Skeena maiden voyage yesterday on Bronte Creek, ON. The boat performed very well. This was my first diy packraft and I thought I’d post some thoughts whilst it’s still fresh.
First off, I’d like to say thanks to Matt for making all of this possible. What a blast. The boats are well engineered, the instructions are clear and there’s a great community for help and advice.
I enjoyed the build. Something therapeutic about crafting generally, but easier to engage when there’s a practical outcome.
I made mistakes. Quite a lot judging by the leaks I had to deal with! I thought the seams looked solid enough, but I’d lose pressure within 30 mins. Locate the leak, Seam Grip, dry, re-test. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Ended up with a lot of Seam Grip on the outside of the boat, which was something I’d hoped to avoid. Still, I got there in the end even if it looks a bit ugly to me.
The hardest part of the build was the final seam. Without a T-Zip, the space to work with just gets smaller and smaller. I had a few leaks on this seam, which was down to me struggling to iron on a flat surface. I tried a few jig designs, but it was still tricky.
The boat performed flawlessly on the water yesterday. Nicely balanced, a little lighter than my Alpacka (Llama) and slightly narrower which I like. No leaks at all. Had a few salmon try to jump inside.
Comparing the construction with the Alpacka it was interesting to note that they sew their panels together (inside out), then tape over the seam. I imagine that sewing would be a challenge for many builders, but I suspect this provides the primary strength for the boat rather than the TPU itself. It’s also a less permanent way to assemble the boat prior to taping, i.e. you could make an adjustment if there’s a mistake. The other advantage would be that there is no reliance on the panels aligning perfectly, i.e. no gaps between panels if they don’t. I’m curious whether it would be practical to try sewing on a diy kit and whether it’s considered worthwhile.
Next up for me is a UL. I’d told myself I’d get a T-Zip on my next one primarily to make construction easier. But now I’m about to pull the trigger the whole point of the UL is weight, so I’m questioning this. Definitely something missing in my life without bits of fabric and glue all over the place!
