First Cuts

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:

(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.  :)

After You - Lake Garvais

A photo album from the inaugural voyage of the "new" motor, since replaced.  But it was one of the first times the boat felt really "together."

Heading Downriver again...

If the weather holds (I don't care about cold, just rain/snow at this time of year), and it looks like it will, I'll be taking another quick trip on the Mississippi.  Going from Minneapolis to Red Wing, roughly 70 miles.  At the pace of my boat and the lesser currents of autumn, I'm banking on 7 miles per hour for a ten hour trip.   Spreading it over two days I'll find a nice slough to drop anchor for the night and have a nice little wavy night's sleep.  Jill and the kids will meet me in Red Wing -- or any other landing before that point if something doesn't work out according to plan.

I had been saying I didn't do as much boat camping as I'd wanted to this year, and Jill was so supportive of a last little jaunt.  She's awesome!

I'll be boating alone, but filing a travel plan as well as reporting in via social networks.  And the GPS will be on the whole time, I'm sure.  Really looking forward to it!  Me and my boat..

The River

Mine is a small boat. Ok, a Tiny Boat. But I feel like this when I'm on any river:

View Larger Map

You can see that the towboat is pushing hard, but sliding a bit to port (left) so that he can overcompensate on the turn.

The science museum of Minnesota has a towboat/barge simulator that looks like a fun video game. I mean, it's just driving a slow boat down a river right? The moment a kid steps up to it they're excited, but by the first river bend they're shoving those barges up on the beach.

So I step up, never having played, and simply apply my "slow boat, takes a long time to respond, think about the *next* bend" logic and I took the barge and boat through downtown and on to the end of the simulation. I was quite proud of myself.

It would be months later that I would apply these rules in the real world with my boat on the river in some more "technical" (read: crazy wind, currents, and waves) waters and I really understood the intensity of the river.

So now when I see this picture in google maps of this tow pushing sideways up a bend, it just makes me really appreciate what's going on so much more. And makes me want to make another voyage...

After You - Pepin Messabout

Another fun filled day, with lots of boating and talking about boating and even some kite flying.  You wish you were here.  Although the afternoon produced the Lake Pepin that I had imagined, with whitecaps and waves over the transom.  Need an electric pump.. :)

https://picasaweb.google.com/robert.craig/AfterYouPepinMessabout?feat=directlink

After You - Pepin!

Early to rise, headed downriver in a grind that would involve 12 hours, multiple rainstorms, waves to crash over her bow, two lock passages, and a few hours of beautiful scenery and river.  Met up with the wonderful folks of the messabout and had a great evening sitting around the fire telling lies, er, stories about many things.

https://picasaweb.google.com/robert.craig/AfterYouPepinBound?feat=directlink

After You - Downriver

Well, that was exciting!  Hidden falls has a boat ramp but today it had a boat parking lot.  It was a bit flooded.  No matter, Jill and the kids helped me launch quite nicely.    Left around five thirty and made good time for a bit.  Have to admit the first hundred yards took some getting used to, as the wind and currents were tossing me around.  By the time I got to downtown Saint Paul, I wanted to top off my gas tank.  Good call, though only half empty, I would end up needing every last drop in the next section.

I took a few minutes at the pier by Navy Island to tape some trash bags over the skylight and then put on the skylight cover. The clouds were graying up a bit and I wanted to be completely sure I kept the cabin dry.  It has not yet rained but I am glad I did it for my overnight, just in case.

Ok, I head into an alley of barges and industrial docks and soon after the wind picks up.  I am heading right into it and spend a couple miles reenacting various scenes from The Deadliest Catch.  Whitecaps, three foot waves, spray coming over the bow completely drenching me, and not a safe harbor in sight.  I soldiered on and eventually decided to stop at the landing at my evening halfway point, which was sure to be nearer the end of the evening rather than half way.  That was the 694 bridge, and the landing ended up being further underwater than Hidden Falls was.  So I skirted behind some islands where the water was calmer and refilled the tank.  It was almost empty, so good timing on that one. 

Took a backwater behind some more islands and noticed there was a protected channel running up through the island.  This is where I dropped anchor for the night as it was twenty minutes to sunset.

Dropped some Pigs Eye Pilsner (felt only appropriate) in the net and dropped it in the river to cool them off.  Had a nice cold sandwich and a juice box and here I sit, having a brew on the river in my gently rocking boat.  The cabin is small but super cozy now that it is organized, and I am rocking my Android tablet writing this post.  Obviously it is easy to type on, as evidenced by the long post.

After the sun set it is quite cool and no bugs to be found.  Awesome.

Now to read some pirate adventures by Michael Crichton as darkness falls and the birds in the trees coo me to sleep.  It is going to be an early morning to make up for lost time.

More photos in my Picasa Albums
https://picasaweb.google.com/robert.craig/AfterYouDownriver?feat=directlink