Dear Don;
I wanted to write and
tell you how pleased I am with my new Solace 16XL. As you can see from the
pictures it came out beautiful. I would rate myself a reasonably experienced
woodworker, but I had never attempted any boats. The kit was fairly straight
forward and I always felt comfortable calling you guys for help when things
were unclear. I started in early October 2004, and working evening and
weekends finished in Jan. 2005. I definitely spent more hours than
indicated, but that was due to my complete unfamiliarity with epoxy and boat
building techniques. I am now working on the Lightning 14 kit for my wife
and it is progressing quite a bit faster this time.
Most of the pictures
are from my first paddle in the boat on January 15th, 2005. I thought you
Edmonton guys would particularly enjoy seeing me in a short sleeve t-shirt
in January. The location is on the Fraser River here in Delta, BC. The one
extra feature I added to the boat was a 'compass rose' design on the fore
deck which I cut from veneer. This was also something I had never done
before. It is not inlaid. I simply glued it to the deck before the
fiberglass epoxy coat.
Thanks for all your
assistance and a quality kit. My wife is encouraging me to finish hers so we
can paddle together. I'll send some pictures of both boats when it is done.
Sincerely;
Brad Julihn
