[bolger] Re: prairie river skiff
A big thank you to all who replied with boat suggestions for my river trip!
I've got tons of stuff to mull over now, and I'm sure I'll find a suitable
craft amongst the ones you mentioned.
---Greg
P.S. --- If I seem to have disappeared off the list, it's just called "going
where it's warm for a week," a.k.a. vacation.
-----Original Message-----
From: Samson family <Bill.Samson@...>
To:bolger@egroups.com<bolger@egroups.com>
Date: 8-Feb-00 02:04 AM
Subject: [bolger] Re: prairie river skiff
I've got tons of stuff to mull over now, and I'm sure I'll find a suitable
craft amongst the ones you mentioned.
---Greg
P.S. --- If I seem to have disappeared off the list, it's just called "going
where it's warm for a week," a.k.a. vacation.
-----Original Message-----
From: Samson family <Bill.Samson@...>
To:bolger@egroups.com<bolger@egroups.com>
Date: 8-Feb-00 02:04 AM
Subject: [bolger] Re: prairie river skiff
>Hi,you
>
>I've been browsing through my study plans.
>
>Bolger's Windsprint is just about big enough to sleep two on the flat
>floor - no obstructions like thwarts or whatever. Of course, some kind of
>shelter would need to be rigged.
>
>The sail, as designed, is very big for cruising without anxiety, so
>something smaller might be substituted; I recall that John Bell calculated
>that the 60 sq ft rig used by Nymph, Gypsy, Teal, June Bug et al would have
>its centre of effort in the right place for Windsprint.
>
>Bill Samson
>--bill.samson@...
>
>Chebacco News can be viewed on:
>http://members.xoom.com/billsamson
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Orr, Jamie <JORR@...>
>To: 'bolger@egroups.com' <bolger@egroups.com>
>Date: 07 February 2000 20:59
>Subject: [bolger] Re: prairie river skiff
>
>
>>Greg
>>
>>Can't think of any Bolger designs in a light, hard chine, flat bottom
>that's
>>big enough for two. I shouldn't say this on the Bolger group list, but
>>may want to look at "Good Skiffs" by Karl Stambough -- he has several 15
>>footers, one of which might do the job for you. It should be in your
>public
>>library.
>>
>>These are plywood and look very simple to build.
>>
>>Jamie Orr
>>
>>
>>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>Shop for your Valentine at eGroups!
>>http://click.egroups.com/1/1149/5/_/3457/_/949957189/
>>
>>-- 20 megs of disk space in your group's Document Vault
>>--http://www.egroups.com/docvault/bolger/?m=1
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Body Paint, Chocolates, & Roses Oh My!
>http://click.egroups.com/1/1159/5/_/3457/_/950004239/
>
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>
At the risk of being redundant - Dave Carnell's $200 sailboat, his
rework or Phil's Featherwind (he pays phil royalties) is definitely "a
light, hard chine, flat bottom that's big enough for two."
http://home.att.net/~DaveCarnell/sailboat.html
He's stripped all extraneous decks and such off her so she weighs a
little over 100 pounds (depending on your choice of woods) the michilak
style lee board keep the bottom clear for camping. I've put the
windsprint sized (115sq ft?) balanced lug on her. (I'd recommend smaller
unless you have frequent very light air like we do.) She sails two
adults and a dog and gear in grand style. We've had 4 adults, two dogs
and a picnic in her in a pinch. She rows well and enjoys a trolling
motor. She's a great boat and an easy 4 sheet build. (External chine
logs glue and nail (or screw). I suppose as a river skiff you'd want to
go heavier on her bottom, which might push her over your weight limits.
Has anyone seen long round fenders that can be used as rollers for
moving boats up beaches and such? I read about them but never run across
them.
I'll shut up now.
David
Samson family wrote:
Bolger's Windsprint is just about big enough to sleep two on the flat
floor - no obstructions like thwarts or whatever. Of course, some kind of
shelter would need to be rigged.
The sail, as designed, is very big for cruising without anxiety, so
something smaller might be substituted; I recall that John Bell calculated
that the 60 sq ft rig used by Nymph, Gypsy, Teal, June Bug et al would have
its centre of effort in the right place for Windsprint.
Bill Samson
--bill.samson@...
