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NEWS
BUILDING A BEAR MOUNTAIN BOAT IN GUYANA
Here's an interesting series of letters we received from Brian Tarallo, from the U.S. Peace Corps:
Dear Bear Mountain,
As promised, here's an update on the 16" Prospector
I'm building in Guyana. We've decided on a wood for
the planking, an indigenous wood called saury skin
silver balli. The wood has been cut and dried, and
we've begun to use your plans and specifications for
molds to design and cut a series of ribs that will
strengthen the hull of the boat in the absence of
fibreglass.
I must thank you again for the gift of the plans.
Hopefully the entire boat will be completed in the
next two weeks, and its construction in our small
community has caused enough of a stir that several
people have expressed interest in purchasing one for
themselves, including a rainforest resort across the
river. Canoe building, hopefully, fill the gap created
by increased competition of large-scale boat builders
and revitalize boat building here in our town.
I'm attaching a photo of the silver balli planks. If
you'd like to see more photos of Bartica and its
environs, log on to http://photos.yahoo.com/bjtara and
click on "Guyana." I'll send more canoe-related photos
via email as soon as I can get them developed.
Thanks again!
Brian Tarallo
U.S. Peace Corps
Dear Bear Mountain,
Here's the first of the photos I promised you. It's of
myself and Melville, the local boat builder, studying
your plans. In the background is his shop and some of
the speedboats he's built.
The past month has been spent going over them and
trying to figure out how to get as close to your
design as possible with the technology available here
in Guyana.
Unfortunately, fibreglass is too expensive to make a
true cedar strip canoe a viable product down here.
What we've come up with to lower the cost and increase
the strength is a series of ribs along the inside of
the boat. The design we've come up with is really an
amalgamation of your canoe design and the wooden
speedboats built here. You did all the hard work for
us; the difficult part was getting a set of
measurements that would give us a working canoe.
Cedar was also not available. We tested dozens of
different types of wood to come up with an alternative
based on strength, flexibility, weight, and cost, and
we finally decided on "Silver Belly Saury Skin,"
(that's how they pronounce it at least. We're
currently in the process of harvesting and preparing
the wood (yup, we're cutting it right out of the
rainforest) and, hopefully, will be finished at the
end of the week.
It looks like the boat will be finished in a couple of
months, and hopefully the idea will take off and serve
to boost the local boat building shops here. You can
expect regular updates of our progress.
Thanks again!!
Brian Tarallo
U.S. Peace Corps
Dear Bear Mountain Boats,
Our canoe, based on your Prospector design, is nearing
completion. The skeletal rib design we built to
strengthen the boat given the lack of fibreglass has
been a trial and error process, but has yielded
magnificent results. The planks we used had to be much
wider than those called for in your plans in order to
strengthen the hull and minimize the amount of epoxy
necessary, but have also produced encouraging results.
We're now in the last phase of sanding and filling
gaps; soon we'll build the seats and attach the
gunwales, leaving the final step of "varnishing," as
they call it down here.
The best part of working from your plans has been the
strength of the design, which has allowed us to
construct a spectacular boat in spite of the lack of
resources. The local boat builder heading up the
construction has already received orders for at least
three more canoes, and the word is spreading.
I'd like to get your advice on kayak plans. I have a
fellow Peace Corps Volunteer friend who desperately
misses her touring kayak and wants to use your plans
to build a boat of her own (we'll of course pay for
this set). Given the roughness of the river here
(which can get to almost ocean-like chop) and her
medium, athletic build, I was thinking along the lines
of the Endeavour 17 or the Resolute 16-6, mostly
leaning towards the Endeavour.
Thanks again for your help and support.
Brian Tarallo
U.S. Peace Corps
Dear Bear Mountain,
I'm just back from our first trip with the canoe. We
paddled over ten miles to the resort that has placed
an order for additional canoes. I'm including photos
of the finished boat, and I look forward to your
impressions of it.
Thanks again for your support.
Brian Tarallo
U.S. Peace Corps
Dear Joan and Ted,
It's a big thrill to see my photos and letters on your
website. I feel like a minor celebrity.
Business is booming for us. Orders for new canoes are
backing up, from locals, resorts, and tourists that
visit Bartica. We're currently trying to figure out
how to ship them overseas. We're also trying to figure
out if we can use the same technique to build one of
your kayaks. I'll be a frequent visitor to your
website to check out updates and ideas on boat
building.
I THINK there's Peace Corps in Belize; if you see any
volunteers, let them know that building a canoe is a
great project. Thanks again!
--Brian Tarallo
U.S. Peace Corps
Dear Bear Mountain,
We're at point where we'd like to start marketing to
resorts and visitors to Bartica, and possibly to
buyers overseas. I'm in the process of making a
brochure that describes the construction process and
specifics of the boat, and I'd like to credit Bear
Mountain with the design. Will you give me your
permission to include your name and website in the
brochure? I'll of course send you a copy of it once
it's finished.
Thanks again.
--Brian Tarallo
U. S. Peace Corps
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