I made the first cuts on the new boat today, finally. After too many days of hemming and hawing I pulled out the saw and ripped it right down the middle of a sheet of plywood. Nothing like reckless abandon to get you going on a project. Now I get to finish lofting and make the precision cuts to follow the drawn lines.
The new boat is a Duckskiff, another Steven Lewis design. I'm not some kind of Steven Lewis Fanatic, and went through a lot of models before picking that one. Looked at the Brockaway skiff, lumberyard skiff, a couple Bolger Clam skiff variations, and a ton more off duckworks. Ended up with the duckskiff because: it's free, I understand the documentation Steven creates, and it's just the right size. That, and I can email him any time with questions. And then he gets to see it at the messabout -- this time he gets a ride in the boat. Kept forgetting to get him in the After You.
Lily and I had discussed a Puddle Duck Racer or a kayak or the pedal boat, but since I've taken the reigns of the Pepin Messabout, I felt like I needed a boat I could get together quick in order to show up with an actual boat. Since that's what it's all about.
My take on it is inspired by boats like the following:
But knowing how things work out I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't end up more like this:
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| (because it'll have an outboard) |
Which is still passable, but to be honest what I really and truly want is either a Disney Jungle Cruise boat or the African Queen.
The boat will be an "almost 16 foot" skiff, a little beamier than the After You, but certainly more conventional. The whole point of this boat is to be able to ferry the whole family around on a lake for a nice slow cruise in the evening light. Or across Pepin for the messabout brunch. Or maybe even down a river as long as it's not too rocky. Powered with the After You's 9.9 hp motor it'll be able to play in Pepin for the messabout, or just hum along Bear Lake nicely. I also have the electric "big trolling motor" for use on the lakes in Minneapolis, which is going to be crazy good fun. We may have to swap out the pith helmet for a straw boater while cruising Lake of the Isles...
I'm very excited to get this one done. If you recall, I had a secret project last year than never really took off. It's an eight foot pedal boat with a treadle drive. Yeah, hard to imagine, but I intend to come back to it some day. I think I finally figured out the mechanism and it tested ok, it just needs a lot of tinkering and finishing that I didn't have the energy for last year. Lily and I dismantled the hull this week and I have to admit taking a boat apart is so much easier than putting it together. But I saved the plans and hardware, so I'll be able to reproduce it .. some day. :)
