JacquesCousteau

Nice work!

Looks great!

I've finished the Cargo Canoa's sail and rigging! It has been a good lesson in planning ahead. I was able to repair the sail from the issue mentioned in the previous post--the bolt rope is a bit wavier there than I would like, but I think the result is acceptable. I then lashed it to the yard. Midway through, I realized that I needed to tie on the halyard first, so I did that. I forgot to take pictures. Next, attaching the yard to the mast. After studying some photos earlier, I had realized that the yard isn't only held by the halyard, but also by a parrel of sorts (marked in blue in the following photo--the red marks the halyard). (Source: https://digitalcollections.smu.edu/digital/collection/mex/id/2308/rec/26) Unfortunately, I had already attached the stay, as it would have been much easier to make the parrel off the boat and then slide it onto the mast. Making it on the mast resulted in a very ugly parrel, especially as the serving was extremely hard to do in the tight space. As can be seen, with the halyard threaded through the (false) sheave in the mast and the yard raised, the top of the mast is a bit of an unholy mess. Thankfully it's less obvious on the port side, which is the side I plan on displaying. As I discussed way back around the start of this build, the running rigging is very simple, just a fore sheet and aft sheet. I added these after attaching the parrel--much easier than making the parrel, but still something that would be easier off the boat. The larger Canoa de Rancho will have more defined tie-off points, but for this smaller vessel, I decided to tie the fore sheet (and the halyard) off around the crossbeams, and the aft sheet at the starboard belaying pin. At each, I decided to make a simple loop with the excess rope. These loops were then glued in place. For the halyard and fore sheet, the loops were simply made in the end of the rope, which made it difficult to then glue them flat to the deck. For the aft sheet, I cut the line short, made a separate loop, and glued it over the top. This was much easier and I will definitely be doing this more often in the future. With that, the rigging is complete! Just a few steps to finish the Cargo Canoa: I need to figure out the anchor and its cable, make a few extra crates or something to represent cargo (a lone crate with five watermelons looks a little odd--a very small cargo), and add something to the stand to hold the boat in place better, as at the moment it's just sitting on top. The main takeaway from this for the Canoa de Rancho is to better plan out the rigging ahead of time--add the sheets before attaching the yard to the mast, make the parrel off the mast and before making the stays, and attach the halyard and parrel to the yard before adding the sail. Secondarily, when making rope coils, I should pay more attention to the direction of the coil and where the start and finish are--the aft sheet loop was intended to go a little further forward so as to not be on top of the hinge, but I looped the coil in the wrong direction and had to make do. Despite these issues, I'm happy with how the Cargo Canoa is turning out.

Thanks, I'll have to give it a try!

I've turned my attention to the Cargo Canoa. First up, I lashed the mast against the crossbeam. The rope I'm using is the same I used for the dory, dyed lightly in a black wash. It works, but I'm hoping to order something better once I'm in the US. The mast on these small vessels was readily removable, so I decided to just have the lashing knot in a visible place. As can be seen, I also made the yard, again from mango wood. I wasn't thinking and trimmed the loose ends too close-- I suspect there would be a bit more to work with. Oh well. Old photos show that the mast was supported by one or two stays running aft. Given that this is a pretty small vessel, I decided to do just one stay--that way, I could also tie off the sheet around the unused belaying pin. At the top of the mast, I experimented with serving the loop a bit: As for the belaying pin, the knot looks a bit clunky from the exterior: However, I'm happy with how I was able to loop the loose end and drape it in what looks to me like a convincing way when viewed from the inside. I've also been working on the sale, using the thinnest cotton fabric I could find. I dyed it lightly in a brown wash to give it a used look. Here it is with the yard, which I've also been working on: Unfortunately, disaster struck while adding the bolt rope. When I tried to move the sail to make sure it wasn't sticking, not only did the bolt rope come loose, but so did the edge reinforcement that I had glued on much earlier: In general, the watered down glue doesn't seem to be sticking very well. I was able to fix things with unthinned glue, but it seems to have left the sail a bit wavy. I'll see if I'm able to successfully attach the rest of the bolt rope, or if I need to redo the sail.

Nice job! Good problem-solving on the beckets, the provided rope is much too thick. Looking forward to following your next build!

That's really interesting, thanks! I actually just received my copy of Nuestra vela latina, it looks extremely useful for this sort of thing.

The build is looking great! I'd be very interested in reading a full review of the monograph, it looks like it makes a very nice model but a few people have mentioned issues with it. Given that many (though not all) of its issues seem to stem from the rigging/mast/yard being more appropriate for a larger vessel, I'd be curious to know if the Ancre monographs on the Felucca N.S. del Rosario or the Leudo are any better.

