The Great Salt Race 7



The Great Salt Race 7:

Miles Logged: 74

Boat Building:

The last week or so has seen some real progress on the canoe build. The planking has progressed quite well, and its really starting to look like an actual canoe. The next steps will be to finishing closing in the hull, attaching the outer stems, pulling the staples, and then sanding....A LOT of sanding. Once its all smooth and clear it'll be time for applying the fiberglass/epoxy coatings. It should be a fun couple days with some great pics of the process.













Its important that you put a little bit of yourself into each build, apparently the boat had the same idea about me. This is a picture of a sliver that went in fast and deep. Cedar has very long thin grain which meant trying to pull this little guy out without it breaking off just wasn't happening. We read online about a method where you soak the wound in hydrogen peroxide. We tried it, and it worked like a charm. If ever you find yourself with a sliver you cant extract soak it, it works!



Paddle Practice:

As far as paddle practice is concerned this past week, I was able to get out on the water a few times. my first run for the week was out on Willard Bay but the mosquitoes were TERRIBLE! I was literally choking on the nasty little pests as their swarms were so thick I couldn't breath without inhaling them. After that I decided to take my paddle time up to Pine-view. I love Pine-view, it is gorgeous and doesn't have a fraction of the mosquitoes. The water level is extremely high right now too, areas where we BBQ'd  last summer are completely submerged, pretty cool!





Tomorrow we are going back out on the Great Salt Lake to do another distance prep paddle. We will be working down the coast of Antelope Island, the target is 30 miles, so watch for some posts on that adventure coming soon!

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