A little fish camp

[tule peak timber]

The foam has some insulation value but not much. I'm actually worried more about venting heat. Several different densities/types of foam make up the shape with carbon, some kevlar, and a little lightweight glass being the structure. Carbon from a woodworker's standpoint is like being able to make the wood you want, not having to deal with the wood you have. The fiber comes in different weaves, weights and can be formed into T's, I-beams, L angles, plate, etc. very easily. It does a very great deal more than wood and a great deal less!

 

[Walnut Beast]

Looks great! Very interesting. I've worked and used different two part epoxy, urethane metal out of a single gun with a mixing baffle tube and fiber mesh in automotive stuff and resin/ fiberglass mat but not that stuff.  I'll have to give that stuff a try 

[SwampDonkey]

We had a home built camper in the 80's built locally. Heavier than a factory one, so really need some heavier springs than on smaller trucks. But we had her mounted on a '80 Chev Scotsdale. ;D

[tule peak timber]

For me this project is a lot of fun. Learning about the different types of foam and testing them for strength, delamination resistance, and workability has been pretty interesting. The top dog for me is Divinycell H 80 for strength with 6-8 lb density polyisocyanurate not far behind. Nomex honeycomb would have been nice, but I don't have the vacuum system to lay it up. So far, the weight calc for the entire shell with door is about 500 lbs. Got the freezer after a 6 month wait but the gen set is out 16 months! I paid for the CumminsOnan last year and it won't be here until next year. 

Orienting the carbon fiber for strength

Rear view with the big door. The freezer shoehorns in where the ladder is and the gen set goes to the right.

The carbon door with some walnut trim will be clear coated, everything else white top coat

Setting up the nosecone roller pad pad to load the jonboat. There are some subtle curves here and there to take out the "boxy" look. Still pretty small for a slide in appearance.

[Magicman]

How many hours is the ferry ride?  What keeps the freezer running/cold during the trip? 

[Walnut Beast]

Looks great 👍. Are you getting all your products from the same company that has the sheets of foam, epoxy and mat ? If so are you pretty happy with them

[tule peak timber]

Magicman: I don't know how many hours the ferry ride will be going up, probably days. Once in Kodiak, it is a matter of hours to go further out the Aleutians chain and I think it is 6 hrs. to go to Homer, which is the mainland and connecting to a road system. Everything in the camper is 110 vac, so I am assuming when on board a ferry, we probably will have to shut everything down. Once off the ferry, we can fire everything up and go to our destination. Earlier in the thread I said I am aiming for legal gvwr when traveling on highways, meaning my tanks will have to be empty. Once I get close to a destination, I can tank up and utilize the blackwater tank as well as what water I can fit onboard. I am going to need to do a small water tank with a hose and pump system to pull out of creeks and streams, which is no problem in Kodiak. It's a balancing act of compromise since my chassis is not a Ford F650, but then again this truck will be very easy to pull into a gas station or grocery store.

Walnut Beast: The foam, mostly from Fibre Glast, the kevlar carbon mostly Industrial Composites and the resin system, because of its flexibility temperature wise, I went with Total Boat. Yes, happy with these 3 companies big time. On the carbon, you have to buy in volume otherwise they kill you on pricing. The foam, not much of a break anywhere on the internet, very expensive. 

[Resonator]

You could build a racecar or an airplane with what ever material is left over. ;D

[tule peak timber]

That material, save for the kevlar, goes into a lot of the work we do now. Box beams and big tables for example. I'm too old for a race car........ :D

[tule peak timber]

 

The freezer we chose (no refer) is sized to hold fish in a volume that I can carry back to CA after a couple of days. If we get this project tuned up right, I should be able to go to the airport, spend a day traveling (4,000 miles!), spin up the little fish camp, spend 2-3 days fishing, a day traveling, and be done within a week. Ideally, I'd like to start doing this once a month in the summer and once or twice in the winter. Eventually we will build, but probably still keep the fish camp to play with. Once fish camp gets up to AK, it's never coming back! 

There's some collateral interest with people I have meet up there to reciprocate with their fish camps in Hawaii and Mexico. It's an interesting idea and a lot of fun for a goal. 

[Magicman]

My curiosity was centered around how long the fish would stay frozen without power while traveling back to CA.  ??

[tule peak timber]

I usually stuff the frozen fish in the middle of my baggage and that has worked well. I also have a cooler with wheels that I fly with. Baggage weight limit is 100 lbs per bag.