Chebacco News can be viewed on:
http://members.xoom.com/billsamson
-----Original Message-----
From: Orr, Jamie <JORR@...>
To: 'bolger@egroups.com' <bolger@egroups.com>
Date: 07 February 2000 20:59
Subject: [bolger] Re: prairie river skiff
SOME CLICKS THAT COUNT!!
Feed someone.
http://www.thehungersite.com/
Save a little rainforest.
http://rainforest.care2.com/
Simplicity Boats
http://members.xoom.com/simpleboats/index.html
http://members.tripod.com/simplicityboats/index.html
Here's my latest boat:
http://members.tripod.com/simplicityboats/featherwind.html
http://members.xoom.com/simpleboats/featherwind.html
Quasi esoteric musical instruments
http://unicornstrings.com
rework or Phil's Featherwind (he pays phil royalties) is definitely "a
light, hard chine, flat bottom that's big enough for two."
http://home.att.net/~DaveCarnell/sailboat.html
He's stripped all extraneous decks and such off her so she weighs a
little over 100 pounds (depending on your choice of woods) the michilak
style lee board keep the bottom clear for camping. I've put the
windsprint sized (115sq ft?) balanced lug on her. (I'd recommend smaller
unless you have frequent very light air like we do.) She sails two
adults and a dog and gear in grand style. We've had 4 adults, two dogs
and a picnic in her in a pinch. She rows well and enjoys a trolling
motor. She's a great boat and an easy 4 sheet build. (External chine
logs glue and nail (or screw). I suppose as a river skiff you'd want to
go heavier on her bottom, which might push her over your weight limits.
Has anyone seen long round fenders that can be used as rollers for
moving boats up beaches and such? I read about them but never run across
them.
I'll shut up now.
David
Samson family wrote:
>I've been browsing through my study plans.
> Hi,
Bolger's Windsprint is just about big enough to sleep two on the flat
floor - no obstructions like thwarts or whatever. Of course, some kind of
shelter would need to be rigged.
The sail, as designed, is very big for cruising without anxiety, so
something smaller might be substituted; I recall that John Bell calculated
that the 60 sq ft rig used by Nymph, Gypsy, Teal, June Bug et al would have
its centre of effort in the right place for Windsprint.
Bill Samson
--bill.samson@...
Chebacco News can be viewed on:
http://members.xoom.com/billsamson
-----Original Message-----
From: Orr, Jamie <JORR@...>
To: 'bolger@egroups.com' <bolger@egroups.com>
Date: 07 February 2000 20:59
Subject: [bolger] Re: prairie river skiff
>Gregthat's
>
>Can't think of any Bolger designs in a light, hard chine, flat bottom
>big enough for two. I shouldn't say this on the Bolger group list, but youpublic
>may want to look at "Good Skiffs" by Karl Stambough -- he has several 15
>footers, one of which might do the job for you. It should be in your
>library.--
>
>These are plywood and look very simple to build.
>
>Jamie Orr
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Shop for your Valentine at eGroups!
>http://click.egroups.com/1/1149/5/_/3457/_/949957189/
>
>-- 20 megs of disk space in your group's Document Vault
>--http://www.egroups.com/docvault/bolger/?m=1
>
>
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> eGroups.com Home:http://www.egroups.com/group/bolger
> www.egroups.com - Simplifying group communications
SOME CLICKS THAT COUNT!!
Feed someone.
http://www.thehungersite.com/
Save a little rainforest.
http://rainforest.care2.com/
Simplicity Boats
http://members.xoom.com/simpleboats/index.html
http://members.tripod.com/simplicityboats/index.html
Here's my latest boat:
http://members.tripod.com/simplicityboats/featherwind.html
http://members.xoom.com/simpleboats/featherwind.html
Quasi esoteric musical instruments
http://unicornstrings.com
Great tale, Bill. The good ol' canoe is always there for Plan B. It's a hard
craft to beat for availability and adaptability.
---Greg
-----Original Message-----
From:Wmrpage@...<Wmrpage@...>
To:bolger@egroups.com<bolger@egroups.com>
Date: 7-Feb-00 09:07 PM
Subject: [bolger] Re: prairie river skiff
<chainsaw massacre>
craft to beat for availability and adaptability.
