HUN Chapter 35: Maiden Voyage

Early the next morning, Lin Yu'an completely spread out the military green waterproof tarp on flat grassland.

He carefully placed the completed canoe skeleton upside down in the center of the tarp.

He began pulling up the edges of the tarp, tightly wrapping the entire hull skeleton.

While stretching, he carefully adjusted the tarp's position and tension, ensuring every part fit the skeleton's curves as closely as possible.

Lin Yu'an explained while working, "The key to skinning is tightness and smoothness. The tighter the tarp, the better the hull's form in water, which can minimize water resistance and improve navigation efficiency."

After initially stretching and positioning the tarp, he selected several slender spruce twigs and slightly flattened one side of these twigs.

This allowed the flattened wooden strips to better conform to the gunwale's curvature and maximize the effectiveness of the battens.

He first handled the gunwale sections, neatly folding the waterproof tarp's edges upward so the waterproof tarp tightly wrapped around the gunwale's spruce poles.

Then using a spruce batten flattened on one side, he pressed it forcefully against the outside of the tarp-wrapped gunwale, keeping it parallel to the gunwale wooden strip.

Starting from one end of the gunwale, he used paracord in a spiral pattern to firmly bind the batten, tarp, and gunwale pole together as one unit.

His strength was substantial, each loop of rope pulled extremely tight. The batten pressed the tarp firmly against the gunwale pole, forming clamp-like fastening structures.

"This method is not only securely fixed but also forms a relatively sealed edge between the batten and gunwale."

"The bow and stern have larger curvatures, making them more complex to handle and requiring careful treatment."

Lin Yu'an patiently folded and stretched the tarp appropriately to make it conform as smoothly as possible to the canoe skeleton's curved surfaces.

Then using segmented short battens and paracord, he also secured all critical areas properly.

After all edges were firmly secured with battens, Lin Yu'an took out a small ceramic bowl containing "waterproof sealant" made from beaver fat mixed with tree resin.

"This kind of sealant was commonly used by Native Americans for repairing birchbark canoes, securing arrowheads, or increasing material flexibility and waterproofing."

"Although this homemade sealant is crude, it has several hundred years of usage history and represents wisdom passed down through generations of indigenous peoples."

Lin Yu'an used a small piece of wood as a scraper to carefully apply this viscous paste to all the joining gaps between battens and tarp.

Especially in areas like the bow and stern that experienced greater stress and had irregular shapes, he ensured the sealant covered evenly without leaving any potential problems.

"Combined with the tight securing of the battens, the waterproofing effect should be well guaranteed. Half a day of drying should be enough for it to basically dry completely."

During the wait for the sealant to dry, Lin Yu'an wasn't idle.

He cut down a slightly robust spruce tree and simply carved out a one-piece single-blade paddle about one and a half meters long with a slightly wide blade.

Near noon, the sealant on the tarp had basically solidified.

The lake surface was like a mirror. He eagerly carried the simple canoe he had just named "Pioneer" to the lakeside.

This canoe covered in military green tarp appeared more rugged and orderly in its edge lines due to the batten securing, full of a sense of power ready to be unleashed.

"The exciting moment has arrived! The voyage of 'Pioneer'! This is also my first time attempting this."

He gently pushed the canoe's bow into shallow water, felt the water's buoyancy, then carefully stepped into the cockpit.

He sat on the grating seat board he had previously woven simply with thin wooden strips.

The hull gently swayed under the water's buoyancy. He gripped the paddle in his hands and tried paddling backward gently a few times.

The canoe began moving forward smoothly, the bow cutting through the water surface, making pleasant "whooshing" sounds!

Lin Yu'an excitedly shouted to the camera on shore, "Look! It's moving! No problem with buoyancy!"

But this joy didn't last long. After paddling just over ten meters, when he tried to increase his paddling force slightly, problems became apparent.

This canoe's lateral stability was terrible! The hull was like a narrow-bottomed version of a tumbling doll.

He only leaned slightly to the left to reach for fishing line beside him, and the hull violently tilted to the left!

"Whoa... damn!"

Lin Yu'an's expression instantly became somewhat grim. He hurriedly leaned his body to the right in the opposite direction, barely preventing "Pioneer" from completely capsizing.

"This won't work! The stability is way too poor! There's no way to perform other large movements on it!"

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

After climbing ashore, he looked at "Pioneer" floating quietly by the water's edge, his earlier excitement long replaced by disappointment.

He sighed heavily and sat down on the ground with a thud, "Looks like things aren't as simple as I imagined."

"This type of single-hull narrow boat design has inherent balance defects. Unless you have extremely high control skills, it's very difficult to handle."

"I must think of a remedy, a method that can compensate for my lack of paddling skills in the short term."

Lin Yu'an didn't wallow in disappointment for long. He quickly adjusted his mood and began actively thinking of solutions.

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

"The skeleton and skinning are fine. The problem is with the hull design itself. Perhaps I can add lateral support?"

"That's right! Outrigger boat! I can install a float device on each side of the boat to provide balance."

"Just like adding 'stabilizing legs' to the boat. This way I can greatly increase lateral stability without sacrificing too much navigation speed!"

Determination reignited in Lin Yu'an's eyes! He immediately stood up and entered that familiar spruce forest again.

This time, he needed young spruce trunks. He cut down trunk after trunk with diameters of about five to eight centimeters and lengths of about two and a half to three meters.

These would serve as crossbeams connecting the main hull to the outriggers, along with several smaller spruce twigs for making the float skeletons.

He quickly bent and bound thin spruce twigs to build two simple small boat-shaped skeletons, ensuring their ends were pointed to reduce water resistance.

Then he carefully skinned these float skeletons with remaining waterproof tarp, also using battens and paracord for securing.

Next, he used paracord binding and wooden strip reinforcement methods to firmly secure the spruce trunk to a position toward the front-center of the canoe.

This spruce trunk extended about one meter to each side of the hull.

Finally, he tightly bound the completed simple boat-shaped floats to the ends of this extended spruce pole with paracord.

He carefully adjusted to ensure the bottom of the floats was roughly level with the main hull's normal waterline.

The modification work continued until evening.

At this point, "Pioneer" had been completely transformed! It now had sleek small boat-shaped floats extending from its left and right sides.

The entire hull didn't look bulky but instead gained a sense of visual stability.

Lin Yu'an once again carefully sat in the cockpit.

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

The two outriggers steadily supported the hull, completely eliminating the previous feeling of teetering on the verge of capsizing with any slight shift in center of gravity!

Disappointment and frustration were swept away, replaced by irrepressible excitement and joy!

He picked up the paddle and began rowing joyfully around the lake bay.

The boat's maneuverability required slight adaptation due to the addition of side floats, making turns less flexible than the previous pure canoe, but he quickly mastered the technique.

He paddled faster and faster, the modified "Pioneer" leaving a clear wake on the calm lake surface.

A breeze brushed across his face, carrying the cool breath of lake water. This was a rare moment of relaxation in recent times! Lin Yu'an couldn't help but hum a song excitedly.

He paddled the boat to the center of the lake bay and burst into loud laughter, "Haha! This feels amazing! Just like realizing a childhood dream!"

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