Stern Wheel Pedal power?

[Saint]

I have been looking, but I can't remember where I have come across a plan for a stern wheel pedal powered river/canal boat. My impression was it must have been a Bolger, but I can't seem to find mention of it on the net anywhere. If I recall it correctly, it had about a 5' beam and was maybe 16' LOA. The pedalers sat in front of the house, under a bit of a roof that could be folded back. The house had a bunk on either side with a bit of a table acrosss the back. Any idea where I could find this either in SBJ or WB or the web?

[Keith Wilson]

Bolger has a fairly whimisical side-wheel design (http://www.instantboats.com/madeline.htm) that's included in Dynamite Payson's "Build The New Instant Boats". It's kind of cool, but I don't think it's the boat you had in mind.

http://www.instantboats.com/images/madelinepr.jpg

Philip Thiel (http://mission.base.com/pedal-power/pp_index.html) has a fair selection of pedal-powered craft, usually using the Seacycle drop-in pedal-driven propeller drive units; "Escargot" has cruising accomodations for two. I saw the proptotype in Seattle years ago, and it's very nice looking in a shanty-boat sort of style; not nearly as boxy appearing as the plans might indicate. I think the Seacycle units are quite a bit more efficient than a stern wheel, and when you're pedaling you want all the efficiency you can get.

http://mission.base.com/pedal-power/escargot_layout.gif

[ 01-20-2005, 09:53 AM: Message edited by: Keith Wilson ]

[John Bell]

Bolger wrote an article for a recent MAIB describing this boat. Included in the article were photos of a partially completed boat. IIRC, it was about 20'LOA, with a small cabin. The hull was a shallow vee garvey. I've got the issue somewhere, I'll see if I can find it later.

If you aren't a subscriber to MAIB, you should be if this kind of stuff is of interest.

[Saint]

I'll dig through my MIAB issues then. I must becoming too 'web dependant'.

I've seen Escargo before. I really quite like it. WB has a pic in the recent issue.

How suited to small lakes is a boat like Escargo? How much of a breeze would it take, before trying to pedal a boat like that would be unreasonalbe?

[Chris Stewart]

Originally posted by Saint:
How suited to small lakes is a boat like Escargo? How much of a breeze would it take, before trying to pedal a boat like that would be unreasonalbe?You might want to ask your question on the Yahoo shantyboat group. The moderator built an Escargot although he went with outboard rather than peddle power.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shantyboat/

[tidmarsh]

Is this it?

Showboat (http://members.aol.com/polysail/HTML/showboat.htm)

http://members.aol.com/polysail/HTML/showboat6.jpg

[Saint]

It was in MAIB. 22/7, p. 24.
Pedal powerd stern-Wheeler Cruiser
Design #699
Becky Thatcher
19'9"x5'4"x6"x1300lbs w/full load.

Not everything is on the net I guess. <grin>

[Harry Miller]

Here's an interesting pedal boat.
Gartside (http://www.gartsideboats.com/blueskies.php)

[ion barnes]

Try these too.
www.humanpoweredboats.com (http://www.humanpoweredboats.com)

www.autocanoe.com (http://www.autocanoe.com)

[PaulC]

Since the Becky Thatcher is a Bolger design, have you contacted Phil Bolger and Friends?

You might also try the Yahoo Bolger group:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bolger/

Not too much Bolger gets past them! Good Luck!

[Nicholas Carey]

Originally posted by Saint:
How suited to small lakes is a boat like Escargo[t]? How much of a breeze would it take, before trying to pedal a boat like that would be unreasonalbe?Having pedalled Escargot on a smallish lake, I feel I can answer this with some authority.

ESCARGOT is a canal boat. Period. She's got essentially nothing under water and a whole lot of windage above.

In any breeze at all, it's very difficult to keep her on course under bicycle power. She likes to veer and go sideways a lot.

This propensity isn't a flaw with a canal boat, though. Canals have little-to-no current. They're very narrow and typically have somewhat raised banks on eithe side. They're often sheltered by trees as well:

http://www.home.zonnet.nl/Mouringh.Marga/images/Bourgogne02/Op%20weg%20naar%20de%20tunnel.jpg (http://www.home.zonnet.nl/Mouringh.Marga/index_eng.htm)

As a result, neither current nor windage is a real design issue on the canal &mdash; the environment for which Phil Thiel designed.

BTW, ESCARGOT (who lives in Seattle where all we really have are lakes, rivers and open water) is, these days, powered by Yamaha outboard.

Take that as whatever indicator you'd like.