Fly
fishing from a Hobie Float Cat Fly
fishing from a Hobie Float Cat
I've either owned or had access to small boats since I was a kid. In the early 1980's we bought our first "serious" watercraft, an Easy Rider Sea Eagle double sea kayak. We used that boat for a number of years, mostly for day trips off the Maine coast.
With our son Scott in the center hatch, a stop at Fort Gorges in Casco Bay. Portland harbor in background. My wife Chris always serves as photographer thereby cleverly avoiding getting in the picture. This photo dates from the mid 80s.
Wanting something a bit more roomy, the Sea Eagle got sold to a couple who lived in Vermont and the proceeds went into a Swifty 14 sailboat kit from Shell Boats. We went up to Fred Shell's shop near Lake Champlain on a cold January day to get the kit. I started it in the late winter, once the garage was warm enough for the epoxy to set properly, and it went together fairly quickly (I savor projects; it was finished in the early summer of the following year, 1990) and without a hitch. Fred's kits are very complete and the parts fit together perfectly.
The Swifty 14 in 1990 with Scott. The sail is a leg-o'-mutton with a curved boom. The boat had not yet touched water.
Missing the kayak a bit, I bought a set of plans for Phil Bolger's 16 ft. Pirogue (Bolger's design number 451) from Bernie Wolfard's Common Sense Designs (now under different ownership as Common Sense Boats). Being an experienced boat builder now, I figured it was time to start tinkering with the design. So, to get some more space in the cockpit, I did a linear stretch to make the boat about 19.5' overall. This yielded a cockpit about 10 feet in length. Roomy and real sleek looking, considering the absolute (apparent) simplicity of the design.
It's rigged for fixed seat rowing and does pretty well with canoe paddles or, for marshy areas, a pole. A Minn-Kota salt water electric motor of about 50 lbs thrust attached to a side mount serves as the main source of power for bigger waters. Also, the pair of deep cycle batteries provide enough ballast to really keep the boat stable, even in fairly rough conditions.
I have tried a 2 hp Honda but the weight hanging off the side combined with no battery ballast makes the boat a bit unbalanced. OK for calm waters but disquieting in a good chop. Power has to be kept to no more than a tad above idle otherwise the stern starts to dig in. I have never rigged it for sailing. Overall the boat is great and is our favorite. Lots of favorable comments whereever we go with it.
Sketch of the stretched Bolger Pirogue.
The Bolger Pirogue ready to go on the Missisquoi in northern Vermont. Shown are the electric motor, 9' Shaw & Tenney spruce oars and a couple of spare paddles. Two 6" screw-in deck plates provide access to dry storage areas in the bow and stern.
A home built dolly made with plastic implement wheels can be attached with a pin to the skeg making it easy to move the boat around the launch area. No need to get the trailer near the water or hassle the queues at the ramp. If I pulled it around for an hour or so every day I might lose 20 lbs.
A pleasant day for rowing off of Deer Isle, Maine (no trace of Martha Stewart, thank goodness). Posing for the camera really kills the rowing technique.
With the Pirogue becoming our primary boat for messing around in, I began scheming about ways to make the Swifty into something of a camp cruiser that could easily transition between low power motor (5 hp gas or electric) and sail. Since the motor would probably be the main motive power, I also looked into getting a smaller sail than the leg-o'-mutton. The illustration below shows the general plan.
The sail is a 43 sq. ft. boomed sprit sail from H.H. Payson & Co. (This sail was designed for Bolger's Sweet Pea, design number 570.) The tiller has been moved inboard which keeps it from interfering with the outboard motor (not shown) that would be attached to the transom. The cabin has a full length slot in the top, 2 ft. wide, that can be closed with a piece of vinyl fabric. A pair of hinged louvered doors are used at the rear of the cabin. Inside the cabin are two minimal berths with a porta-potti in between. (At night the potti would be moved into the cockpit.) The last foot of the original cockpit area is a self draining well that can be used to hold the gas tank and other messy stuff. Also, water slopping over the transom will not get into the cockpit (unless, of course, things get bad).
I started cutting into the boat a few years ago and am now about 2 or 3 solid weekends of work away from finishing.
I didn't realize how long this project has been in progress. Here is Scott trying out one of the berths in 1992 (per the date stamp on the back of the photo) just as I was beginning the project. He's now looking for royalties.
Here's the boat as of late 2001.
A solid hinged 2-piece hatch will close the top of the cabin while a pair of wood shutters will serve as the doors.
The time spent using the Pirogue (not to mention a million other diversions and tasks) seems to keep me from finishing the Swifty conversion. And, having the Swifty in the garage keeps me from starting other boat projects. At the moment I am starting Phil Bolger’s Storm Petrel. I've also been playing around with a small jet drive system for shallow water applications. Click on the links below for more information and updates.
Development
of a Low Power Jet Drive
Variation on Jim Betts' Gypsy's
Poke
There are a couple of problems with homebuilt boats. One is that you spend a lot of time looking at (and buying) plans that you will never do anything with, all in pursuit of the perfect boat. (Eventually you realize that there is no perfect boat.) The second is that, as soon as you actually finish building a boat, you spend a lot of time thinking about what could be changed (probably on the next boat).
I've got a small stack of boat plans. Fortunately, they are not that expensive and, even if you don't build, there are a lot of lessons to be learned from each one. Favorite designs in my library that may get built at some point are Bolger’s Light Dory and Gypsy (plans from H.H. Payson & Co.), Jim Michalak’s row boats and Toto (a double paddle canoe), Glen-L Marine Design’s Sneak Box and Bass Boat (I have frames built for each), Tracy O’Brien’s Kayleigh (a beautiful power dory with displacement hull) and the duckboats of Sam Devlin.
For reading, Bob Hicks’ twice-monthly Messing About in Boats is essential. Great on line reading, be sure to check out Chuck Leinweber's Duckworks Magazine. A great site for the waterfowler is the Duck Hunter's Boat Page which has a lot of information on homebuilt hunting boats and a great forum.
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