Brief update tonight. I've begun planning out the foredeck and the rancho (the palapa-like structure aft that gives the Canoa de Rancho its name). I decided to use card to figure out the correct sizes. The rancho needs to be tall enough for an adult to stand up under it in the center, and the scale figure I drew was very helpful for this. Note that the card stock will provide a rough template for the frames, with the thatching over the top. As for the foredeck, there seems to have been a wide variety of lengths on the real vessels, so I'm deciding between a shorter one and a longer one. The longer one looks best, I think, balancing the rancho, and the extended platform would probably be useful for fishing, although it does cover up quite a bit of the bow floor planking which I quite liked the look of. (As an aside: from what I see on other build logs, what I've been calling flooring or floor planking may actually be called the ceiling? I'm not really sure what the correct terminology is.) Shorter foredeck: And longer foredeck: Plank widths shown on the card templates are approximations as I was testing some different widths. As much as I'm enjoying this build, it's likely that I'll be making very little progress on it until January. Things have gotten pretty busy with work, and in mid-December I'll be traveling again, this time leaving Mexico for the time being. So, I'll have to pack up the Canoa de Rancho to continue the build from the US. The hull itself is pretty sturdy right now and could be easily packed, but I'm concerned that the rancho would be pretty fragile if attached. While I may do the foredeck before traveling, my main building goal right now is to finish the Cargo Canoa, which I'm planning on leaving in Mexico for now, and if I still have time, to do a few small, simple, and greatly simplified builds designed to be used as Christmas ornaments that I'd like to give as presents. All of which is to say, I'll probably be posting some more on the Cargo Canoa, but I'm not going to work on the Canoa de Rancho for a bit.

Great job, especially at that size!

Welcome, and nice job on the dory and pram!

Nice job!

I decided to add the keelson in order to help strengthen the hull. This required a bit of internal fairing down the center, although more serious fairing on the internal side of the frames will have to wait until the supports come off. I continued fairing the exterior. Ultimately, I decided that leaving the iffy starboard side unplanked would be unsatisfactory, as the fairing issues would still be visible. Instead, after a lot of fairing, I got it as close as I can get it, and I decided to plank it. There will still be some small gaps at the bottom of some of the middle planks, due to the issues I mentioned above, but they are quite small and will be largely covered by the flooring. After cutting the sheer planks to the right width, I lightly moistened them and bobby-pinned them in place to dry. I then glued them and the plank below in place. The bottom of this plank will have a rub rail, and below that, I'll have to do some light spiling on the planks. While those were drying, I also added the garboard planks. The rabbet didn't really work very well for these, both because it was a little too small and because of the issues I noted earlier with getting the frames to a consistent depth on the keel. But, the rabbet will be covered up, so my error shouldn't show when I'm finished. Finally, due again to my problems with attaching the frames to the keel, the tops of the frames didn't line up well. However, as can be seen in the plans' cross-section, the tops of the frames will be fully covered by the gunwale and cap rail. So, I simply made sure that the foremost and aftmost frames were at the correct heights, and made the sheer planks line up with those. The uneven frame tops will be entirely covered in the finished build. Although I've made a lot of problems for myself with this build, it's a lot of fun, and I'm learning a lot that will be useful for future builds. It's also made me appreciate even more the incredible POF builds that others have done. As I mentioned, this will be a very portable model:

Thanks! It's a very fun little build, and given that the whole thing fits in the palm of my hand with room to spare, I shouldn't have any problem with transporting it and finding a space for it on a shelf. I'm also learning a lot about POF construction, especially what not to do when attaching frames! In other news, I've decided that I'll build the cross-section as the plans have it, as a masted, decked, windlass-equipped clamming boat, rather than as the undecked rowboat the Juana y José actually was. If I eventually do a full hull build, which I would like to do, I'll be doing it as it as the actual vessel, but for the cross-section, the extra details will add visual interest and make for a more interesting build. Also, I realized that I haven't included yet any of the photos of the actual Juana y José, so here are some screenshots from the defunct Modelismo Naval site (source: https://web.archive.org/web/20160902024136/http://www.modelismonaval.com/magazine/almejera/juanayjose.html). By the time the photos were taken in the early 2000s, the boat had clearly seen better days. I'm thinking I may come up with my own paint scheme, I can't say I'm crazy about the blue interior....

Very nice job on the painting!

Not to overload you with recommendations, but this site may also have something: https://indigenousboats.blogspot.com/?m=1

Great start!