---Greg
-----Original Message-----
From:Wmrpage@...<Wmrpage@...>
To:bolger@egroups.com<bolger@egroups.com>
Date: 7-Feb-00 09:07 PM
Subject: [bolger] Re: prairie river skiff
>Kind of off subject, but appropos of sailing canoes - about 20 years ago,I,
>my father, a cousin of his and her spouse made a canoe trip into Ontariofrom
>a put-in on (I believe) "Redgut Bay" on Rainy Lake. We had about 20 milesto
>make north on the bay to our first portage. Pete, a real sailor, cameequiped
>with a large ball of "marline", which he considered an indispensible pieceof
<chainsaw massacre>
Hi,
I've been browsing through my study plans.
Bolger's Windsprint is just about big enough to sleep two on the flat
floor - no obstructions like thwarts or whatever. Of course, some kind of
shelter would need to be rigged.
The sail, as designed, is very big for cruising without anxiety, so
something smaller might be substituted; I recall that John Bell calculated
that the 60 sq ft rig used by Nymph, Gypsy, Teal, June Bug et al would have
its centre of effort in the right place for Windsprint.
Bill Samson
--bill.samson@...
Chebacco News can be viewed on:
http://members.xoom.com/billsamson
-----Original Message-----
From: Orr, Jamie <JORR@...>
To: 'bolger@egroups.com' <bolger@egroups.com>
Date: 07 February 2000 20:59
Subject: [bolger] Re: prairie river skiff
I've been browsing through my study plans.
Bolger's Windsprint is just about big enough to sleep two on the flat
floor - no obstructions like thwarts or whatever. Of course, some kind of
shelter would need to be rigged.
The sail, as designed, is very big for cruising without anxiety, so
something smaller might be substituted; I recall that John Bell calculated
that the 60 sq ft rig used by Nymph, Gypsy, Teal, June Bug et al would have
its centre of effort in the right place for Windsprint.
Bill Samson
--bill.samson@...
Chebacco News can be viewed on:
http://members.xoom.com/billsamson
-----Original Message-----
From: Orr, Jamie <JORR@...>
To: 'bolger@egroups.com' <bolger@egroups.com>
Date: 07 February 2000 20:59
Subject: [bolger] Re: prairie river skiff
>Gregthat's
>
>Can't think of any Bolger designs in a light, hard chine, flat bottom
>big enough for two. I shouldn't say this on the Bolger group list, but youpublic
>may want to look at "Good Skiffs" by Karl Stambough -- he has several 15
>footers, one of which might do the job for you. It should be in your
>library.
>
>These are plywood and look very simple to build.
>
>Jamie Orr
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Shop for your Valentine at eGroups!
>http://click.egroups.com/1/1149/5/_/3457/_/949957189/
>
>-- 20 megs of disk space in your group's Document Vault
>--http://www.egroups.com/docvault/bolger/?m=1
>
>
>
Kind of off subject, but appropos of sailing canoes - about 20 years ago, I,
my father, a cousin of his and her spouse made a canoe trip into Ontario from
a put-in on (I believe) "Redgut Bay" on Rainy Lake. We had about 20 miles to
make north on the bay to our first portage. Pete, a real sailor, came equiped
with a large ball of "marline", which he considered an indispensible piece of
equipment when on the water. We had a strong south wind when we put in. The
upshot of it was that after a few hours of paddling, we pulled over and cut
two poplar or birch poles. Two we lashed across thwarts of the canoes to make
a catamaran (with a slight "toe-in", recommended by Peter to keep waves
generated between the hulls from coming in over the freeboard). The other two
were erected as masts in each hull to support a square 8'X10" canvas ground
sheet as a sail. The mast were secured by back stays held by myself in one
canoe and Ginny in the other. This was a "semi-running" backstay
arrangement. It was assumed that Ginny and/or I would let go or lose hold on
the marline "backstays" before disaster overtook us. As it was, we roared up
Redgut Bay in a day in grand style. I believe that a railroad bride
attendant even raised his bridge for us in a good humored gesture (our masts
would have cleared the lowered bridge without difficulty.) At our first
portage we cached our unused 3 hp Johnson at the portage and continued into
more sheltered waters. The south wind continued during our stay. Between
fishing, Pete was not content with our sailing being limited to down-wind
sailing only. Eventually we set up a sprit sail using the same ground tarp
under Pete's direction. I don't recall how we secured and stayed everything,
but it was certainly done with marline and the four poles only. The idea was
that Ginny and I would use our paddles as leeboards. Pete wisely insisted
that we hold the paddles on the weather side of the hull. That way we might
not be strong enough to hold the paddles in position, but there would be no
danger that the paddles would be broken, leaving us up a creek without a
paddle, so to speak. This was probably very good judgement on Pete's part.
