Dio vs Yak rnd 8 pics n thoughts

All thats left, for now, is sealing it up and it will be ready to skin. Linseed oil or tung oil. I’m partial to the tung oil as it seems to be more water repellant than linseed oil. Purely empirical opinion there: I don’t have a clue if either is better or if I should invest in something completely different.

Gotta say though, the closer this thing gets to complete, the stronger the urge to take to the water gets. I almost pulled the Perception out today just to get water time in. Only the temps kept me in check. It was damned cold today and water temps are around 45°f. Brrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!! And that can mean serious issues in a capsize. Yeah, I know the Greenlanders, Eskimo, Inuit, etc, paddled in subzero temps and fought iceflows and all sorts of other frozen nastiness: I ain’t them. I’m a thin blooded white boy with too little bodyfat, and zero rolling experiance, nor proper attire for such. (So far, give me some time,,,)

But, but, but,

Oh well. Soon enough and I’ll have a skin on it. Maybe, with a little looking, and maybe some networking (blech! I’m a loner; hate networking!) I may find an indoor pool some place local and a friendly face that will let me try it out in VERY controlled conditions. Otherwise, its gonna sit til spring and/or warm weather. (Arggh! Tha’s too long, dammit!)

On a side note, I’m thinking its name should be T-hawk. That bow looks very axe shaped, even more so when I stretched a t-shirt over it to see how it would look under skin. I’ll see how she handles in the water before I decide though. And being built by hand, she deserves a name.

Round 9, the skinning of it, is sometime forward in the future. I’ll post sporadically til then.