Devlins Egret

IMAG0240.JPG

My progress on a Sam Devlin Egret.

Questions on Piro - opinions needed

Ok, I put her in the water and she floated fine, the problem was with stability and how much of the sides was left above water when I was in it.

 

Reminder on demensions, total length 11'5" at gunnels, 10'6" at floor, Max width at floor in center of length 26", sides flaired to max at 34" in center, it is symetrically tapered to the ends, and the sides are 11" high in the middle and 12 at ends

It seemed like the sides were about 3-4" submerged with me at about 195 and nothing else in the boat. I'm guessing the angle of the sides from the bottom is about 12-15 degrees.

 

I quickly discovered the seats will likely have to go, sitting on them made the boat feel like it was gonna go over any second, but I was able to balance. I am about 6'4 so sitting height is about 3 feet if I'm sitting up straight, Is it normal for the canoe to feel that unstable, or am I expecting to much from such a small boat?

 

Sitting on the floor seemed better, not as tippy feeling, I could probably deal with it, but not sure how wife will feel about it.

 

It seemed to paddle easily, a couple strokes and she was scooting, and seemed easy to keep going strait the little I actually paddled, I was not sure of the ability of the boat, or mine since I have not canoed much in the past,  and the water was too cold to swim so I did not do much.

 

So now for the questions.

Is this thing too small to be useful for calm water canoeing?

 

Did I make my sides too short for adequite displacement to carry about 345 lbs total weight

 

Is the stability directly related to the bottom being too narrow or too short?

 

I only have about 65 dollars material and 5-10  hours labor in it, should I scrap it and start over with a slightly larger plan? Or take the seats out and see how It works for us in calm water?

 

 

Attachment: Piro painted.jpg

Prio Painted - ready for trial tomorrow

Got this thing painted, gonna trial run tomorrow, will let ya'll know if I end up swimming.

Attachment: Piro painted.jpg

RJW Projects

Photos of my wooden boat projects

Vacationer named Veronique

Vacationer from stevenson project

Pironoe Primed,

Got her primed, now I have to decide on color,

 

 I have some not quite dark green, and not quite barn red, and some white,  high quality exterior grade paint available, so red w green trim or green with red trim or white with green or red trim?

 

Wondering about inside color also, same as outside? or completely different?

 

I guess trim will equil the rub rail and seats

 

all opinions welcome

 

Regards, RJW

Attachment: pironoe primed.jpg

Forward rowing

Does anyone know of plans I might obtain to build a forward rowing aparatus? In the movie U.S.Marshalls, Wesley Snipes' character steals a boat (it looked like a pirogue) with oars that have what I would call elbows for lack of a better description. As he drew back on the oars' handles, the blades would pull back. I saw a similar device sold on the web but it was a bit pricey. I'd like to try my hand at building one if anyone knows of plans anywhere.

Thanks