leave the center part of the rope up off of the hull. Then wet out the big piece of glass to cover everything.

Once this cures thread your straps through & go paddle I used 2" wide tubular webbing for my straps. If you use a different size you should adjust the above measurements.

The ends of the rope will not want to lay down I filled zip lock bags with dirt to weigh down the ends. It worked, but you can see the uneven texture & the shiney areas in the photos. It looks bad I need to come up with a better way to weight the ends down. Any suggestions?...Please Should I put down peel ply under the dirt bags?

In my Acrobat I glassed in some 3/4" wide pull tape (a nylon webbing used to pull cable through conduit) It's plenty strong, but doesn't allow the straps to slide through as easily as the rope does.

[PAC]

Nice Mike.... I think you'll be safe through hades's... I mean Heaven's Gate!
But inquiring minds want to know if you also now keep a beach ball tucked away as an emergency back up system? With that spare paddle!
You do have a habit of making folks take a second look!

[Mike W.]

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Those photos are from my wildwater boat. It will not see the Gauley. At least not with me in the cockpit

Actually, my 1st attempt to re-do my anchors in the Viper failed miserably Luckily it was on easy water. I have now sanded farther down & plan to use the above method to anchor myself.

I've been thinking of my balls too. It takes pretty big ones to paddle without thigh-straps As I remember we came up with some better ideas than inflatable beach balls to hold me in my boat...but I won't mention those here The drawback to inflatable outfitting is finding someone to inflate it for me...

For those who don't already know, if you're outfitting blows in Lower Mash, PAC will pull out his balls & save your day

I still don't have a spare paddle The Sterns that you posted looks neat. I really should order one.

[swriverstone]

Wow...you guys seem to be making thigh strap anchors more complicated than they need to be! I've done this a dozen times with race boats---it's no sweat!

All you need is...
- 2 short lengths of kevlar rope/cord (1/4" diameter is good)
- 1 square foot of kevlar
- epoxy resin

1. Just cut the kevlar cord to whatever length you want the strap opening to be (minus about 1.5" frayed cord on either side)

2. Fray (unravel) the ends of the cord for about 1.5"

3. Cut 8 small squares of kevlar big enough to cover the frayed ends of the cord (1.5-2" square)

4. Mix up a small batch of resin

5. Dip the frayed ends of one cord in the resin, get it soaking in the stuff (more than you think you need)---there should be a big glob of resin on each frayed end

6. Lay the cord down wherever you want an anchor in the boat

7. Take a square of kevlar and lay it down over one frayed end, wetting it out with the resin glob; smooth it down; repeat with a second square of kevlar; repeat at the other end of the cord

8. Let it cure---that's it---you're done!

---
I've been making my anchors this way for 15 years, and I've NEVER had one come loose. (And I wear my straps TIGHT and pull on 'em HARD!)

Scott

[Mike W.]

Scott, I've never used Kevlar rope.

1- I assume that you only wet out the ends?

2- Do the frayed ends want to rise up off of the hull before the resin sets? If so, how do you keep them down? That's my problem with regular rope.

3- You don't weave small strips of cloth through the frayed rope ends?

4- Do you have photos?

Thanks

[swriverstone]

Hi Mike...

I've honestly not done this in several years, but I don't recall ever having a problem with the frayed ends. Kevlar rope shouldn't be too hard to find in a store that stocks good climbing equipment (Spectra would work too).

My recollection is that when you wet the frayed ends in resin, they're so globbed-out they happily stay wherever you want 'em to go! Also, the small cut squares of kevlar on top of the frayed ends will keep them in place. I'd typically wear some latex gloves and just press and smooth out the kevlar (with frayed ends beneath).

If necessary, you can take a sheet of plastic (saran) wrap, pull it tight and tape it down over the whole thing 'til it sets. (Don't get the tape in the resin!) you won't have any trouble removing the saran wrap when it's cured.

By the way, taping saran wrap tightly over any kind of fiberglass boat repair is a fantastic way to get a factory-smooth finish. The saran wrap won't interfere with the curing process.

Scott

[chuck naill]

I have some wrn place on the bottom of the boat near end of the stern. Just an inch or so cut but not a leak issue. How would you suggest repairing?

I have taken it to a small play hole/wave a couple of times and it is stable and actually front surfs at 12.5'.

Chuck