Canoa de Rancho by JacquesCousteau - Scale 1:32 - Lake Chapala Fishing and Cabotage Vessel

[JacquesCousteau]

Thanks, all, for the comments and suggestions! I haven't found any photos with the weights, but double checking in Ortiz Segura, the weights were "tied stones." I may try Wefalck's suggestion of chopping up a cork. In any case, I still need to get paints and some other materials, so I will probably work on some other part before finishing the net.

[JacquesCousteau]

Next, I thought I'd work on some baskets. As far as I can tell, these were used to store caught fish. A woven basket appears in this image:

Source: https://www.mexicoenfotos.com/MX14140215743756 

 

I've tried two methods for making this. First, I made a simple rope coil basket out of yarn held together with glue. I began by making a tight coil for the bottom, making it flat on a strip of tape sticky-side-up and soaking it in diluted white glue.

 

I then continued the coil upwards to make the sides, again using white glue. Nothing too challenging, although it required a bit of attention to keep the bucket sides from falling inward (and I should have done more to make them flare out a bit).

 

I repeatedly paused to dab on diluted white glue, besides using undiluted glue to hold each layer on. Once the bucket seemed an appropriate height, I trimmed off the loose thread. The finished bucket can be seen below, temporarily placed in the bow of the Canoa.

 

 

As far as bucket methods go, this was pretty easy, but it doesn't really look all that woven. I thought about trying to really weave something, but couldn't figure out what materials to use. The broom fibers I had used for the thatching maybe would have been a good option, but I had thrown out the remains of the broom during the move. While cleaning up after having corn on the cob for lunch, I was struck by the possibility of using corn husks. They have long fibers and are frequently used in Mexican craft goods, so it would be a nice gesture linking my work to this tradition. So, I saved a few husks and split them into thin fibers, and started work on a woven basket.

 

I started with the stakes, forming them into a rough basket shape around a pen and securing them where the overlap with a drop of superglue.

 

To weave, I removed the shaped stakes and taped them around a pen cap, leaving space to thread around them. My first attempt went poorly. First, I had let the husk fiber sit out too long and it was too stiff. Second,

I found that nine stakes was too many to really deal with at this scale.

 

So, I placed the fibers in a dish of water to soak, and removed two stakes so I had seven. With this, I started again. It was extremely difficult to get started, but after a good bit of frustration, I soon had a semi-credible weave going.

 

I kept going, using dots of superglue to secure ends when I moved on to the next fiber. I found that it was much easier to weave after this, as the superglue stiffened the structure significantly.

 

The bottom, where I had started, was a total mess, but I kept going, as I could either use this one just for practice or could place it in the model so as to hide the bottom.

 

Finally I decided it was large enough and cut off the stakes. I'll properly trim them to size once it fully dries (which should also turn it from green to brown).

 

Overall, it's quite a lumpy, misshapen basket, and the weave itself isn't really to scale. That said, I think this method shows some promise and I might try again, both for more baskets and, especially, for the fishtraps. The main takeaways learned are as follows:

1) The bottom is quite difficult to properly weave, and it may make more sense to fake it using the same coil method as in the rope basket, before properly weaving the sides.

2) The corn husk needs to be moist to be effectively threaded, but it does shrink a bit as it dries, so it loosens slightly.

3) One problem I had was with the stakes. They're too flexible, which made it hard to keep the basket in shape. This was compounded by my failing to space them properly evenly, which contributed to the basket's lumpiness. In the future, I may try applying a bit of superglue to stiffen the stakes, although this will require drying them first so they don't warp as they dry.

 

 

Edited September 15 by JacquesCousteau
Added image

[wefalck]

I gather in some cultures they make 'sewn' baskets from coiled-up braided strands of whatever fibres are available. Each layer of the coil is sewn to the one below.

 

Otherwise, I can offer a high-tech solution that might be adapted to the availability of tools: For the Botter-model I needed a couple of fish-baskets and I decided to weave real baskets, well almost. For this I needed a tool that would give the basket its shape and allow me to handle it while weaving. So I turned the little implement below from a piece of 5 mm diameter aluminium and drilled a 2 mm hole all the way through it. It will allow me make two baskets simultaneously.

The material for weaving is another issue. I would have like to use wire, but it would have been difficult to actually weave with wire. So I used some thin cotton thread for the stakes and fly-tying yarn for the weave. First the ‚stakes’ were put into place by winding the thread around the form tool in a continuous series of loops, passing the return part through the middle of the center bore of the tool. This then was woven out with the fly-tying yarn using a sewing needle. The rim is a bit of a fake: normally the stakes would be bent back one over each other to produce a stable and decorative finishing. Here I made a double row of half-hitches with the weave, i.e. the fly-tying thread. Once this was finished, the ‚basket’ was soaked in wood stain and then a few dabs of matt varnish were applied to secure the weaving.

The stakes with the exception of two on each side then were cut off flush with the rim. The remaining stakes were twisted into looped handles. Finally the stakes were cut around the hole in the bottom of tool. A bottom of the basket was faked by closing the hole with a good drop of white glue. The baskets then were weathered using acrylics paint (umbra).