Ginny and I could no more hold our paddles in position than stop stampeding
buffalo. The "catamaran" went completely out of control and we somehow
rounded up in the lee of a point on the lee shore without disaster. This was
enough to put an end to our experiments with the spritsail. Oh - the wind
kept blowing from the south and it was a long, hard 3-4 day paddle, beginning
in the pre-dawn hours of the a.m. and stopping no later than noon each day,
before we finally made our way back from the first portage to the put-in.
The marline never failed. It was a very memorable trip and everyone's kids
should have such an adventure in their lifetimes.
Bill from the land of HARD water.
my father, a cousin of his and her spouse made a canoe trip into Ontario from
a put-in on (I believe) "Redgut Bay" on Rainy Lake. We had about 20 miles to
make north on the bay to our first portage. Pete, a real sailor, came equiped
with a large ball of "marline", which he considered an indispensible piece of
equipment when on the water. We had a strong south wind when we put in. The
upshot of it was that after a few hours of paddling, we pulled over and cut
two poplar or birch poles. Two we lashed across thwarts of the canoes to make
a catamaran (with a slight "toe-in", recommended by Peter to keep waves
generated between the hulls from coming in over the freeboard). The other two
were erected as masts in each hull to support a square 8'X10" canvas ground
sheet as a sail. The mast were secured by back stays held by myself in one
canoe and Ginny in the other. This was a "semi-running" backstay
arrangement. It was assumed that Ginny and/or I would let go or lose hold on
the marline "backstays" before disaster overtook us. As it was, we roared up
Redgut Bay in a day in grand style. I believe that a railroad bride
attendant even raised his bridge for us in a good humored gesture (our masts
would have cleared the lowered bridge without difficulty.) At our first
portage we cached our unused 3 hp Johnson at the portage and continued into
more sheltered waters. The south wind continued during our stay. Between
fishing, Pete was not content with our sailing being limited to down-wind
sailing only. Eventually we set up a sprit sail using the same ground tarp
under Pete's direction. I don't recall how we secured and stayed everything,
but it was certainly done with marline and the four poles only. The idea was
that Ginny and I would use our paddles as leeboards. Pete wisely insisted
that we hold the paddles on the weather side of the hull. That way we might
not be strong enough to hold the paddles in position, but there would be no
danger that the paddles would be broken, leaving us up a creek without a
paddle, so to speak. This was probably very good judgement on Pete's part.
Ginny and I could no more hold our paddles in position than stop stampeding
buffalo. The "catamaran" went completely out of control and we somehow
rounded up in the lee of a point on the lee shore without disaster. This was
enough to put an end to our experiments with the spritsail. Oh - the wind
kept blowing from the south and it was a long, hard 3-4 day paddle, beginning
in the pre-dawn hours of the a.m. and stopping no later than noon each day,
before we finally made our way back from the first portage to the put-in.
The marline never failed. It was a very memorable trip and everyone's kids
should have such an adventure in their lifetimes.
Bill from the land of HARD water.
"orr, jamie" <jor-@...> wrote:
original article:http://www.egroups.com/group/bolger/?start=2355
that length than Junebug. Of course I don't have a Junebug. Surf also
comes to mind.
original article:http://www.egroups.com/group/bolger/?start=2355
> Gregthat's
>
> Can't think of any Bolger designs in a light, hard chine, flat bottom
> big enough for two. I shouldn't say this on the Bolger group list,but you
> may want to look at "Good Skiffs" by Karl Stambough -- he has several15
> footers, one of which might do the job for you. It should be in yourpublic
> library.I have this book too, but I don't see how any of them are lighter at
>
> These are plywood and look very simple to build.
>
> Jamie Orr
>
that length than Junebug. Of course I don't have a Junebug. Surf also
comes to mind.