Sanding down the rails on the Canoa de Rancho was a slow process. The fore port rail was a bit too oversized, as can be seen below (at which point I had only sanded the starboard rails): I also don't think I quite got the rail shape right. It was very hard to tell while just dry-fitting, especially because the fore rails had to be held in place due to the curve, but there seems to be a slight pinch where the fore and aft rails meet amidships. If I were redoing this, or to make rails in the future, I would probably make card templates at the start. Further sanding: After getting the rails to an acceptable thickness, I repainted the edge and other locations that needed touching up. After a few alternating layers of paint and light sanding, I finished the rail with a light, even black wash. Next step will be the foredeck. But, this seems like a good break point. For those who celebrate, have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Great job, that looks fantastic!

After the rails were painted, I glued them to the hull of the Canoa de Rancho. As can be seen below, this entailed scraping off the paint at the points of contact in order to get a better joint. I glued the aft rails in place first, as these need to be lined up with the most care--I have more wiggle roon toward the bow, where the foredeck will cover things if the rail isn't perfectly aligned with the wale. The starboard aft rail went on very easily, but the port rail was harder to hold down against the wale. Given the lack of clamping points around the middle, and that a rubber band would have pushed the rail inward and thrown off alignment, I had to just hold the rail in place by hand for a while. The fore rails are trickier, as they follow a curve upward, but with all the crossbeams there are many more clamping locations. I left the fore rails slightly wide, as I'll be sanding the exterior of the edge into a smooth line once the glue has fully dried. There will then have to be a bit of paint touch-up, and I'll be able to move on to the foredeck. As for the Cargo Canoa, the watermelons' paint dried and I was able to remove them from the toothpicks. The resulting cut does a pretty good job of representing the stem. I was inspired by the very common market crates (guacales) used for fruit and vegetables to make my own, although I made it rather larger than the standard crate so it could carry more than a single one of these fairly large watermelons. Guacales are typically made of very rough wood, so I used some slightly irregular scraps leftover from when I was thinning down the frames, and applied a black wash. It adds a nice touch, a splash of color, to the canoa. That said, I couldn't help but think that the squared-off guacal was a poor fit for the spherical watermelons (a note: maybe I should have sanded some into more of an oval shape for variety, but the beads are made of a very hard wood and I gave up pretty quickly). I went looking for photos of how they transported watermelons, and found the photo below from the early 1900s (correct time period, although it's from Mexico City and not Chapala) of a watermelon vendor. As can be seen, he's carrying his load in a net bag. Source: https://mediateca.inah.gob.mx/islandora_74/islandora/object/fotografia%3A434539 I may have to try making a similar net bag, although I would want to get a different sized net fabric than I'm planning on using for the fishing nets.

Looks like a very cool project, I'm looking forward to following along!

Although the kit doesn't include full plans, all the parts are already cut to size, and the plans include numerous drawings as well as measuring strips to ensure proper placement of the thwarts etc. While full plans would certainly be nice, the kit is intended for beginners who are building following the instructions rather than from plans, and the instructions are certainly very detailed. Given the large number of successful build logs, it seems like the kit still builds into a nice model without plans.

Looks like you're off to a great start!

I finished the lap joints on the Canoa de Rancho's rails. I'm much happier with how they turned out, especially around the stern, than I was with the Cargo Canoa. It pays to figure these things out off the whole model. As can be seen, the stained rails kinda blend into the rest of the wood, so I decided to paint them. While working on that, I've made some progress on the Cargo Canoa. First, I shortened the mast and shaped the top of it--the backstays will tie off around the ledge. I then used drill bits, a file, and a dot of pencil lead to simulate a sheave at the mast top. Finally, I decided that it was about time to make a cargo for the Cargo Canoa. Eduardo Gibbon mentions that the canoa he rode on previously unloaded a shipment of watermelons, so I decided to make a few. First, I glued a toothpick into the hole in some wooden beads, both to help fill the hole and to provide a handle while painting. Then I filled in the remaining gaps with sawdust and glue, and sanded once it was dry. I painted a light green base coat. As can be seen, I didn't fully mix my yellow and dark green paint, so as to be able to pick and blend different hues. I then painted some darker lines, experimenting with line thickness and waviness. Not all of them turned out great, but my plan is to put them in a crate or two, which can partly cover the worst of them. (Plus, it's not like every watermelon is exactly alike...) Finally, I should note that these are, at scale, definitely on the large side, with a diameter of over a foot. The next size of bead down that I could find would have been a good bit smaller. But I think they'll still work--maybe it was a good year at the farm that produced them. Now I just need a crate or two for them.

I didn't include photos above because I needed both hands to hold the planks to the frames--for a small cross-section, the hull curves a decent amount. But then I realized that I have bobby pins that would work perfectly for clamping! So here's the even framing on the port side (still needs a bit of fairing, but nearly there): And here's the much worse starboard side, with some serious gaps readily apparent: I'll still be fairing both sides some more, but by now I've decided to leave the starboard side unplanked. Except for the uppermost wale and cap rail, which will provide a bit of stability.