I am sure that this technique can be easily adapted to a larger scale. You were already half-way there ...

Edited September 15 by wefalck

[Glen McGuire]

Love those baskets!  Really nice work, especially the weaving on the second one.

[JacquesCousteau]

Thanks, Glen! Wefalck, I was sure I had seen someone's woven baskets on some build log but couldn't find it, I should have guessed it was your botter. The baskets look great, and I may try again with some different materials.

 

I decided to build on my first corn husk basket experience. With the material, it was difficult to get a very tight weave. But I noticed that, while the baskets I've seen in photos seem fairly tightly woven, there was another fishing tool that wasn't so tightly woven: the nasa or fish trap. These were essentially large woven baskets in the form of an egg, with an opening at one end and various pointed stakes positioned inside to bar exit to any fish that enter. Here we see an image from the Ortiz Segura article of the last nasa-maker in Chapala:

Source: https://www.ugr.es/~pwlac/G17_26Carlos_Ortiz_Segura.html

 

And here we see a variety of sizes of nasas (and other nets) in the Chapala fishing display at the Guadalajara Regional Museum:

Source: https://lugares.inah.gob.mx/es/museos-inah/exposiciones/sala-piezas/10855-10855-instrumentos-utilizados-para-la-pesca.html?lugar_id=480&expo_id=9850

 

The nasa was one of the most common fishing implements in use on the lake, so I knew I wanted to make one. And the rather large weave (which undoubtedly allows water to easily drain) would be easier to make out of cornhusk than a more finely-woven basket.

 

I decided to use nine stakes instead of the seven on my practice basket, and I spaced them evenly around the end of a sharpie permanent marker.

 

I then began weaving. Learning from my first try, I cut the cornhusk fibers thinner this time. I was able to get a much tighter weave than on the practice basket.

 

Once I reached about the midpoint, I had to remove the nasa from the marker "jig" and glue the ends of the stakes together so that I could properly tighten the perimeter toward the opening.

 

Without the marker to shape the nasa, this part was a little trickier to weave, but the base was pretty solid.

 

Finally, I trimmed the loose ends of weaving material, and turned over the stakes--those that "emerged" out of the opening were properly woven around the edge and back into the interior to secure the mouth of the nasa, while the others were just folded inside.

 

 

 

Overall I'm pretty pleased with how the nasa turned out. It would be nice of the opening was a little smaller, but it needed to be large enough for my tweezers to fit in. I'm hoping that the color will become more gray-tan as the cornhusk fibers continue to fully dry. I may give it a dip in wood stain if not. All that's left for it is to attach its line and marking buoy.

[JacquesCousteau]

I forgot to add a shot of the nasa on deck alongside the rope bucket (now given a dark brown wash) and the gangplank (also colored with washes).

[wefalck]

Yep, that fish-trap looks good 👍🏻  For what kind of fish is used here? Over here in Europe, I think it is used mainly for eels and crab/crayfish/lobster.

[ccoyle]

1 hour ago, wefalck said:

For what kind of fish is used here?

 

Just some educated guesses here.

 

The concept looks very similar to a typical minnow trap. Basically, any sort of smelly attractant is used to get curious fish to enter the trap. Once inside, they're not smart enough to deduce how to get back out again.

 

Alternatively, the basket could be incorporated into a crude fyke net, in which a shoal of fish is herded between the net panels and seeks to escape through the basket.

 

 

[JacquesCousteau]

1 hour ago, wefalck said:

Yep, that fish-trap looks good 👍🏻  For what kind of fish is used here? Over here in Europe, I think it is used mainly for eels and crab/crayfish/lobster.

Thanks! According to Ortiz Segura, the nasa was used to catch mojarra (a type of chichlid), catfish, pescado blanco (a larger variety of the chirostoma genus, which also included the tiny charales which were caught in fine nets), and other larger fish.

[JacquesCousteau]

7 minutes ago, ccoyle said:

The concept looks very similar to a typical minnow trap. Basically, any sort of smelly attractant is used to get curious fish to enter the trap. Once inside, they're not smart enough to deduce how to get back out again.

Thanks Chris! That's exactly how it works, just with an opening at only one end and a row of spikes instead of a net funnel.

[JacquesCousteau]

More progress on the fishing gear. The main other type of net I wanted to include, besides the chinchorro, was an atarraya (cast net). According to Ortiz Segura, these were usually 2-4 meters in diameter, and were used largely for catching mojarra (using a net with large holes) and charales (using a net with small holes). As with other nets, these were made by fishermen (and, I suspect, their families) by hand. 

 

I was able to find diagrams of cast nets online. The first step was to cut an appropriate-sized circle of tulle mesh and weave a sort of "bolt rope" (usually called a lead line, although I assumed that the weights would be stones tied off around this like on the chinchorro rather than lead) around the edge. I used .35mm rope from Ropes of Scale for this. As can be seen, I marked out the circle and important lines on a sheet of paper, and used tape to temporarily hold the tulle steady.

