charles statman

 P-I-R-O-G-U-E - pronounced "pee-row" - Cajun for "cheap boat"

For years, I wanted a Cajun style flat bottom canoe, a Pirogue. Famous from the Hank Williams Sr. version of the timeless classic "Jambalaya"

https://www.youtube.com/embed/K1TgzlokvHo

Now, before I'd heard Hank sing it,  I knew Mr. Cormier.  He was an Operator at Texas Eastman that worked with my dad.   I say worked WITH - as that's what my dad taught me.   The people on his team did not work FOR him, they worked WITH him.  His success was directly tied to their efforts, and he knew it and shared it. - Management lessons came early and many for me.

Mr. Cormier was a backwoods Cajun.  My mom thought he had a speech impediment cause the way he spoke, she didn't know till years later, it was cause his upbringing.  Mr. Cormier (i don't know if he had a first name, everyone at Tx. Eastman used last names only) would invite us over to his fish camp on Lake of the Pines every so often a Sunday.  Once he served soup in the cutest bowls mom ever saw, till she figured out it was turtle soup ..... in the shell.

Anyhow, Mr. Cormier had a long pirogue he'd pole in the cattails and  reeds around the lake, picking up ducks.   Took me along once, and I was astounded at the quite, the calm, the efficiency.   I had no idea it was so he could hunt illegally and the game wardens never noticed.  :)

I wanted me a Pirogue ever since.
Now you can buy a fiberglass Pirogue CHEAP. --- but I live far from Louisiana - http://www.lifetimepirogues.com/

Flash forward a few decades, and I commissioned my now deceased pal Mark Alpen to build me one.  Now Mark?  he knew boats,  and motorcycles.  He grew up racing outboard tunnel hulls in Alviso, and graduated to the team building world class unlimited hydroplanes.   Like the Miss Budweiser.  https://www.insidehook.com/daily_brief/sports/miss-budweiser-and-the-golden-age-of-hydroplane-racing

So I contracted Mark, who build me the MOST EXPENSIVE PIROGUE in the world.  He had never actually seen one in person, but saw plans, photos, and put one together for me.  Sara and I took Saul to Calreo reservoir in it exactly once.

its fierce heavy, takes 2 adults to move, and is not really stable, unless you are poling though the cattails

On Car (transport is an issue)

 Baby saul sitting in it -- no seats really, very basic, and you do get wet

but?  it made him smile some.

Well, flash forward almost a decade of hanging in the Kingfisher Garage, I moved it over to 13th street.  Build a rack, had it overhead, and?  earthquake, it tumbles out of rack *my bad design,   and both seams split open

NOW!   as I mentioned:
- highly invested

- build by deceased pal

- beautiful wood

I think "it would not honor Mark for me to just destroy it."
then I realize, Mark is a cremated pile of ashes sitting on a shelf at a Veteran's Cemetery.  He is not a bewinged angel floating on clouds playing a lyre, looking down and going "Charles, fix the damn boat"

Don't spend your life working to honor others.   do whats right for YOU.  Here and now.
Do I have time to learn about boat building? - no
however?  I build model airplanes, how much different can it be?

As I am sanding and cleaning to get to the wood, I find out he took beautiful marine grade plywood, sealed with some lacquer, painted with marine paint, then sealed with a layer of some epoxy based marine paint.

I know this because after rounds of chemical stripper, sanding, and pushing a paint stripping blade over it all, I am pulling the layers off the outside.

Finally figured to mount it to sawhorses, put one of the sawhorses on a moving dolly, so I can pick the other end up and easily move it in and out of the garage.    I'm going to spend free time sanding and scraping till I get it down to  bare wood.

the PLAN(tm) is to scrape paint off sides and bottom.   all paint.   (guessing 5-10 lbs lighter after)
Sand the wood.  
Remove as much glue as I can, and re-glue and clamp the hull back together
Sand and remove broken bits in interior.
replace broken bits
add in thwarts (cross beams) which can act as seating

then?   figure out how to seal it.    Maybe pay an auto shop to spray a light, clear epoxy.
But build first.

Will keep ya'll informed.

now time to rest.

# posted by cstatman : 3:03 PM  0 comments