Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Maiden Voyage

Early the next morning, Lin Yu’an unfolded the piece of army-green waterproof tarp onto the smooth grass.

He carefully placed the completed canoe frame face down in the center of the tarp.

He began to lift the edges of the tarp upward, tightly wrapping it around the entire skeleton of the boat.

While stretching, he carefully adjusted the position and tension of the tarp, ensuring it fits as closely as possible to the curves of the skeleton.

As he worked, Lin Yu’an explained, “The key to skin coverage is in the tightness and smoothness; the tighter the tarp, the better the boat’s shape in the water, which can minimize water resistance and improve navigation efficiency.”

After initially stretching and positioning the tarp, he picked a few slender spruce branches and shaved one side slightly flat.

This allowed the flattened strips to better fit the curvature of the gunwale, maximizing the role as a press strip.

He first dealt with the gunwale section, neatly turning up the edge of the waterproof tarp to tightly wrap the spruce wood pole of the gunwale.

Then, using a spruce strip with one side flattened, he pressed it firmly against the outer side of the tarp-covered gunwale, making sure it runs parallel to the gunwale wood strip.

Starting from one end of the gunwale, he used parachute cord to spiral bind the strip, tarp, and gunwale wood pole tightly together.

His strength was significant, and each wrap of the cord was extremely tight, pressing the tarp firmly onto the gunwale wood pole, forming a series of clamp-like fastening structures.

“This method not only secures it firmly but can create a relatively sealed edge between the strip and gunwale.”

“The bow and stern have greater curvature, making them more complex to handle, which requires careful attention.”

Lin Yu’an patiently folded and stretched the tarp appropriately to make it fit as smoothly as possible to the curved surface of the canoe skeleton.

Then, he used segmented short press strips and parachute cord to secure the key parts one by one.

After all the edges were securely fastened with press strips, Lin Yu’an took out a small clay bowl filled with “Waterproof Sealing Paste” made from a mixture of beaver fat and resin.

“This sealing paste is often used by Native Americans to repair birch bark canoes, fix arrows, or increase the flexibility and waterproofing of materials, and so on.”

“Although this homemade sealing paste is simple and crude, it has been used for several hundred years, embodying the wisdom inherited by generations of Native Americans.”

Lin Yu’an used a small piece of wood as a spatula to carefully apply the thick paste to all the seams between the press strips and tarp.

Particularly for the bow and stern, which experience significant stress and have irregular shapes, he ensured the sealing paste covered them evenly, leaving no hidden dangers.

“With the tight fastening of the press strips, the waterproofing effect should be well guaranteed, and it should dry thoroughly after half a day of air drying.”

While waiting for the sealing paste to dry, Lin Yu’an did not idle.

He felled a slightly thicker spruce tree and quickly fashioned a single-sided paddle about one and a half meters long with a slightly wide blade.

By noon, the sealing paste on the tarp had mostly solidified.

The lake surface was like a mirror, and he eagerly carried the newly christened simple canoe “Pioneer” to the lake bay.

This army-green tarp-covered canoe had edges that appeared tougher and more defined due to the press strips, filled with a sense of readiness to launch.

“The exciting moment has come! The voyage of ’Pioneer’! This is also my first attempt at something like this.”

He gently pushed the bow of the canoe into the shallow water, feeling the buoyancy, and then cautiously climbed into the cabin.

He sat on the simple woven grid seat made with thin wooden strips.

The boat gently rocked with the water’s buoyancy. Gripping the paddle in his hand, he tried paddling backward lightly a few times.

The canoe began to move forward steadily, the bow breaking the water surface with a pleasing “splash” sound!

Excitedly, Lin Yu’an shouted toward the camera on the shore, “Look! It’s moving! The buoyancy’s fine!”

But the joy didn’t last long; after just a dozen meters, when he tried to paddle with a bit more force, the problem revealed itself.

The lateral stability of this canoe was very poor! The boat was like a narrow-bottomed version of a toppling toy.

When he slightly leaned his body to the left to reach for the fishing line by his side, the boat lurched violently to the left!

“Whoa…damn it!”

Lin Yu’an’s expression darkened instantly. He hastily leaned his body to the right, managing to prevent “Pioneer” from completely capsizing.

“This won’t do! The stability is too poor! It’s impossible to perform any significant operations on it!”

He struggled to control the balance of the boat, awkwardly paddling back to shore bit by bit.

After climbing ashore, he looked at the “Pioneer” quietly floating by the water’s edge, his initial excitement now replaced by a sense of loss.

With a heavy sigh, he plopped down on the ground, “It seems things aren’t as simple as I imagined.”

“The hull form of this single narrow boat type has an inherent balance defect; without exceptional handling skills, it’s very hard to maneuver.”

“I must come up with a remedy, a short-term solution to compensate for my lack of paddling skills.”

Lin Yu’an didn’t dwell on his disappointment for long; he soon adjusted his mindset and began actively brainstorming solutions.

Various principles of mechanical engineering and methods for solving balance issues flashed quickly through his mind.

“The skeleton and skin are fine; the problem lies with the hull design itself. Perhaps I can add lateral support?”

“That’s right! Outrigger! I can attach a float device on each side of the boat to provide balance.”

“Like adding ’balance legs’ to the boat, this way, lateral stability will be greatly increased without sacrificing too much navigation speed!”

A renewed sense of determination shone in Lin Yu’an’s eyes! He immediately got up and headed back into the familiar spruce Forest.

This time, he needed young spruce tree trunks, cutting down ones with a diameter of about five to eight centimeters and a length of about two and a half to six meters.

These would serve as the connecting rods between the main hull and the outrigger, along with several thinner spruce branches for crafting the float framework.

He quickly bent and tied the thin spruce branches to craft two simple small boat-shaped skeletons, ensuring their ends were sharp to minimize water resistance.

Then he carefully skinned these float skeletons with the remaining waterproof tarp, using the same method of press strips and parachute cords for fixation.

Next, he used the spruce tree trunk, with parachute cords and wooden strips for reinforcement, securely fixing it to a position near the mid-front of the canoe.

This spruce tree trunk extended approximately one meter on each side of the boat hull.

Finally, he tightly bound the crafted small boat-shaped floats to the ends of the extended spruce wood pole with parachute cord.

He carefully adjusted them, ensuring the bottoms of the floats were roughly level with the usual waterline of the main hull.

The modification work continued until evening.

By this time, “Pioneer” was completely renewed! A sleek, small boat-shaped float extended smoothly from either side of it.

The entire boat didn’t look bulky; instead, it added a visual sense of stability.

Lin Yu’an carefully sat back in the cabin.

This time, the hull was exceptionally stable! Even when he deliberately swayed his body from left to right, the boat only gently rocked!

The two outriggers held the boat’s hull steadily, completely eliminating the previous feeling of an imminent capsize with even a slight shift of the center of gravity!

The earlier disappointment and frustration completely vanished, replaced by uncontainable excitement and joy!

He picked up the paddle and began to paddle freely around the lake bay.

The handling of the boat, due to the addition of the single-sided float, required some adaptation when turning, unlike the original canoe’s pure agility, but he mastered the technique quickly.

The more he paddled, the faster he went, the modified “Pioneer” leaving a clear trail on the calm lake surface.

A gentle breeze brushed against his cheeks, carrying the cool scent of the lake—a rare moment of relaxation in recent times! Lin Yu’an couldn’t help but hum with excitement.

He paddled to the center of the lake bay and laughed out loud, “Hahaha! This feels amazing! It’s like realizing a childhood dream!”

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