Stripper canoe building show this Saturday in Minnesota.

[alteran]

For those in the upper midwest there will be a builders show at Har Mar Mall at 36 and Snelling St Paul Mn. this saturday.

I've not been there before but just talked to someone who is a regular and he says it is good.

Al. See you there.

[Keith Wilson]

I actually had a boat there last year (or was it two years ago? Senile dementia setting in already :rolleyes: ) - a little lapstrake plywood sailing skiff loosely based on Bolger's Cartopper design. It's not all stipper canoes; there was a guy with a gorgeous little Spray replica (like 1/4 size?) with the smoothest and fairest strip-planked hull you've ever seen, a couple of very cool skin-on frame greenland kayaks; Bob Brown had a nice modified Sweet Dream - lotsa fun, in a small low key way.

[Dave R]

I really should stay home and work on the cradle pram but I might just come on Saturday. Will either of you guys be there? Any idea what will be there?

[alteran]

I'll be there around noon I think. If you want to meet let me know.

Al.

[G. Schollmeier]

I’m normally a regular but have missed the last 2 years. I let my MCA membership lapse and don’t get the Hut anymore so it hasn’t been on my mind. It would be good to see Dave again and great to put a face on some of the others. I always like to see what others are doing. Only the weather will keep me away this year.

Gary :D

[htom]

I've got an appointment later in the day but noonish sounds good, if I remember to get up!

[Bruce Hooke]

Oh my but that's a blast from the past for me. When I was a kid and into model railroading I was a regular at the hobby shop at Har Mar, which was was just down the road from where I lived. My first bank account was at a bank at Har Mar too. I seem to recall that part of the reason why I choose that bank (aside from the fact that it was around the corner from the hobby shop where I spent most of my money :D ) was because they had just installed a novel device called an ATM, which made it easier for a schoolkid to get to his money! :D

[Dave R]

Gee, Bruce, I lived right across Snelling from the fairgrounds for awhile so Har Mar was the most convenient for me. I also had my first back account in St. Paul at the same bank.

When were you there?

[Bruce Hooke]

Originally posted by Dave R:
Gee, Bruce, I lived right across Snelling from the fairgrounds for awhile so Har Mar was the most convenient for me. I also had my first back account in St. Paul at the same bank.

When were you there?Well, I was in the area from 1966, when I was born, until 1985, when I left for college. We first lived about 1 1/4 miles NE of Har Mar in Roseville, and then in 1972 we moved to Lauderdale, which is about 1 3/4 miles west of Har Mar. When were you there?

[Dave R]

Bruce, I lived in those brick apartment buildings near the Pizza Hut in Falcon Heights in 1984. After that I moved a bunch renting from various people on Thomas in Frogtown and eslewhere. Settled for awhile on Marshall near the University of St. Thomas. That lasted until I committed matrimony and ended up down here in Rochester.

Do you remember the interesting feature about Roselawn Avenue?

[ 02-05-2004, 09:49 AM: Message edited by: Dave R ]

[Bruce Hooke]

Geez, I could have riden my bike to where you lived in Falcon Heights in about 15 minutes. I must have driven by there many, many times.

The house I lived in from 1972 to 1985 was right on Roselawn, but I'm not sure what interesting feature you are thinking of.

Ah, I just remembered that it is at almost exactly 45 degrees North (about 350 feet south of it, I believe)...is that what you were thinking of?

[Dave R]

Bingo! That was it.

Who knows. We might have cycled past each other around Como Lake.

[Keith Wilson]

Roselawn is 350 feet south of exactly 45 degree north?? That means my house is probably right on the line, or maybe it runs through the back yard. I'm on the north side of N. McCarrons Blvd, just off Roselawn. I'll have to fire up a GPS and check. :D

[Bruce Hooke]

Yup, you've got to be just about right on top of it. It looks to me like it crosses N. Mccarrons Blvd right about at the northern intersection with Bayview Dr.

The horizontal line under the red cross on this map is, I believe, 45 N.

http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=45&lon=-93.117821&datum=NAD83&u=5

[Keith Wilson]

I may be just a little too far south, although it may go through the back yard. My house isn't shown on the topo map, but it's across from the southwestern intersection of Bayview and N. Mccarrons, just about where the red cross is on this view. (http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=15&n=4982914&e=490479&s=10&size=l&u=5&datum=nad83&layer=DRG25)

[Dave R]

Alright gang, how was the stripper show?

Sorry I didn't make it up there. SWMBO announced that we had company coming on Saturday so I figured it was in my best interest to stay around.

Sunday, I decided I'd better work on the cradle.

[Keith Wilson]

Kinda small, way fewer boats than previous years. htom, Gary Schollmeier and I were there; good time.

The most interesting thing was a "birchbark" voyageur canoe. They wanted something that looked reasonably authentic but was still usable by amateurs. So Dave Christofferson, our resident anachronist and expert on the fur trade era, drew up a design out of Adney and Chapelle's "Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America". They built it as strip-planked boat with decorative cedar frames inside, then scanned and digitized real birchbark, had the pattern digitally printed on outdoor advertising (billboard) cloth, and used that with epoxy as the outer layer. There's "spruce root" (rattan) stitching on the gunwales and stems, tarred "seams", and it looks like the genuine article from about 10 feet away. What gives it away is that the texture of the birchbark is suspiciously smooth. A fake, but a really first-class fake.

[alteran]

Show was ok. About half a dozen boats. A few very nice, and a fantasticlly well done kayak. Bob was there fron Northwestern canoe. Always a wealth of information. Met a few builders who were very willing to talk about the building process. Learned a few tricks.

I hesitate to say this next thing but I shall. I preface the remark by saying I have the utmost admiration for anyone who builds their own boat.

I saw a boat there that a man had obviously spent a lot of time and money building. The woodwork was very nicely done. But the epoxy and glass job was several steps down in appearance. So much so that it really took away from the woodwork. Sorta like taking a new Mercedes and painting it with a brush.
I THINK [I could be wrong] that if he would just wet sand the hull and revarnish it would look 100% better. It made me sorta sad that all that pretty wood was hidden under there.

Also noticed that 4 of the boats had some blush in the finish. Should have asked what epoxy they used but I didn't. When someone is proud enough of their handiwork to bring it in and sit all day answering questions ya kinda hate to ask about a problem unless they point it out.

That said anyone who takes the risk, spends the time, uses their money to build their own boat has my admiration.

I got there later than expected and had to leave early to get to Seven Seas before he closed so I missed seeing anyone from here. Perhaps next year.

If any one who displayed there is reading...THANK YOU very much for taking the time to show us your boat.

Al.

[htom]

At first glance I thought it was a varnished birchbark canoe and wondered why that had been done, but at five feet I noticed the fiberglass between the ribs and wondered wrf? A great first-class fake.

One of the canoes had an interesting inlay pattern done instead of the contrasting stripe; I thought that was very effective.

Nice to meet Al and Keith.