[bolger] Re: River trip
"c. o'donnell" <dadadat-@...> wrote:
original article:http://www.egroups.com/group/bolger/?start=2314
designed several shallow draft, sailing-rowing camping boats.
Carter Kennedy, squatting muddily by the banks of the Willamette
original article:http://www.egroups.com/group/bolger/?start=2314
> <<Jinni
>
> Lacking that, how about Dave Carnell's $20 sailboat? This is
> essentially Bolger's FEATHERWIND skiff. (Bolger gets a royalty, don't
> worry).
>
> Lacking that, Bolger's Jinni might be closer to what you want. If
> plans are unavailable -- I don't know -- Jim Michalak has boats whichI don't know why no one has suggested Jim Michalak's boats yet. He has
> are similar, in fact, he once owned a Jinni.
>
designed several shallow draft, sailing-rowing camping boats.
Carter Kennedy, squatting muddily by the banks of the Willamette
<<
Even so, I expect there will be a lot of dragging. Chuck has supplied a
link to the Aussie boat Beth, so I'll check it out pronto. How was the
water depth when you went down the river? Any other things you advise
watching out for? Take care,
Boats. They are short <chuckle> but with a little imagination you can
make them from plywood, and even make them larger. They're not
particularly different from those described in THE CABIN BOAT PRIMER,
which I'll have on the web someday (1913, summarizes a bunch of years
of articles on the subject from HUNTER TRADER TRAPPER magazine). Very
much in the 1908 groove.
Lacking that, how about Dave Carnell's $20 sailboat? This is
essentially Bolger's FEATHERWIND skiff. (Bolger gets a royalty, don't
worry).
Lacking that, Bolger's Jinni might be closer to what you want. If Jinni
plans are unavailable -- I don't know -- Jim Michalak has boats which
are similar, in fact, he once owned a Jinni.
Even so, I expect there will be a lot of dragging. Chuck has supplied a
link to the Aussie boat Beth, so I'll check it out pronto. How was the
water depth when you went down the river? Any other things you advise
watching out for? Take care,
>>You can see a "traditional" scow and skiff on my Cheap Pages/Short
Boats. They are short <chuckle> but with a little imagination you can
make them from plywood, and even make them larger. They're not
particularly different from those described in THE CABIN BOAT PRIMER,
which I'll have on the web someday (1913, summarizes a bunch of years
of articles on the subject from HUNTER TRADER TRAPPER magazine). Very
much in the 1908 groove.
Lacking that, how about Dave Carnell's $20 sailboat? This is
essentially Bolger's FEATHERWIND skiff. (Bolger gets a royalty, don't
worry).
Lacking that, Bolger's Jinni might be closer to what you want. If Jinni
plans are unavailable -- I don't know -- Jim Michalak has boats which
are similar, in fact, he once owned a Jinni.
Greg, I'm sure you noticed Chuck's message re. Michael Storer's site. Chuck
rasises some good questions about the design...and the designer makes some
bold claims. Still its a pretty boat and looks simple and cheap to build. In
light wind stability shouldn't too much trouble. The N and S Saskatchewasns
are probably two very different rivers, but I suspect they become more
similar as they move east since they eventually become the same river. We
started between the Athabaska glacier and Edmonton. Pulled out in N.
Battleford Sas. The river valley is a continuous region of wilderness for
the whole trip (exp. for downtown Edmonton). We encountered deer, golden
eagle, a black bear in Sas., had to use my paddle to keep a badger from
climbing on board at one point, and of course hundreds of cyotes. Little
towns along the river were like stepping back in time. You're likely going
to go through millions of acres of Huterite country.
My main advice is find your campsites early in the day. Rivers are highly
seductive. You'll always want to go around just "one more bend". Believe me,
you want to avoid forced camps in the dark on mud banks and in swamps!
Starting in Calgary you probably won't have too much danger of flash floods.
In the steep valleys west of Edmonton they were a worry in major thunder
storms. They never actually happened, but we lost some sleep worrying about
the possibily when camped on a mid river sand bar. Good idea to head for
shore and lay low if those monster thunderhead anvils start marching at you
from the west. Boat flipped upside down on a couple of drifwood logs makes a
good place to watch the fireworks and parade from.
