Thread: MSD Rowboat in Brisbane

I'd second MIK on reducing the skeg depth by an inch and trying her out. I played with Drake's keel and skeg a bit after launching, too. Often boats gripe to windward, that is the stern blows off...that indicates more skeg is needed, often times. But your bow blows off because it is a flat bottom and the stem is out of the water so there isn't much lateral resistance...so take the skeg down. It will have a similar effect to adding resistance to the bow. I think this boat would do best with 8'6" oars...there is a fair bit of freeboard so longer oars. But if you do not want crossed hands at all on the pull, stick with 8'.

I think keep trying the boat out in different conditions and in different seating positions before changing things.

The thinking about the traditional canoe shapes
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f169/d...7/#post1080110
might have some relevance for preventing the bow blowing around too.

MIK

Hi everyone
Thanks for the comments.
Firstly I am not going to chop bits off the boat without a lot of thought, I wont do that untill I am happy that I have a good reason to use the axe, it will take a lot ofepoxy and paint to make things pretty again.
The boat is terrific in flat water.
Fullstop.
This is a photo my friend Eric Lantana took from his kayak of me coming back on Sunday morning
Attachment 124382
I had been rowing for about 2 hours and the beer I drank the night before was sweating out of me. I didnt know he was taking photos but I think it is a good shot of the boat.
This next photo shows me posing and grinning like a split watermelon a minute or so later.
Attachment 124383
Note the Transom.
I was sitting at the same place I rowed, and the transom is clear by a half inch. My rowlocks are 100mm (4 inches) behind the seat in this rowing position and the bow was down as far as needed. My bumbones were more than halfway forward on the seat. I had moved to this forward rowlock and seat position after my secret launch ( with the rowlocks at 300) because the bow blew about that day too and I thought I was transom down, but the waterline mark on the boat that day may have been due to crap in the water (the goldie coast oil slik).
My skeg is already about 1/2 inch shallow due to the size of wood I had, and finishes short of the transom about 4". The boat glides beautifully and straight. I dont want to change that.
The othe thing Erics photo show is that the boat could carry more weight which is great news for me if I want to take some camping gear and stuff.
Last Saturday showed me that in a breeze that turned into a bit of wind on a lake I was told I make about 6kph 3knots ( I still find that hard to believe) against the windof about 20 kph, even though the bow of the boat was blowing off course. That doesnt sound like much but that means that if I am a mile from the windward bank I can get to more sheltered water in 20 or 30 minutes work. That makes me feel more confident out there
The first thing I am fixing is my oars, I will move the leathers as mentioned earlier. That will help a bit, then I may make some proper length oars, with advice from MIK and Clint.
Thanks again for yor help
Tom

Hi Brian
I think I stole the mirror idea from that Blog from one of your earlier posts. I just used an old set of the rubberband extension mirrors for caravaners which had lost the rubber (not the bloddy caravan) abd glued a bit of conduit ti them.
They give a very narrow view 5 degrees or less which is fine for a long distance, but so is a line over the transom. There is no side vision and if you lose the thing you are aiming at... look over your shoulder. On my first trip I was coming back with tide and wind and damn near cleaned up a chanell marker in the Pimpama river due to my truckie confidence in my ability "to do it in the mirror"
So mirrors are useful, but.
Tom

If you make oars Tom, do let us know b/c there are some suggestions for new dimensions on the oar plan.

--Clint

Hi Clint,
Thanks for the offer with the oars, I know from your website and blog that you have done a lot of work making oars, and that you also use them. The first thing for me is to move the leathers on the oars I have, quite simple and cheap change to make, so that my backstroke ( oars out of water stroke if that is the term) is smooth. The oars will be a touch short, but I hope the only crabs caught then will be the ones in the pots.
So Clint can you tell us how theboat you guys built has handled various conditions on your New England waters? Have you been caught by a wind change and how did it go (obviously didnt go bad because youre still posting)
Thanks again,
Tom

I am going to revise my free 8ft oars in line with some suggestions made by Clint. Information sharing is quite frantic in the background of all this!