I'll second the motion on Karl Stambough (beg you pardon Mr. Bolger) I
have his book which is inspirational and was in St Michaels last summer
at the Wooden Boat Family Boat Building event. His Weekend Skiff was one
of the models being built. My Friend Bill Young cut all the parts on his
Shopbot. Here's a link to that dinghy on Bill's site.
http://www.seasidesmallcraft.com/wdkit.htm
If you'll explore his site you also run into Karl's Redwing - a low
power cruiser after Chapelle. Bill's lapstrake canoe is a beauty too.
Check him out.
David
Orr, Jamie wrote:
big enough for two. I shouldn't say this on the Bolger group list, but you
may want to look at "Good Skiffs" by Karl Stambough -- he has several 15
footers, one of which might do the job for you. It should be in your public
library.
These are plywood and look very simple to build.
Jamie Orr
SOME CLICKS THAT COUNT!!
Feed someone.
http://www.thehungersite.com/
Save a little rainforest.
http://rainforest.care2.com/
Simplicity Boats
http://members.xoom.com/simpleboats/index.html
Here's my latest boat:
http://members.xoom.com/simpleboats/featherwind.html
Quasi esoteric musical instruments
http://unicornstrings.com
have his book which is inspirational and was in St Michaels last summer
at the Wooden Boat Family Boat Building event. His Weekend Skiff was one
of the models being built. My Friend Bill Young cut all the parts on his
Shopbot. Here's a link to that dinghy on Bill's site.
http://www.seasidesmallcraft.com/wdkit.htm
If you'll explore his site you also run into Karl's Redwing - a low
power cruiser after Chapelle. Bill's lapstrake canoe is a beauty too.
Check him out.
David
Orr, Jamie wrote:
>Can't think of any Bolger designs in a light, hard chine, flat bottom that's
> Greg
big enough for two. I shouldn't say this on the Bolger group list, but you
may want to look at "Good Skiffs" by Karl Stambough -- he has several 15
footers, one of which might do the job for you. It should be in your public
library.
These are plywood and look very simple to build.
Jamie Orr
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> eGroups.com Home:http://www.egroups.com/group/bolger
> www.egroups.com - Simplifying group communications
SOME CLICKS THAT COUNT!!
Feed someone.
http://www.thehungersite.com/
Save a little rainforest.
http://rainforest.care2.com/
Simplicity Boats
http://members.xoom.com/simpleboats/index.html
Here's my latest boat:
http://members.xoom.com/simpleboats/featherwind.html
Quasi esoteric musical instruments
http://unicornstrings.com
Greg
Can't think of any Bolger designs in a light, hard chine, flat bottom that's
big enough for two. I shouldn't say this on the Bolger group list, but you
may want to look at "Good Skiffs" by Karl Stambough -- he has several 15
footers, one of which might do the job for you. It should be in your public
library.
These are plywood and look very simple to build.
Jamie Orr
Can't think of any Bolger designs in a light, hard chine, flat bottom that's
big enough for two. I shouldn't say this on the Bolger group list, but you
may want to look at "Good Skiffs" by Karl Stambough -- he has several 15
footers, one of which might do the job for you. It should be in your public
library.
These are plywood and look very simple to build.
Jamie Orr
Greg,
Your question about suitable designs for a prairie river trip touched a
chord in me. I have done several trips on the Red Deer river, and have done
numerous trips down the Bow from Calgary down.
While I have always used canoes, I have often found myself using a big tarp
sail while going down the Red Deer because of these marvelous NW winds that
come roaring across the plains during the summer. To set up my rig, I made
an A-frame in the middle of the canoe, lashed a yard across it at the top of
the "A", and ran ropes fore and aft from each end of the yard to the rings
on the bow and stern decks. Looked like a viking ship with this square rig
and worked remarkably well. A heavily laden canoe is very stable and can
carry sail in a very different way than an empty boat, I noticed. Since the
river flowed SE, then East, it made for a rollicking downwind run. The only
frustrating times came when I needed upwind capability on long slow-moving
sections of the river when it looped northward for several kilometres before
heading east again. We'd roll up the squaresail and tie it off, battle our
way around the bend, then unroll and be off like a rocket once again. Fun!
The nearness of the riverbanks created a sensation of even greater speed
than on a lake or the ocean, and very odd waves were generated in our wake
when going over shallow sections with barely enough water to float in. One
could feel the bottom tugging at the hull, and the waves would break. I
called this effect "ripping", and it always added excitement to the day, as
the sandy riverbottom could shoal even further at any moment, bringing one
to a complete standstill.