Coming out the back side of cities is likely to be a bit disheartening.
Cities blessed with rivers seldom show them much respect. Amazingly they
have great recovery power. Two days down stream from Edmonton the river had
cleaned itself up enough for us to feel brave enough to go for a swim. Two
day earlier I was afraid to let my hand touch the water while paddeling.
Keeping track of the "real" channel will likely be a challenge as the river
gets wider. My only advice is to frequently stop and find a high enough
point to "mark" the main flow and try to stick to it. You can literally
loose days back tracking over shallow back waters, esp. if you're lining
your boat. Watch the African Queen a time or two before you set out ;-)
I better stop Greg. As you can see I could go on at some length. Seems I
hear people mutter "don't get him started" when the subject comes up. More
than 25 years ago and its still a peak experience memory. Please keep us
posted on your progress. Say high to Norma Bailey. I helped Bruce Atkey
build her store. Darlene Choquette, an addiction counsellor who works in
Ucluelet a day or two a week, is also a good friend.
jeb, river rat dreaming on the shores of Fundy
At 12:57 AM 2/3/2000 -0800, you wrote
rasises some good questions about the design...and the designer makes some
bold claims. Still its a pretty boat and looks simple and cheap to build. In
light wind stability shouldn't too much trouble. The N and S Saskatchewasns
are probably two very different rivers, but I suspect they become more
similar as they move east since they eventually become the same river. We
started between the Athabaska glacier and Edmonton. Pulled out in N.
Battleford Sas. The river valley is a continuous region of wilderness for
the whole trip (exp. for downtown Edmonton). We encountered deer, golden
eagle, a black bear in Sas., had to use my paddle to keep a badger from
climbing on board at one point, and of course hundreds of cyotes. Little
towns along the river were like stepping back in time. You're likely going
to go through millions of acres of Huterite country.
My main advice is find your campsites early in the day. Rivers are highly
seductive. You'll always want to go around just "one more bend". Believe me,
you want to avoid forced camps in the dark on mud banks and in swamps!
Starting in Calgary you probably won't have too much danger of flash floods.
In the steep valleys west of Edmonton they were a worry in major thunder
storms. They never actually happened, but we lost some sleep worrying about
the possibily when camped on a mid river sand bar. Good idea to head for
shore and lay low if those monster thunderhead anvils start marching at you
from the west. Boat flipped upside down on a couple of drifwood logs makes a
good place to watch the fireworks and parade from.
Coming out the back side of cities is likely to be a bit disheartening.
Cities blessed with rivers seldom show them much respect. Amazingly they
have great recovery power. Two days down stream from Edmonton the river had
cleaned itself up enough for us to feel brave enough to go for a swim. Two
day earlier I was afraid to let my hand touch the water while paddeling.
Keeping track of the "real" channel will likely be a challenge as the river
gets wider. My only advice is to frequently stop and find a high enough
point to "mark" the main flow and try to stick to it. You can literally
loose days back tracking over shallow back waters, esp. if you're lining
your boat. Watch the African Queen a time or two before you set out ;-)
I better stop Greg. As you can see I could go on at some length. Seems I
hear people mutter "don't get him started" when the subject comes up. More
than 25 years ago and its still a peak experience memory. Please keep us
posted on your progress. Say high to Norma Bailey. I helped Bruce Atkey
build her store. Darlene Choquette, an addiction counsellor who works in
Ucluelet a day or two a week, is also a good friend.
jeb, river rat dreaming on the shores of Fundy
At 12:57 AM 2/3/2000 -0800, you wrote
>Hi Jack,
>It's the *South* Saskatchewan we're doing, leaving from Calgary and going
>all the way to Lake Winnipeg in two or three months --- or that's the plan,
>anyway! It's the retracing of a trip my partner's great-granddad did in
>1908, with his wife and NINE kids in a couple of skiffs. That's why we want
>to use a skiff and not a canoe, if possible.