 

I then added the other parts, first placing a ring (apparently called a horn) in the center of the net, and then attaching brail lines. The brail lines run from the lead line at the edge of the net through the horn, and when pulled by the hand line they're tied to, they draw the net shut. I used nylon thread for all of these lines. I simplified the number of brail lines that would probably be used, as the net will be folded up in the Canoa. I then ran the brail lines through the horn, tying and gluing them together.

 

Next, for both the atarraya and the chinchorro nets, I needed to make the weights, which Ortiz Segura describes as tied stone. Following Wefalck's advice, I cut up a bit of cork into small pieces to make stones. Given their tiny size, they were a bit tricky to hold to paint--after a first attempt at using washes to color them, which largely failed in part because I forgot that cork floats, I just dabbed paint on them. I used a grey that I incompletely mixed from black and white so that there were some color variations. I think they turned out as pretty convincing stones!

 

Tying lines to them was a challenge, given their small size and my general clumsiness with knots (I'm quickly finding that I much prefer the woodworking aspects of building to any sort of rigging). I decided to use a dab of superglue to hold the rope--in this case, fly-tying thread) in place. The first attempt was a disaster, as the tiny cork stone first stuck to the glue brush, then to my tweezers, then to my finger, and then to my table. I then realized that the smarter way to do this was to put the stones on a strip of tape, and then dab on glue and attach the thread, only removing it from the tape afterwards to tie it.

 

Originally I planned on doing a proper lashing fully holding the stone in place, but I found it very difficult to tie them at different angles and ended up just doing a few simple knots around each. Close enough. These were then sealed with glue and the excess trimmed.

 

I used clove hitches to attach several weights around the perimeter of the atarraya and along the bottom of the chinchorro. I found this step tricky. No matter how closely I held the stone to the bolt rope/lead line, the stone always seemed to hang lower than I wanted. I decided not to worry about it, as the nets will be folded up. I also didn't add as many weights as there probably should have been, again because many will be obscured by the folding of the net. The results can be seen here--a lot of work for such a small detail!

 

To complete the nets, I painted them with a brown acrylic wash, to tone down the white of the tulle. It's hard to see against a black background, but easier to see in comparison with unpainted tulle (or in this case, partly painted--the irregular piece was my test).

 

All that's left for the nets is to fold them up and make a loop of the atarraya's hand line.

 

Finally, I also painted the anchor, given that it didn't change color at all from blackening. I just used acrylic paint, touched up any chipping once it dried, and the covered it in matte varnish to protect it.

 

The finish line is in sight. I'm enjoying this build a lot, and have learned a lot as I go. But it's taken much longer than I originally planned--I originally thought I could do it in a few months!--and I'm looking forward to some other projects that I've decided not to get into until this one is finished. (Not to mention that I still need to finish the Maine Peapod's oars and lobster trap, and mount the Half-Hull on a frame).

[wefalck]

Looking good! I like this attention to details.

 

Casting these nets requires quite a dexterity, a bit like working with a lasso I could imagine. Below is a shot of a guy using such a net on the Niger river that I took nearly 20 years ago:

[JacquesCousteau]

1 hour ago, wefalck said:

Looking good! I like this attention to details.

Thanks! I think the 1:32 scale allows for a lot of details to be shown. That's a great photo! Throwing a cast net definitely seems to be a complex skill. I found one photo of a fisherman in Ocotlán casting one from a small canoa, although unfortunately the net is pretty blurry:

Source: https://www.mexicoenfotos.com/MX15570248148348 

[JacquesCousteau]

Minor update. Although I still have more fishing gear to make, I needed a break from all the thread work, so I did two minor projects.

 

First, while looking at a photo of the docks in Ocotlán, I realized that they provided a good view of a rudder propped in the stern of a small canoa. 

Source: https://www.mexicoenfotos.com/antiguas/jalisco/ocotlan/vista-desde-el-puente-MX14413328898428/2

 

The rudder shape, which includes a semicircular cutout, is highly unusual, and I won't be remaking the rudder to conform to this design. (I have to wonder if they were just using scrap wood to make this rudder, or if the shape serves some kind of purpose). But I did note that the rudder includes a sort of support beam running lengthwise. This seemed like an interesting detail that I could include, especially as I've felt that my rudder looks a bit flimsy.

 

The part was very simple, just a 1"x3/32" strip cut from a 1/32‐inch thick cherry sheet. I made one for each side, and added nails or bolts with a pencil after gluing it to the lower part of the rudder. I think it does add something, and makes it look a bit sturdier.

 

 

Next, I turned my attention to the thole pins. I had made some way back in late spring or early summer, but I thought they turned out a bit oversized and I didn't like the natural color scheme. As a test, I repainted them as I did on the Juana y José--dark brown thole pin support and natural thole pin itself--and found that I liked the coloration. I then saw in one photo a sort of stepped design of the thole pin support that I thought looked sharp, so I decided to copy that. As on my first try, the thole pin supports are made from 1/8‐1/16 inch basswood, and the thole pins themselves were sanded down from a toothpick. Here we can see the new ones (foreground) with the earlier try (background).

 

Finally, here's the build as it currently stands. I still need to glue on the thole pins, once I figure out whether they would be on the inboard side, outboard side, or in the middle of the rail.

 

 

Edited yesterday at 04:10 PM by JacquesCousteau
Added image