Anyhow, all this river sailing got me to thinking about other kinds of boats
that would work, so I was intrigued to hear of your plans to "skiff" down
these prairie rivers. If you want a skiff to do it in, I'll bet Bolger has
one among his repetoire that would fit. I'll dig through my Bolger books to
see what there is. I can't think of the names of them at the moment, but
there are some leeboard sharpie skiffs that I bet would work very well for
what you want. I figure leeboards because it allows one to sleep in the hull
without the intrusion of a centreboard trunk.
Other ideas: Catamaran (two narrow sharpie skiffs lashed together,
perhaps?), demountable into seperate parts for portaging around dams, or for
separate travel. Trampoline would make great sleeping platform when
campsites are too muddy, or when there is a desire to have a "drift day" for
lazing and resting. It would really blast along with a sail rig. Bolger
offers some small cat designs, but if each piece were useable on it's own,
it would offer variety.
When in pieces, each hull could be carried on a wheeled dolly, the same type
used to portage canoes. If I recall correctly that dam (Carsland dam?)
downstream from Calgary, just past the confluence with the Highwood, had
excellent road access from one side of the dam to the other, so rolling a
boat around should be easy. The main drawback of a catamaran might be the
difficulty of rowing.
--Drift boats. I am sure you know of them; I have seen these highly rockered
craft floating along the Bow River propelled by a fishing guide at the oars.
They can take extremely white water, and are probably overkill for smooth
prairie rivers. Basically a highly rockered dory, made for rivers with
strong currents. I liked the idea that they keep their forefoot out of the
water, as it allows easy manoeverability in a current, and facilitates
beaching on a shallow muddy riverbank. Also it will not get the bow hooked
up on the first rocks that make up a rock-garden (you'd encounter alot of
these on the Bow if the water is too low, but less on the S. Saskatchewan).
The only drawback I could see is from having to row one of these craft with
their high freeboard against a strong headwind. It would then be hard to
keep the bow into the wind without it wanting to fall off all the time. This
is where a low-freeboard canoe really shines, although I have also been
brought to a complete standstill by headwinds in such a craft as well...
We are planning on going down the Red Deer next summer with our young kids.
We'll likely be using our 18 foot cedar and canvas freighter canoe (almost
exactly the same kind of boat used by Tyrell on his trips for the Geological
Survey in the 1800's in exactly the same region). It has a lateen sail and
leeboards and can be sailed to windward after a fashion, and of course
downwind. It also has a vee-shaped little motor transom which works nicely
for my 2 hp Honda outboard. It drives her to speed when needed, but would be
more for getting up or downstream in a hurry if we have an emergency (we
have a diabetic daughter). Maybe a skiff of similar dimensions would work
well, too. Bolger has lots of boats that would offer enough rocker to be a
good riverboat, I think, but I would check to make sure that it's maximum
draft is not too much midships. It is very hard to drag a fully laden boat
off of a sandbar----I know!
The other source I would look at for a river skiff would be in museums and
archives. What type of skiff did people use on big rivers on the prairies?
I'll bet with data from that kind of research, Bolger could work up a real
winner, if he hasn't already.
Sorry for being so long winded, but like Jeb, I guess I'm still a river rat!
Good luck in the adventure, keep us posted as to what you decide to build.
If you need a hand building, call me up; I am an apprentice shipwright
(wooden boats) with 8 weeks left in my boatbuilding course at the Shipyard
School here on the island, and would love a chance to cut more wood!
Alex Christie,
No river in sight,
Gabriola Island, BC
FYI, my school:
www.boatschool.com
Your question about suitable designs for a prairie river trip touched a
chord in me. I have done several trips on the Red Deer river, and have done
numerous trips down the Bow from Calgary down.
While I have always used canoes, I have often found myself using a big tarp
sail while going down the Red Deer because of these marvelous NW winds that
come roaring across the plains during the summer. To set up my rig, I made
an A-frame in the middle of the canoe, lashed a yard across it at the top of
the "A", and ran ropes fore and aft from each end of the yard to the rings
on the bow and stern decks. Looked like a viking ship with this square rig
and worked remarkably well. A heavily laden canoe is very stable and can
carry sail in a very different way than an empty boat, I noticed. Since the
river flowed SE, then East, it made for a rollicking downwind run. The only
frustrating times came when I needed upwind capability on long slow-moving
sections of the river when it looped northward for several kilometres before
heading east again. We'd roll up the squaresail and tie it off, battle our
way around the bend, then unroll and be off like a rocket once again. Fun!