> The one things that worries me now is that the prairies have very little
>snow this winter, which means very little runoff this spring, unless
>something changes pretty soon. With all the water they draw off for
>irrigation purposes, what remains can get pretty thin in spots. So a
>flatbottom sharpie with minimum draft is what we're looking for. Even so, I
>expect there will be a lot of dragging. Chuck has supplied a link to the
>Aussie boat Beth, so I'll check it out pronto.
> How was the water depth when you went down the river? Any other things
>you advise
>watching out for? Take care
>
> ---Greg
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Jack E. Bearden <>
>Subject: [bolger] Re: Help! Which design...?
>
>
>>Hi Greg, high likelyhood that PCB&F has a design suitable for your broad
>>range of needs. Which prairie river are you tageting? Roughly 25 yrs. ago
>my
>>wife, son and I did a 500 mile stretch of the North Saskachawan by canoe.
>>Three solid weeks on the river. An amazing trip. A design that might be
>>worth checking out is by a young designer in Australia. Can't remember his
>>name but the boat is called Beth, and I think he calls the design
>>Kamakazi(sp?). Its a very Bolgeresque 16ft canoe yawl. Working from a
>laptop
>>in a hotel room at the moment, so don't have the bookmark handy. If you're
>>interested I'll track it down for you.
>>
>>jeb, now on the Fundy shore, but used to live at Schooner Cove, Wreck Bay,
>>and Tofino Inlet
>>
>
>
>
>
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Hi Jack,
It's the *South* Saskatchewan we're doing, leaving from Calgary and going
all the way to Lake Winnipeg in two or three months --- or that's the plan,
anyway! It's the retracing of a trip my partner's great-granddad did in
1908, with his wife and NINE kids in a couple of skiffs. That's why we want
to use a skiff and not a canoe, if possible.
The one things that worries me now is that the prairies have very little
snow this winter, which means very little runoff this spring, unless
something changes pretty soon. With all the water they draw off for
irrigation purposes, what remains can get pretty thin in spots. So a
flatbottom sharpie with minimum draft is what we're looking for. Even so, I
expect there will be a lot of dragging. Chuck has supplied a link to the
Aussie boat Beth, so I'll check it out pronto.
How was the water depth when you went down the river? Any other things
you advise
watching out for? Take care,
---Greg
-----Original Message-----
From: Jack E. Bearden <>
Subject: [bolger] Re: Help! Which design...?
It's the *South* Saskatchewan we're doing, leaving from Calgary and going
all the way to Lake Winnipeg in two or three months --- or that's the plan,
anyway! It's the retracing of a trip my partner's great-granddad did in
1908, with his wife and NINE kids in a couple of skiffs. That's why we want
to use a skiff and not a canoe, if possible.
The one things that worries me now is that the prairies have very little
snow this winter, which means very little runoff this spring, unless
something changes pretty soon. With all the water they draw off for
irrigation purposes, what remains can get pretty thin in spots. So a
flatbottom sharpie with minimum draft is what we're looking for. Even so, I
expect there will be a lot of dragging. Chuck has supplied a link to the
Aussie boat Beth, so I'll check it out pronto.
How was the water depth when you went down the river? Any other things
you advise
watching out for? Take care,
---Greg
-----Original Message-----
From: Jack E. Bearden <>
Subject: [bolger] Re: Help! Which design...?
>Hi Greg, high likelyhood that PCB&F has a design suitable for your broadmy
>range of needs. Which prairie river are you tageting? Roughly 25 yrs. ago
>wife, son and I did a 500 mile stretch of the North Saskachawan by canoe.laptop
>Three solid weeks on the river. An amazing trip. A design that might be
>worth checking out is by a young designer in Australia. Can't remember his
>name but the boat is called Beth, and I think he calls the design
>Kamakazi(sp?). Its a very Bolgeresque 16ft canoe yawl. Working from a
>in a hotel room at the moment, so don't have the bookmark handy. If you're
>interested I'll track it down for you.
>
>jeb, now on the Fundy shore, but used to live at Schooner Cove, Wreck Bay,
>and Tofino Inlet
>