Originally Posted by Boatmik

I am going to revise my free 8ft oars in line with some suggestions made by Clint. Information sharing is quite frantic in the background of all this!

I'm interested as I would like to build a set for my GIS shortly.

Have you seen December's Wooden Boat magazine? It has a pull-out section (if you dare risk it) that deals with some of the issues and considerations for oar making, including plans.

Originally Posted by tomtre

So Clint can you tell us how theboat you guys built has handled various conditions on your New England waters? Have you been caught by a wind change and how did it go (obviously didnt go bad because youre still posting)
Thanks again,
Tom

We only have rowed on the River near where we built the boat. In smooth water, I had not problems with the wind that day and it was a little gusty and there was a lot of current. I was happy with the boat, overall, but have yet to row in more open water. I think it would be fine in harbor chop based on one row off Portland, when MIK was here, actually. The chop makes a gentle slapping sound on the bottom up forward, but I didn't mind it.

Cheers,
Clint

Originally Posted by Compass Project

......makes a gentle slapping sound on the bottom up forward, but I didn't mind it.

Cheers,
Clint

Ay?!

Hi everyone
Thanks for the feedback. I hope to have a bit more time on the water over the next few weeks. I havnt had a chance to modify my oars yet so i will see how I go
May you all have a safe and healthy holiday season
Tom

Hi everyone
I wrote earlier about some handling problems with the boat. There has been advice offered and discussion on Mr Daddles thread about the tracking in wind problem I had. I have also been reading about the bowskeg on the five hour canoe thread. I have also given the matter some thought over the silly season.
I decided that the easiest thing was to reduce the skeg and see what happened. If the bow still blew away I would try a bowskeg, although I dont like that idea, it seems fragile. It will concentrate stress, not in the water but as you hit the beach, which you all know is not always as straight on or as gentle as you would hope. It is also useless if the bow is out of the water due to trim issues. (Like a beloved bum on the backseat( I cant find a "did I really say that" smiley))
My original skeg was 140mm deep and finished 3" from the transom, tapered forward to give a neat fit in the middle of the boat. I wasnt prepared to buy the next width up and throw most of it away, and as I said to Richard in an email I didnt think to edge glue some narrower pieces together. I took to the skeg with the power planer, then realised I was using the wrong tool and got out the jigsaw. Jigsawing sideways and not being able to hold the job is not a good Idea but the cut was made. My skeg is now 85mm at the stern cut back to meet the original about 1.8m from the stern.
I reckon I reduced the skeg by about 40%.
I also made a bowskeg which I planned to screw to the boat at the lake to try out that idea if I thought I needed it.
I got out on the water today. Wivenhoe again. no tides or powerboatsup there and not a lot of people. I thought the campsites would be packed so I didnt pack a tent or anything. Stupid me I could have camped out instead of coming home to cut the grass.
The wind was not as strong as what I wrote about before, I reckon 10 km gusting 15-20. It would have been a great day for a quiet sail. The boat was much better. Still tracks really well but can row across wind much better. Both oars are working. The boat slips sideways a bit but I can hold a course without to much trouble. I didnt bother screwing on the bow bit.
If I stop rowing and rest the boat seems to settle down to a drift with the wind coming from about 45 degrees from the stern.
Hope this is helpful,
Tom

MIK
I saw somewhere on the forum that you may be up this way later this month. Please PM me if you are. I would like to meet you and let you have a play with the boat or better still meet up with some of the other builders in this area.
Tom

Thanks for that Tom. Lots to think about and worry about. Pity the skeg is so damned hard to play with.

Richard

I will be in Mooloolaba from somewhere after the 25th for a couple of weeks. Am thinking of having an informal gathering at some stage. Maybe some boating.

MIK