First we built Tin Dragon

The International Tin Canoe (non event) Regatta has very few rules but the basic one is that the canoes must be built out of 1 sheet of roofing iron. Well see below - one sheet of iron in my garage. We're underway...

There are 5 of us in Team Tin Dragon, myself, Savaad, Beronice, Cathy and Caz. We have all contributed in different ways but Savaad must be acknowledged as the main designer and builder of our splendid 4.5 metre tin canoe.

The whole ethos of the non-event is to keep alive a tradition of home built affordable canoes. Ours ended up costing just under $150. Most of the materials were donated or scrounged, thanks Merrick for the tin, Beronice for the windsurfer sail, Peter for the rudder, Savaad's friend for the bamboo and Rob for the plans and bringing round an industrial sewing machine to make a polytarp jib (that we didn't end up using as Rob found another old windsurfer sail going dirt cheap at Ballina Recycle).

Rob nonchalantly claims they can be made in a day. Well ours is a work of art and I can assure you that it took many days of hard work and it was still only finished just in time.


Here's Savaad, the master canoe builder, at work. Below is a photo showing that I did a bit as well...
 

Cathie made sure that she pitched in but needed an apron to cover her white shorts.

Caz's role was to paint a wonderful red tin dragon on the wind surfer sail. Our mascot.

The outrigger is made of bamboo, a float of Schizalobium aka Brazilian Tree Fern (with appearance and weight like balsa wood) and rubber bindings from an old inner tube.

It seemed wise to check that Tin Dragon floated before the non-event. So with just a couple of days to spare we took her down to Lake Ainsworth. She floated with only the tiniest leak. The rig was still a work-in-progress, so it wasn't really possible to see if she sailed.


Rob and Rosie also tested their new tin canoe (not yet named) on Lake Ainsworth. She sailed really well but Rob needed to caulk some major leaks.