Re: Powered sharpie advise
Michael,
Bolger offers a scaled up version of the "Idaho" called the
"Dakota".
It is drawn in metric 11.8m x 2.2m x .25m (37.8' x 7.2' x
9.8"). It
will take motors from 15hp to 50hp. There are 4 sheets of
plans plus
a key. There are expansions for the sides and bottom to
simplify
construction. One sheet offers details of one cabin and
arrangement
plan. Another sheet shows several alternate cabin and
arrangement
ideas. I bough the plan recently and will start work as
soon as the
weather in northern MI warms a bit.
Vince Chew
Bolger offers a scaled up version of the "Idaho" called the
"Dakota".
It is drawn in metric 11.8m x 2.2m x .25m (37.8' x 7.2' x
9.8"). It
will take motors from 15hp to 50hp. There are 4 sheets of
plans plus
a key. There are expansions for the sides and bottom to
simplify
construction. One sheet offers details of one cabin and
arrangement
plan. Another sheet shows several alternate cabin and
arrangement
ideas. I bough the plan recently and will start work as
soon as the
weather in northern MI warms a bit.
Vince Chew
Mike,
I am probably the only person with extensive experience with IDAHO. I
have cruised IDAHO in the Columbia River, which I imagine has some of
the same issues w/eddies, and currents that the Amazon has. I found
IDAHO to be much more than adequate in meeting the challenges of a
big river. There are conditions I didn '²t like to be out in,
especially when there is a strong wind (over 20k) on place with a
fetch of over 10 miles. But this is more my being timid, not the
ability of the boat.
There seems to be a general misconception of the seaworthiness of
these long narrow boats. What is hard to see is that, with a 5 '²
wide
flat bottom the boat is much more stable on the beam axis that it
would appear at first glance. We are too conditioned to think of
boats having flare, hence having bottoms much narrower than the beam
at the gunwale.
IDAHO makes a great camp cruiser, but she is a little cramped for
long trips. To make IDAHO bigger just scale her up to have a 6 '²
wide
bottom. This would make her length 37 '². Just don '²t mess with
the beam
to length ratio.
The only disadvantage I have found to these long narrow boats is they
are hard to store. That aside, they are fast and very efficient. I
put a 7.5 hp mariner on mine after my old 1964 Merc. 45 became an
anchor, and clocked her at 14mph!! With a 10 hp 4 stroke she would
run all day over 12 mph on 6 gallons of gas.
I am probably the only person with extensive experience with IDAHO. I
have cruised IDAHO in the Columbia River, which I imagine has some of
the same issues w/eddies, and currents that the Amazon has. I found
IDAHO to be much more than adequate in meeting the challenges of a
big river. There are conditions I didn '²t like to be out in,
especially when there is a strong wind (over 20k) on place with a
fetch of over 10 miles. But this is more my being timid, not the
ability of the boat.
There seems to be a general misconception of the seaworthiness of
these long narrow boats. What is hard to see is that, with a 5 '²
wide
flat bottom the boat is much more stable on the beam axis that it
would appear at first glance. We are too conditioned to think of
boats having flare, hence having bottoms much narrower than the beam
at the gunwale.
IDAHO makes a great camp cruiser, but she is a little cramped for
long trips. To make IDAHO bigger just scale her up to have a 6 '²
wide
bottom. This would make her length 37 '². Just don '²t mess with
the beam
to length ratio.
The only disadvantage I have found to these long narrow boats is they
are hard to store. That aside, they are fast and very efficient. I
put a 7.5 hp mariner on mine after my old 1964 Merc. 45 became an
anchor, and clocked her at 14mph!! With a 10 hp 4 stroke she would
run all day over 12 mph on 6 gallons of gas.
I am trying to choose a powered sharpie design to build in wood. I
live in Manaus, Brasil and plan to use the boat for cruising,
exploring & fishing the Rios Solim�es, Negro and Amazon. Because
of
some tricky and fast eddy currents in parts of the Amazon river
system, I think one of the beamier designs would be better , but I
really like the Idaho. During high water times I would like to
explore some of the flooded areas of land in the Amazon forest and
shallow draft is important. Also fuel economy is a factor. My wife's
uncle is a professional boatbuilder in nearby Manacapuru who builds a
local style of boat similar to a powered sharpie in native woods and
I will be utilizing his expertise, so ease of building is not really
important. Any ideas and advise will be appreciated.
Thanks and best regards,
Mike
live in Manaus, Brasil and plan to use the boat for cruising,
exploring & fishing the Rios Solim�es, Negro and Amazon. Because
of
some tricky and fast eddy currents in parts of the Amazon river
system, I think one of the beamier designs would be better , but I
really like the Idaho. During high water times I would like to
explore some of the flooded areas of land in the Amazon forest and
shallow draft is important. Also fuel economy is a factor. My wife's
uncle is a professional boatbuilder in nearby Manacapuru who builds a
local style of boat similar to a powered sharpie in native woods and
I will be utilizing his expertise, so ease of building is not really
important. Any ideas and advise will be appreciated.
Thanks and best regards,
Mike