Tom Hill's Champlain Canoe

[potomac]

I was just about to buy Tom Hill's Champlain canoe plans based largely on her dimensions and description, (I also think she's pretty too). She is 16' long with a 36'' beam, lapstrake construction. Tom's description here http://www.thomasjhillboatdesigns.co...champlain.html says she's good with paddles or oars and would take a sliding seat. I did a search on her, didn't find much, but did find a couple of Tom's other canoe designs described as excessively tender and tippy. This won't do for me as I take a four-year-old along. I was going to use this boat as a car-topper almost exclusively in the Matanzas River, which is really the ICW (occasional chop and large boat wake). I mostly want to be able to drop a few crab pots in the water rather quickly without much fuss. The pots have to be checked regularly so the idea of dropping the pots close to a put-in where I can pull them every day in an hour or so's time is appealing. Anybody have any experience with this particular design? If not, any other ideas? This is also a warm-up boat for a bigger build so glued-lapstrake is necessary, two passengers, stable, can take some chop, for paddle or row, but not sail, light enough to car-top. Thanks- Aaron

[potomac]

I should add that I am a fan of almost every design by Iain Oughtred, but I did not go for the MacGregor because I'd rather be sitting up some, not on the sole.

[Binnacle Bat]

I should add that I am a fan of almost every design by Iain Oughtred, but I did not go for the MacGregor because I'd rather be sitting up some, not on the sole.

Sitting on the sole is what keeps a slippery little boat right side up.

Allan

[Cuyahoga Chuck]

I was just about to buy Tom Hill's Champlain canoe plans based largely on her dimensions and description, (I also think she's pretty too). She is 16' long with a 36'' beam, lapstrake construction. Tom's description here http://www.thomasjhillboatdesigns.co...champlain.html says she's good with paddles or oars and would take a sliding seat. I did a search on her, didn't find much, but did find a couple of Tom's other canoe designs described as excessively tender and tippy. This won't do for me as I take a four-year-old along. I was going to use this boat as a car-topper almost exclusively in the Matanzas River, which is really the ICW (occasional chop and large boat wake). I mostly want to be able to drop a few crab pots in the water rather quickly without much fuss. The pots have to be checked regularly so the idea of dropping the pots close to a put-in where I can pull them every day in an hour or so's time is appealing. Anybody have any experience with this particular design? If not, any other ideas? This is also a warm-up boat for a bigger build so glued-lapstrake is necessary, two passengers, stable, can take some chop, for paddle or row, but not sail, light enough to car-top. Thanks- Aaron

If you are going to be working over the side you need a stabile boat. The most stabile canoes have a sharp turn at the bilge to generate a flatish bottom. I don't know if you can do that with lapstrake. The included angle between the planks has to fall within a certain range to generate wide enough lands for the glue joints. Your problem is to pick a boat with a desireable arch to the bottom moreso than a pleasing image above the waterline. I would want to see a body plan before I committed to this one.

[potomac]

Some of Redmond's, (well almost all of them actually), have completely flat bottoms. Whisp comes to mind and is a design I had previously considered, but abandoned for what I considered more sophisticated hull shapes. She is supposed to be a bit tender though and his Flapjack is too large to easily car-top. The truth is, Dave Gentry's SOF Shenandoah Whitehall is probably a great choice- it just doesn't let me practice the glued lapstrake.