18 and what to do with a couple o' Gyramaxen...

[sbroam]

OK, after this evening the official boat count is 17 or 18 - depending if you count the welded Franken-Slasher under the shed. It might float. The last two aquisitions are two Gyramaxes destined for the dump. One has no saddle and the walls are loose. The other is more or less intact.

Now what to do with two old Gyro-Pigs? Chop and weld them into a monster C-2? Yard art? Before I do anything destructive, I'll see first if one can be converted in some way to a Sea-C-1 (rudder? skeg?) and if they are too big for the kids to handle.

[Larry Horne]

weld the tails together and have pulling contests

[Mike W.]

17 or 18!?! YOU DA MAN!!

[bearboater]

sounds really official... 17 or 18. thats awesome.
Im working in that direction. iw will be a while though, and thats okay.
Prost
-Isaac

[sbroam]

17 or 18 sounds like a lot but you must consider a few things. I just ran some numbers, some more scientific than others :

1. average age : it's pretty daggum old - 10.94
2. average cost : pretty cheap - $220.29
3. average desirability : these are not the new hot boats - 4 (scale of 1-10)
4. average ugliness : boosted by these to Gyramaxes, even after I hosed them off and evicted the bugs - 6 (scale 1-10)

I hardly ever let go of a boat and have room to accumulate them, sooo... 18 isn't as impressive as it might sound. As I like to remind my wife, my lifetime expenditures on boats and gear is still far less than that family friend how dropped $50K on a bass boat...

Now Adam's collection, that's a collection. MikeW's collection's pretty impressive too - not so high in numbers, but soem nice boats there. PAC, well, I'm not sure he wants any evidence available for his wife!

[TomAnon]

How about some cross braces for a C-2 Shredder? Kind of like a side by side C-2....

[PAC]

I like the way Tom thinks - that would be a cool rig! Like the Russian kneel on cata-rafts (there was a CR2 and CR4 version on the LG this last weekend - looked like fun too)!

As for boat count my colletion numbers are falling. I'm starting to shed boats that are no longer paddled (and yes the wife knows this). But on the plus side most have been going to "new to C1ing" boaters. I personally consider that a positive!

Paul C.

[sbroam]

How about some cross braces for a C-2 Shredder? Kind of like a side by side C-2....

Ahhh, now you're talking. Now I need to figure out a way to do that where it can be "undone"... Then find a river big enough to paddle it on - I don't see it working on anything technical!

Are you familiar with the Perception Revolution?

[TomAnon]

I am thinking something like a upside down roof rack with kayak holders. Run some bolts through the deck to a simlar shaped plate under the deck. You will probably need some cross bracing diagonally and front to back across the corners. Like a box with an "X" in the middle.

Probably be pretty heavy so materials would be a concern. Maybe some scrap alluminum channel beams. Mold some of that cutting board plastic for your plates.

Guess you would'nt want to take anything to big.... be pretty stable until....

[Matt Johnson]

Try welding them together at the hi then find a left and right sided paddler and have a crazy startwars-esque type c2

[Alden]

First thing that comes to mind as a use for those two boats: shoes.

Second: parade them around at river festivals, claiming, "This one's the boat Jesse Sharp paddled over Niagara. Most people don't know it, but I was there and ran it with him, only I survived. That's why there are two boats."

Third: beer mugs.

Fourth: Boat-Carrying cases. You know those things that prissy slalom racers carry their boats in?

Fifth: Bring them to the next "OR" Show (whatever it's called) and show them off as "new Wavesport Prototypes." My money is on all the good folks going nuts - they didn't get into the sport until 1998, and they'll take what the media gives them. Take out a color ad in a magazine showing John Grace in one and we'll start seeing Gyramaxes popping up (again) at the local playholes.

Sixth: Convert one to an Esquif Zephyr and then ask a technical question relating to it on cboats.net.

Lastly: Dimished Coolness Factor. Park a couple of Gyramaxes on top of your car whenever you're in hot water with the Mrs. This will allow you to seem avuncular and even out your image a little bit and keep clear of anyone who is under 35 and female. I generally take care of this by being seen paddling a kayak, myself.

Anyway, just some thoughts. Please feel free to disregard them like an extra blade.

Alden

[fez]

maybe the pictures on this side are also interesting for you:

http://www.xekaup.de/xezwo.html

[the great gonzo]

Here's my suggestion:

Cut the ends of both of them and weld them back together with one cockpit up and the other one down !

This could be the biginning of a new sport: the rolling duel !
Whoever bails out first looses ...

martin a.k.a. the great gonzo!

[sbroam]

First thing that comes to mind as a use for those two boats: shoes.

Water skis?

Second: parade them around at river festivals, claiming, "This one's the boat Jesse Sharp paddled over Niagara. Most people don't know it, but I was there and ran it with him, only I survived. That's why there are two boats."

The reinforcement on the tip of one looks a lot like the "penny loafer" I remember seeing on the end Sharp's recovered boat...

Third: beer mugs.

I'd actually considered an "ice chest" - fill it up and ice them down.

You really wouldn't want to drink from these...

Fourth: Boat-Carrying cases. You know those things that prissy slalom racers carry their boats in?

A hardside boat case... I think that would work.

Fifth: Bring them to the next "OR" Show (whatever it's called) and show them off as "new Wavesport Prototypes." My money is on all the good folks going nuts - they didn't get into the sport until 1998, and they'll take what the media gives them. Take out a color ad in a magazine showing John Grace in one and we'll start seeing Gyramaxes popping up (again) at the local playholes.

I've been trying to start an old school retro movement and nobody has followed me yet.

Sixth: Convert one to an Esquif Zephyr and then ask a technical question relating to it on cboats.net.

What glue should I use on 80's vintage crosslink polyethylene for thigh strap anchors? Close enough?

Lastly: Dimished Coolness Factor. Park a couple of Gyramaxes on top of your car whenever you're in hot water with the Mrs. This will allow you to seem avuncular and even out your image a little bit and keep clear of anyone who is under 35 and female. I generally take care of this by being seen paddling a kayak, myself.

You get points for use of "avuncular".

Anyway, just some thoughts. Please feel free to disregard them like an extra blade.
Alden

Keep 'em coming.

Another thought I had was to keep collecting obsolete boats and make a boat henge or boat-em pole...

[msims]

Sell them to the Canadian Navy; we're running short.