Month: August 2016

VOD: Kayaking the Amazon

From source to sea.

David Midgley, a computer programmer from London, England, dreamed of doing something BIG, and different. A wild idea in a Scottish bar became a ten year project: learn to kayak, and then paddle the Amazon from Source to Sea. Darcy Gaechter and Don Beveridge met “Midge” in Ecuador during his travels and skill build up while he was preparing for the Amazon. He recruited us to help him run the whitewater portions of the source (the Mantaro river in Peru) and we decided to join him for the rest of the journey. Intrigued because we had paddled for years in Ecuador’s Amazon basin, we wanted to see the world’s biggest river. Darcy would become the first woman to paddle the entire Amazon. When we started the trip, more people had walked on the moon than had traversed the Amazon from start to finish.
Now, with our journey completed, that number is tied. Twelve.
This video starts high in the Peruvian Andes at the headwaters of the Rio Mantaro, the newly recognized longest source of the Amazon, and ends 148 days later on a beach at the Atlantic Ocean. We started with altitude sickness and went from snow and freezing temperatures through high desert to steaming jungle. We passed through Peru’s notorious “Red Zone” famous for drug runners, Shinning Path insurgents, and wary indigenous people and paddled through pirate infested waters in Brazil. We had nothing but great interactions with all the people we met along the way.
Shot mainly on GoPro, but also some Sony handicam and Canon T3i, this video is a short compilation of our 5 month journey. Whitewater rapids, miles of flatwater, mosquitoes, blazing sun and pouring rain couldn’t stop Midge from reaching his goal: First Englishman to paddle the Amazon from Source to Sea.
Other “firsts” of note:
Darcy Gaechter, first woman to paddle the Amazon from Source to Sea (and first Vegan!)
First trip to complete source to sea on the Amazon in kayaks (other trips used other craft, or bypassed long sections).
For more information visit our trip website kayaktheamazon.com
Read more at http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a72_1471732716#ijfDHMGcgQDQLdLt.99

Boat painting – Day 14 – Painting topcoat

Painting topcoat on is the last step of our boat painting expedition.

We’ve reached that stage on most parts of the boat.

The important parts such as the gunwales and the cabin sides, have had two coats of undercoat, and have now received a topcoat.

Still, there are many parts of the boat that remain unpainted, even after 14 days in dock.

Here’s some pictures to show the state of progress so far.

Applying topcoats
Mom

Applying the topcoat came after a preparation time.

This is more the more undercoat you apply. Continue reading “Boat painting – Day 14 – Painting topcoat”

Boat painting – Day 7 – Undercoat cabin

The cabin is out of the water, and over the last few months, I’ve spent time preparing it for undercoat.

Remove flakey paint

Mostly this has been around the rails, (down the side of the roof), and on the deck areas.

The deck area was completely stripped. The paint there had deteriorated to the point it was in need of replacement.

On most places on the cabin, the paint is in good condition, if a little faded.

Where it wasn’t, I’ve removed the old paint and primed where necessary.

It’s been a long process. Continue reading “Boat painting – Day 7 – Undercoat cabin”

Boat painting – Day 5 – Topcoating the hull

This is where we were up to on day 5 topcoating the hull.

It’s the first coat of topcoat on the hull, and to be honest, I’m not very happy with the finish.

Primer

In order to get away from the rough surface created when stripped to bare metal, it’s suggested that you have 2-3 coats of primer.

Due to pressure from members of the painting crew,  1 coat of primer was decided upon.

As well as that, we didn’t give the undercoat enough time to ‘cure’ before sanding down.

We weren’t able to sand the brushmarks out of the paint.

The top-coat hull now has a combination of brush-marks and the ferrous metal finish beneath.

We’re hoping to sand these out before we apply the final coat of topcoat.

Suggestions for dry-docking

When I made the original booking, we agreed to 7 days for the hull, which was changed to 4.

I said this would not be enough, as we would be spending 6 days just painting.

I would suggest, if you intend to paint your hull, and achieve a good finish, you’re going to require

  • 1 Days strip and prep
  • 2 days primer
  • 2 days undercoat
  • 2 days curing
  • 2 days topcoat

That’s 9 days.

Maybe 10 days to do a good job.

We’ve done it in 4, and it needs doing again.

 

Boat painting
Applying the topcoat

Next we start on the cabins.

I’m not prepared for the same thing to happen on this, so we’ll see what happens.