Light-ish boat for rowing and /very/small outboard

[sloaleks]

Hello folks,
I just joined after reading a lot of threads. I'm going to build a boat, since for the first time in my life I have the space, time and, I guess, most of the tools to do it. I built boat models as a kid and, for as long as I remeber, I have been wanting to build a real wooden boat. There was an escpade in my life when I built a fiberglass canoe from molds.
So, I got a nice garage, can be heated if need be, a reasonable selection of tools, both power and hand (building my second split cane rod in my free time for a hobby), a fair understanding of the english language and some spare time.
I'd like to build a boat for rowing and very small outboard (can't sail at all), needs to be fairly light to be cartop transportable, should carry 2-3 adults. I think about 14-15 feet loa, should handle a bit of chop (summer sea vacation) but will be used mainly on inland waterways. It will be used about 15-20 days a year. So, I don't know if it really needs to be fiberglassed over the hull for such low duty.

And, oh yes, should be pretty to the eye ...

What boat would be nice to build for a beginner? Timber of all sorts, as okoume plywood, is readilly available, the same for epoxy, spar varnish etc.

Cheers, Aleks

[62816inBerlin]

Dear Aleks!
Seeing as you have materials at hand, all you need are plans!
The "Otter" (4,90 m / 80 kg) for which plans are available at :
http://www.segger-boote.de/uebersicht.htm

(click on "Beiboote" for line drawings)

seems to fit your description. Boats designed by Dr. Segger have a good reputation in Germany.

I have a Mirror dinghy (e. g. as under http://home.hetnet.nl/~herman1.janssen// (http://home.hetnet.nl/%7Eherman1.janssen//)), which is a little smaller than what you are looking for and is also more for sailing. However it rows well, fits on a car top and will take up to 3 hp outboard with no trouble. Unfortunately there are no plans, you have to buy a kit.

Hope you get under way soon!

Gernot

[JBreeze]

Here are three that might work:

http://www.bateau.com/products.php?cat=10

Row 13, Scilly Gig 15, Otter 16,

Plans are available in metric, too.

Good Luck

[Lewisboats]

http://www.duckworksbbs.com/plans.htm

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

http://gaboats.com/

[Wiley Baggins]

Here are a couple of options. You might be asking a lot to to put boats this size on a car by yourself unless they are fairly light - the length and beam makes it awkward.

15'8" - http://www.saunalahti.fi/~hvartial/wpunt/wpunt.htm

14' - http://www.saunalahti.fi/~hvartial/rpunt/rpunt.htm

By the way, that segger-boote site is very nice, 62816inBerlin. Krümel looks like a great little boat. Thanks!

[Thorne]

Just remember that the hull shapes for efficient rowing and good outboard power are quite different. And the cartopping requirement is a real problem, as most boats (other than the Kevlar-skinned ultralights) that can carry three will be **in reality** too heavy to safely load and unload from a cartop in any sort of winds.

That said, most of the pulling boats with either double ends (like the faerings) or with slightly-raked transoms should meet your requirements. The double-enders can have the outboard mounted on the gunwale and rotated 90 degrees -- works fine.
http://www.luckhardt.com/petaluma-3-07/petaluma-3-07-Images/18.jpg

Francois Vivier has a number of designs that might work if you go for the trailer over cartopping....and he uses those funny sort of measurements that you Euorpean folks like.

http://vivierboats.com/

Elorn or Alune might work well -
http://vivierboats.com/Img/aulne1.jpg

http://vivierboats.com/Img/elorn2.jpg

[sloaleks]

Wow, fast you are, this has to be said, thankyou all.

Really nice designs, I'm for now a bit partial to the row 13, specially because in the light version it weighs only 65 lb. This I can handle myself, and it looks quite nice too. 2 hp outboard is just enough, I'm trying to persuade an acquaintance of mine to sell me a rarely used 2 hp seagull, 1976. Not vintage, but looking snug for the bateau.com row 13 ...
And, yes, sometime in the future I'm planning to buy a boat trailer. Then I'm going to look for a bit bigger boats and learn to sail. For now oars and a small outboard will do nicely. Just so I can go for a picknick with my sweetheart or fishing with a friend or two.