The nearness of the riverbanks created a sensation of even greater speed
than on a lake or the ocean, and very odd waves were generated in our wake
when going over shallow sections with barely enough water to float in. One
could feel the bottom tugging at the hull, and the waves would break. I
called this effect "ripping", and it always added excitement to the day, as
the sandy riverbottom could shoal even further at any moment, bringing one
to a complete standstill.
Anyhow, all this river sailing got me to thinking about other kinds of boats
that would work, so I was intrigued to hear of your plans to "skiff" down
these prairie rivers. If you want a skiff to do it in, I'll bet Bolger has
one among his repetoire that would fit. I'll dig through my Bolger books to
see what there is. I can't think of the names of them at the moment, but
there are some leeboard sharpie skiffs that I bet would work very well for
what you want. I figure leeboards because it allows one to sleep in the hull
without the intrusion of a centreboard trunk.
Other ideas: Catamaran (two narrow sharpie skiffs lashed together,
perhaps?), demountable into seperate parts for portaging around dams, or for
separate travel. Trampoline would make great sleeping platform when
campsites are too muddy, or when there is a desire to have a "drift day" for
lazing and resting. It would really blast along with a sail rig. Bolger
offers some small cat designs, but if each piece were useable on it's own,
it would offer variety.
When in pieces, each hull could be carried on a wheeled dolly, the same type
used to portage canoes. If I recall correctly that dam (Carsland dam?)
downstream from Calgary, just past the confluence with the Highwood, had
excellent road access from one side of the dam to the other, so rolling a
boat around should be easy. The main drawback of a catamaran might be the
difficulty of rowing.
--Drift boats. I am sure you know of them; I have seen these highly rockered
craft floating along the Bow River propelled by a fishing guide at the oars.
They can take extremely white water, and are probably overkill for smooth
prairie rivers. Basically a highly rockered dory, made for rivers with
strong currents. I liked the idea that they keep their forefoot out of the
water, as it allows easy manoeverability in a current, and facilitates
beaching on a shallow muddy riverbank. Also it will not get the bow hooked
up on the first rocks that make up a rock-garden (you'd encounter alot of
these on the Bow if the water is too low, but less on the S. Saskatchewan).
The only drawback I could see is from having to row one of these craft with
their high freeboard against a strong headwind. It would then be hard to
keep the bow into the wind without it wanting to fall off all the time. This
is where a low-freeboard canoe really shines, although I have also been
brought to a complete standstill by headwinds in such a craft as well...
We are planning on going down the Red Deer next summer with our young kids.
We'll likely be using our 18 foot cedar and canvas freighter canoe (almost
exactly the same kind of boat used by Tyrell on his trips for the Geological
Survey in the 1800's in exactly the same region). It has a lateen sail and
leeboards and can be sailed to windward after a fashion, and of course
downwind. It also has a vee-shaped little motor transom which works nicely
for my 2 hp Honda outboard. It drives her to speed when needed, but would be
more for getting up or downstream in a hurry if we have an emergency (we
have a diabetic daughter). Maybe a skiff of similar dimensions would work
well, too. Bolger has lots of boats that would offer enough rocker to be a
good riverboat, I think, but I would check to make sure that it's maximum
draft is not too much midships. It is very hard to drag a fully laden boat
off of a sandbar----I know!
The other source I would look at for a river skiff would be in museums and
archives. What type of skiff did people use on big rivers on the prairies?
I'll bet with data from that kind of research, Bolger could work up a real
winner, if he hasn't already.
Sorry for being so long winded, but like Jeb, I guess I'm still a river rat!
Good luck in the adventure, keep us posted as to what you decide to build.
If you need a hand building, call me up; I am an apprentice shipwright
(wooden boats) with 8 weeks left in my boatbuilding course at the Shipyard
School here on the island, and would love a chance to cut more wood!
Alex Christie,
No river in sight,
Gabriola Island, BC
FYI, my school:
www.boatschool.com