[tule peak timber]

So I took the last few weeks off and went fishing.

This butt was over 200 pounds and I could not lift her.

Booming onto the cleaning table smaller 100-150 class halibut.

Tanner and Dungeness crabs with asst. fish

 A new friend cutting Sitka spruce for his new home build. We are just above the water -what a view !

Kodiak bears everywhere

We caught limits of all 5 species of salmon, rockfish, cod, and tons of stuff with no limits. I got to fish on 3 different boats, rivers , creeks , and from the shore. One of the boats had retractable legs and rolled right through the brush to go up the rivers to holding holes-phenomenal !

Crabbing, clamming, fishing, awesome friends. This is why I'm building my little fish camp

[LogPup]

Just wondering as I have never done the Alaska back to the lower 48 thing.  I there any problem with bringing food back?  I'm guessing you don't stop in Canada.
Just US TO US

[tule peak timber]

Until I can get the camper going, I'm flying back and forth and staying with friends. The camper should be done by next season, will go up via ferry out of Tacoma and stay in Alaska permanently. At this juncture I process the seafood the day I catch it, freeze it, and air ship as well as carrying it in my luggage back home. Works out pretty well. My next step is to get "known shipper" status. No problem with getting the food back. Also did some canning one day. 

 

[SwampDonkey]

Looks like an awesome trip. You've got some eaten to do for awhile.

[Walnut Beast]

Looks fantastic!

[Walnut Beast]

WOW Tule!!! Awesome pictures of the fishing!! Living the dream 💪

[tule peak timber]

At this point it is just that - a dream. I learned a great deal this last trip on the wrong things that I'm doing with the little fish camp build and will need to adjust accordingly.  If you like hunting and fishing and the outdoors in general Kodiak is the place. Now I need to make it happen

[thecfarm]

Looks like a fun few weeks!!!
Yes, make it happen. Good luck on the happening part.

[Tom King]

My Wife spent a lot of her very early childhood on Kodiak.  Her Father was career Coasty.  She left when she was 6, but has Many vivid memories of it.

[tule peak timber]

One of the hiccups in building the little fish camp has been the gen set. Last year I ordered and paid for a Cummins Onan set $$$, was told it would have delayed delivery, was told it would be here in June of 2022, and then was told it might be here sometime next year. I cancelled my order about a month ago and am still waiting for the refund. I have been weighing my options, calling around and finding out that everyone selling gen sets is in pretty much the same boat; they don't have them but are happy to take your money for over a year/delivery estimate. 
We wanted to start with a new, larger truck chassis that would have been more appropriate for my project and ran into the same issues. There's going to be some serious compromises getting this thing finished.

[Walnut Beast]

Definitely the supply chain issues and everything sky high is definitely frustrating and expensive and really makes you think more! 

[Tom King]

I remembered that I meant to comment about your comment about a Hobie Kayak with the Mirage Drive, but had forgotten to.

We have one.  They're Much easier to operate than it might look like.  If you can walk, you can operate one.  They don't require strength at all, and even cover the same amount of distance with much less effort than walking.

It's Much less effort than paddling too.  The position is a little odd at first, because your feet are higher than you're used to sitting down, but the pedals hold the weight of your feet and legs, so it doesn't take long to get comfortable.  Get the most comfortable version of seat they sell for them.

You can work hard, if you want to, or glide along faster than a trolling motor will push you for very little effort.  You don't even have to peddle constantly, and can cover most of your distance by gliding.

Speed is more to do with waterline length than effort, so the longer the kayak, the farther you go for any energy input.

[scsmith42]

One of the hiccups in building the little fish camp has been the gen set. Last year I ordered and paid for a Cummins Onan set $$$, was told it would have delayed delivery, was told it would be here in June of 2022, and then was told it might be here sometime next year. I cancelled my order about a month ago and am still waiting for the refund. I have been weighing my options, calling around and finding out that everyone selling gen sets is in pretty much the same boat; they don't have them but are happy to take your money for over a year/delivery estimate.
We wanted to start with a new, larger truck chassis that would have been more appropriate for my project and ran into the same issues. There's going to be some serious compromises getting this thing finished.

I can highly recommend Engine Power Source in Rockhill, SC (EPS) for generators.  Collectively we've put over 25,000 hours on their units in my wife's mobile Veterinary Practice and they just run and run.
They make them with Kubota diesel's with US Mfg Newage alternators, and bare minimum of electronics to cause problems.  
We've been using their 10KW and 12KW models with the slide out tray's.