[PAJ]

Aleks:
re "can't sail at all" - you can learn the rudiments in the time it takes to build your boat, or in your boat soon thereafter. If you can build split cane rods, you'll build a pretty little oar and sail boat like one of those pictured above!
Patrick

[sloaleks]

Patrick:
re sailing, haven't got a clue, nor do any of my friends. I'll have to join a course or something, I don't know. The nearest sailing port/marina on the Adriatic coast is about 70 miles away from my home, so I would be sailing only in summer when the winds on the Adriatic are lame at best. Sailing is no big priority for now. It would bi nice to make a spring or fall (when there's more wind) weekend getaway ... but then again, I must really buy that trailer before. The wish of boating is more urgent for now, may that be only rowing or slowly putt-putting along. And the builders are just finishing a small river port for recreational craft a few miles from where I live. Talking about incentive, eh?

[Cuyahoga Chuck]

Wow, fast you are, this has to be said, thankyou all.

Really nice designs, I'm for now a bit partial to the row 13, specially because in the light version it weighs only 65 lb. This I can handle myself, and it looks quite nice too. 2 hp outboard is just enough, I'm trying to persuade an acquaintance of mine to sell me a rarely used 2 hp seagull, 1976. Not vintage, but looking snug for the bateau.com row 13 ...
And, yes, sometime in the future I'm planning to buy a boat trailer. Then I'm going to look for a bit bigger boats and learn to sail. For now oars and a small outboard will do nicely. Just so I can go for a picknick with my sweetheart or fishing with a friend or two.

Aleks,
The lightweight R-13 is made with 4mm-6mm plywood rather than 6mm-9mm. I do not think a transom that is only 6mm thick can safely support an outboard motor. Even a small one.
Next, there is no guarantee that you can build this boat to weigh only 65 lb. To keep the boat lightweight you must controll the amount of epoxy that is used. It takes some experience to use a minimum of epoxy and no more. And you must also use BS 1088 Okuome plywood.

do videnia

[Woxbox]

A Whisp would fill the bill: http://www.sredmond.com/index_boat.htm
Also what I'm sailing in my avatar up there on the left. The Whisp is light and narrow, making it a reasonable cartop boat. I keep mine on a trailer just so there's little work involved in getting it out on the water. The sail rig is entirely optional. It rows very well and will scoot with a small, light outboard. I have an electric trolling motor, but it hasn't been used since the sail rig was installed -- about 15 years after the boat was first built.

[sloaleks]

Chuck, Woxbox,

will lok into issues and suggestions, thanks a lot!

Cheers, Aleks

[Dan St Gean]

If you feel like building a strip built boat, try

http://robbwhite.com/sportboat.html

Dan

[sloaleks]

Dan: oh, wery nice. As long as we're talking this "boat to be" into more sophisticated building methods, why couldn't it be a cosine wherry? I have the book and the plans already, but was chickening out a bit on the first build, to make it my second boat. I am also considering lapstrake designs.

[davebrown]

I think the cosine wherry would be rather easy to build. it will certainly be easier than a lapstrake, which I prefer in looks. I have the plans for the wherry, and you can spray some contact cement on the molds, lay down your paper, and saw right on the lines.

[Yeadon]

A few weeks back I ran into forumite Bumpus out on Lake Washington. He had an Ian Oughtred Guillemot. Really nice little lapstrake plywood row/sail boat. He also a small outboard hung off the transom.

I bet this little boat would work great.

There's a bit of info on this page (http://www.duckflatwoodenboats.com/mainpages/gallery.php?KID=6&PHPSESSID=7f3a2f4a094b1efe63321110bf5d179a) (you have to scroll down).

Here's a couple of photos. (Nice boat, Robbie!)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2200/2481922345_bb5d78b4a7.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2019/2481921763_fd5c40c0d7.jpg

[sloaleks]

I think the cosine wherry would be rather easy to build. it will certainly be easier than a lapstrake, which I prefer in looks. I have the plans for the wherry, and you can spray some contact cement on the molds, lay down your paper, and saw right on the lines.

Thanks Dave, but I have just received the book with the plans.